PICTURES: Rival chough helps bring up chicks he orphaned

It was the cliff-hanger ending that no one expected.

When two nest-bound chough chicks were orphaned a joyful story about a family of rare coastal birds was poised to turn into a tragedy.

Then a chough foster father stepped into to help rear the youngsters, feeding them grubs and teaching them how to fly.

Thanks to his three week solo stint, they are set to survive into adulthood after taking to the wing for the first time on Thursday.

The moving drama unfolded on cliffs around the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall this week, where choughs re-established themselves in 2001 after a lengthy absence.

Although he has been dubbed a ‘champion chough’ by twitchers, it’s thought the foster father may have contributed to the death of one or both parents.

‘The male of the pair had got into fights over territory with this neighbouring, younger male. The female was already sitting on chicks when her partner disappeared,’ explained Claire Mucklow, an officer from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

For a while the female teamed up with the lone bird but then she also vanished. As it is unknown for adult birds to leave chicks, experts are assuming she has died.

‘We don’t know what has happened to her but she may have pined to death following the demise of her original partner as they spent 14 years together, rarely more than a few metres apart,’ Claire said.

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Coming Home To Roost: Putin's Cranes Don't Take To The Wild

Remember when Russian President Vladimir Putin donned a white jumpsuit and flew an ultralight aircraft to lead a small group of endangered cranes on their southward migration?

Early last month, the president took off from the Yamalo-Nenetsk Autonomous Region to show the orphaned chicks the route south. His stunt was widely covered -- and ridiculed -- both in Russia and abroad.

Almost immediately, though, there were reports that two of the rare birds had died during the preparations for Putin's flight. "Many" others were reportedly injured.

After Putin returned to Moscow, the plan was for researchers to lead them to Tyumen Oblast, where they would meet up with a flock of wild cranes and join them on their flight to their wintering ground in Central Asia.

If all went well, it would mean a significant boost for the rare species, as Russian scientists estimate there are fewer than two dozen of the birds in the wild.

But Russia's State Nature Inspectorate reported on October 10 that six of the seven cranes that made it to Tyumen Oblast failed to bond with their wild cousins. Who knows? Maybe they were acting all stuck up because they got to meet the president.

Whatever the reason, the wild birds took off without them. The young orphans and their handlers had to take a plane back to the nature reserve where they were born in Ryazan Oblast, about 200 kilometers away from Moscow. They'll spend the winter there. Maybe the president can visit them.

Continued:  http://www.rferl.org/content/coming-home-to-roost-putins-cranes/24735497.html