While the cast has been removed from the broken wing of rescued red-footed booby chick Dolly, it remains unclear if the protected bird will be able to fly soon.
Gregory McTaggart, chair of the Little Cayman District Committee of the National Trust, said the red-footed booby chick is doing well since having the cast removed from her healed broken wing last week.
However, he said, the rescued chick is still recovering.
“It now remains to be seen if the wing is viable and will permit her to learn to fly. This is a few months off in the future,” he said, via email in an update on the chick’s health.
The bird was rescued a short distance from the Little Cayman Trust House on 2 March, McTaggart said.
Late last month, Dolly’s trip from Little Cayman to Grand Cayman aboard Cayman Airways drew attention on social media and highlighted the baby chick’s plight.
He said the chick hatched at the end of January or early February this year.
“This chick had a broken right wing but was otherwise very healthy. After much discussion with the relevant experts and authorities it was decided to have the wing evaluated by a vet to determine if it was viable to try and treat it. This was done with the bird sent to Island Vets on Grand on 4 March,” he said.
Veterinarian Andrew Bitmead set Dolly’s wing at that time and she had two further trips to the vet on Grand Cayman, he said, with the last being late March.
Dolly’s family lives at the Booby Pond Nature Reserve located in Little Cayman, a protected area of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands.
McTaggart said the committee has been finding more chicks on the ground in the surrounding area every year.
Last April, another booby chick, then just two weeks old, was found on the side of the road, and named Marilyn.
In a previous post, the Little Cayman District Committee of the National Trust said that six booby chicks, including Dolly, had been found on the ground in the rookery since 2019.
“The first thing we try to do is to identify the nest from which it came and return it. Unfortunately, in many instances, there is a reason the chick has found its way to the ground,” he said.
The Little Cayman District Committee of the National Trust, he said, has taken on the responsibility for the orphaned booby chicks.
“We coordinate volunteers to care for and raise the birds and we provide financial support, mainly to feed the chicks. We estimate it will cost approximately CI$650 for food for 6 months to raise a booby bird chick before it can be reintroduced to the colony,” he said.
In Dolly’s instance, he said, the Department of the Environment has covered the vet costs and Cayman Airways provided the air travel for the rescued chick.
More support, however is needed for the care of the rescued birds.
At present Magpie, an offspring of one of Cayman’s iconic magnificent frigatebirds on Little Cayman, is in the care of Department of Environment officer Ronny Dougall.
That baby chick is being nursed back to health after being found on 11 March on Spot Bay Road, Little Cayman.
McTaggart, in a previous comment on Magpie, said it was in good health “but so far away from the colony it was impossible to determine a nest from which it came”.
He said the committee will pay the costs for feeding the chick for six months, about half the time it will take to raise it.
Donations to support the costs of the rescued birds’ care can be made here.
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