Deborah Pearse, Ziggy's Adventures (Animal & Nature 2021)

Ziggy came to me as a rescue. He was a tiny, squawking black fluffball with stiff, white feathers sticking up on the top of his head. He was found in an enclosed backyard with no parents to be found and it was assumed a predatory bird had picked him up and then dropped him. He grew quickly and loved his food. We had floods during his stay and he went into an aviary with several Tawny Frogmouth who were also in care and would snuggle up with them on a perch at night. As he got older he started running at my feet and turning his head away when he began to want to feed himself. Once he could fly and self feed he was released in my backyard, which backs on a large wetland area. He comes to visit quite often and then there are periods of time where I don't see him at all. He loves to sit on the side fence in the sun and preen or sit on top of a big water jar in my garden trying to figure out how he can catch the goldfish he can see in there. I raised four orphan Pheasant Coucal this season but Ziggy is the only one that comes back to visit.

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