A Mother’s Work is Never Done

Duty calls on Poe's first surf trip…paddling back to feed her every 14-20 minutes made it feel like heats in a surf comp… :)

The instant I plucked the wee bird from the soggy sticks, there was no going back…I was undeniably the mother of this orphaned baby seabird.

I was certain that the little creature must eat fish, but I had no idea how to raise it?! Shortly after the adoption, I rode my bike over to my Tahitian friend, Tewa’s house. He was a lover of plants and animals, and I knew he’d probably know what to do. He immediately pulled a fish from the freezer, cut off a small chunk of meat, and warmed it between his fingers. He put it in front of her disproportionately large black beak, but she remained motionless. He then opened her beak gently and slid the little hunk of fish between it. She gulped in reflex and opened her eyes widely. After cheers and high-fives, he did the same a few more times and explained that she was probably too weak to eat on her own. When he thought she’d had enough, he wrapped up the rest of the fish and told me to take it with me.

“Do the same again in the morning,” he said in a mix of French and Tahitian.

“Maruru, Tewa!!” I called on my way out.

I searched the internet that night for more information. There wasn’t much I could find about seabird chicks, but I figured at least some of the information on caring for other baby birds would apply…

One site read…“The nestling must be fed every 14­ to 20 minutes from sunrise to sunset. An adult robin makes about 400 trips every day to feed its young.”

“Oh geez,” I thought. “This is going to be harder than I thought!”

But early the next morning Poeiti Ma’tai (Little Pearl of the Wind) cried out and I leapt from bed and dipped my fingers into the fish before 6am. I imagined the mother birds on nature shows regurgitating food into their chicks’ mouths and wondered if I should do the same? I decided to see if she’d take it from my fingers first…

Her little black eyes peered up at me and she stretched her neck skyward. I put the food near her beak and she quickly reached up and grabbed it! Yeah!! She was feeling better!

So instantly my life changed. ..“14-20 minutes,” chimed again and again in my head and I’d stop whatever I was doing and soon have my hands covered in slimy fish once again…

But she seemed to be digesting it just fine. So I continued the routine, made her a cozy little ‘nest’ in a plastic container and a ‘To Go’ nest, too. To feed her every 14-20 minutes, Poe would have to come everywhere with me…