The boy who taught a stricken bird to keep its pecker up after chick fell out of its nest

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Birds of a feather: 11-year-old Arthur Heywood with his very own Woody the woodpecker which he found in his garden after it fell out of its nest as a chick

It must be something in the name.
For 11-year-old Arthur Heywood, of Woodborough, has tamed his very own Woody the woodpecker.
Arthur and his mother found the bird in their garden after he fell out of the nest as a chick, and they nursed him back to health.
He’s so tame that if Arthur calls his name, he’ll come swooping down from the trees – and happily perches on his head for food.

Off his nut: Woody is so tame that if Arthur calls his name, he'll come swooping down from the trees and happily perches on his head for food

‘It was quite amazing when it first happened,’ Arthur said. ‘Sometimes he will peck at your head if you don’t feed him straight away. It hurts a bit and you just have to brush him off.’
Arthur and his mother Sophie, 48, found the lesser spotted woodpecker in June, over the Diamond Jubilee weekend.

Tame: At first, they kept Woody in a straw-filled cardboard box at their home in Wiltshire and fed him tiny chunks of hard boiled egg on a matchstick

On the mend: After nurturing him for three weeks, Woody was big enough for a proper cage and a diet of mealworm

At first they kept him in a straw-filled cardboard box at their home in Wiltshire, and fed him tiny chunks of hard boiled egg on a matchstick.
After three weeks he was big enough for a proper cage and a diet of mealworm, and four weeks later they released him.
But he didn’t go far. Woody set up home in the woods at the bottom of their garden, and visits once a day.

Helpless: Woody a week after he was rescued after falling out of his nest


Plump: Woody shows the fruits of his lavish diet shortly before heading off into the wild

'It was very young when we found him and he had hardly any feathers at all,' said Mrs Heywood.
'We really didn’t know how he would respond to humans trying to feed him and we weren’t that confident if it was going to work.
'But he happily took bits of hard boiled egg yolk from off a matchstick and he lived in the box in our kitchen for the first three weeks.
'We were quite nervous when we let him free and it was a big relief when he returned to feed.'

source: dailymail