MEET LECTRI- a fellow student and Electrical Engineering graduate!

This is Lectri, the Australian magpie, I rescued last winter. She was a very young, newly fledged bird, sitting still on a gate, unable to move or fly. I could not see any parents around and as she seemed clearly unwell and hungry, I did not want to wait and eliminate any chances of her survival.

My educated guess was that she was an orphan. Unfortunately, our next door neighbour, who is a nice man otherwise, has some prejudice and uneducated views about these beautiful birds, often shooting them, if they happen to land on his land....

Research in the early 2000s by John Innes, Dai Morgan and others on thousands of hectares of land across New Zealand failed to provide evidence of magpies being major pests to native bird populations or their impact to the overall bird population. On the contrary, they claimed that in some cases, magpie attacks could be of benefit to native birds-if they see a raptor such as the swamp harrier, magpies will sound the alarm and attack the bird in a pair or a mob, driving it out of the territory and inadvertently protecting other native birds in the vicinity.

I managed to gain her trust, warm her up and stabilize her weak body. She started gaining weight and I had to rescue her life once again, as she had a serious viral infection.

My challenge was that baby birds unable to feed on their own, require feeding every 1 to 3 hours, depending on the species and stage of development. So, Lectri, had to enroll at College and come with me, all last year that I was studying Electrical Engineering! I had also to give her an appropriate name to our studied subject. I called her, Electra, a Greek name, referring to Electron, electricity, etc and Lectri, is the short version of this name!

I converted my car to accommodate her large cage and had the opportunity to use lunch time and two daily breaks to pop in the car and feed her, so she would not miss her necessary meals.

She would wait patiently for me and I think she deserved graduation with top marks for attending College with me all those months!

She can feed herself now but I still like to help her twice a day with her egg meal, as it keeps the bond between us and she feels special! She follows me outside in the garden, likes to play with me, tries to protect me if she thinks in her mind that the cats are "aggressive and dangerous" to me (!) , likes to hung herself upside down, holding gently on my fingers as I rub her tummy like a cat (!) and enjoys catching small twigs I throw to her on the air, without missing one!

This is my "dangerous and wild" magpie, who offered me a unique opportunity to understand and appreciate this highly intelligent bird species and keeps showing me her love, beauty and affection every day of her life.

Animals have always been the greatest and most genuine teachers and spiritual masters I have ever come across on this planet! I do not think I would have been able to survive the darkness of our times without them....

(to be continued with latest update)

P.S: First published on G-force forum.

I am the founder of the animal rescue charity, Shiva Tara Aroha Sanctuary and I would request any tips or donations to go to the above charity for the benefit of the animals. Thank you.

You can find more details below and our You Tube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXZTU24fuiub88qE7JBu_Yw

https://ko-fi.com/iloveleo

Also, my secondary You Tube channel has inspiring, spiritual, beautiful music video creations for meditation, relaxation or just enjoyment and supports our sanctuary.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnY1SV3GsXIu-m-lW7_ntow