Critter Profile: Reggie
Overview!
Name: Reggie
Species: Regulus Regulus (Goldcrest)
Primary Caretaker: Avian Team, Jessica Grant
Diet: Small insects and springtails
Housed: Wilson's Wildlife Center, Aviary 5
Creature Features!
As the king of all birds, it was only fitting that this mighty kinglet would be named Reggie. Hailing from the forests of Scandinavia, our little buddy here was found by the Supervisors after he caused some troubles with the local bird population.
At first, Reggie was placed in Aviary 4, but his little quirks made it hard for him to live together with other birds. You see, he has his own personal no-fly zone that surrounds him wherever he goes, making it impossible for other things to fly higher than him. All objects that fly too close to him are pulled sharply downwards, until they end up at the same level as him. When the objects or creatures reach the bottom of Reggie's territory, they return to normal falling speeds.
Because we didn't want to cause the other critters any harm or discomfort by being unable to stretch their wings within their aviaries, we decided to construct Aviary 5. Situated atop a hill, far taller than all existing aviaries on the site, our little avian monarch now has a castle of his own.
Since he was moved into Aviary 5, he has been nothing but a little darling, and as long as we don't let any other flying critters near him, he is harmless to his surroundings.
History!
During the winter months he packs on some extra weight!
Our royal darling here was found when his antics caused some unusual incidents around his nest. Ornithologists in Norway had been reporting some weird behaviour, where birds passing over a small patch of woodlands would suddenly nosedive and vanish out of sight for a bit. Most of these birds would be seen flying low to the ground as they left the woods, and then go back up to a normal height.
When the supervisors sent in a team to check out what was going on, they found little Reggie singing up on a branch with several items below his perch. We heard in a report that a few helium balloons were bouncing off of the air below him, a Kite had tangled itself in the lower branches of his tree, and a few confused birds were gathered on the forest floor beneath their king.
After a quick capture of the little guy, he was sent over to come meet the staff here at WWS and to start his new life in our care.
Special Needs and Accommodations!
The handler in charge of Reggie's aviary is Jessica Grant, an avian veterinarian who has been with us for over 3 years now!
As Reggie tends to spend his day singing, digging around in leaves for bugs, and entertaining himself, Jessica only has to check into his throne room a few times a day.
The main task when it comes to caring for Reggie is to check the outside of his aviary for things that accidentally fly into his territory. We built a nice mesh-cone over the aviary to try to minimize damages from birds nose-diving towards Reggie's throne, but some wild birds that fly too close can still get tangled or dazed from crashing into it.
Thanks to Jessica's training as a veterinarian, we haven't had any fatal bird-crashes due to Reggie yet! Only a handful of birds have needed tending to by our staff before being able to fly off.
Notes about Reggie!
As you have read by now, Reggie's special trait makes sure he is the king of all birds within his own little territory. Based on a few in-house experiments we've conducted, we know that the no-fly zone doesn't extend further than 40 meters, so thankfully we won't have to worry about him pulling down meteorites from space!
The staff here, in addition to the size, tested out some other effects of Reggie's Zone.
Some of our staff tried to fly a kite outside his aviary during their lunch break, but it crashed into the mesh cone when it approached him.
Jessica tried to toss a small stone while inside of Aviary 5, and says it looked like it hit a ceiling in the air right below Reggie.
As small RC drone we use for aerial photos wasn't able to take off while next to Reggie's castle, even though all propellers spun normally!
One of our interns even tried to jump while Reggie was foraging among the leaves, but he said it felt like his feet were stuck. Despite this, it's very easy to walk normally when around him, so he clearly only sees it as flying if you aren't connected to the ground in some way.
The Marvin Rosen Incident.
Excerpt from the Boring Courier, 17th April 2019.
Marvin Rosen, age 37, passed away yesterday following a freak accident at the local WWS facility. Mr Rosen was an experienced paraglider, and at this date he had decided to disregard the area recommended for paragliding here in Boring. Witnesses saw him sharply descend as he was passing over the WWS grounds, causing a collision with a WWS building. Mr Rosen was recovered almost immediately upon impact, but emergency responders were unable to save his life.
A WWS spokesperson gave the following statement:
"It is a sad day here at WWS, and this accident has sadly taught us that we have been inadequate in our safety procedures. Our goal has always been to care for and protect our critters while also giving joy to our community, so it saddens us deeply when a critter in our care causes injury to the people.
Following this incident we have realized that, even though we thought Reggie would be harmless to people, we need to prevent any form of flight to occur within 50 meters of our Aviary 5. We will seek an official no-fly zone restriction to our facility and will be hoping that legislation might dissuade people from attempting similar activities in the future.
Our condolences go out to Mr Rosen’s family."
Sent by: Faeowynn Wilson
Recipient(s): Jessica Grant
Hey Jess, how are you holding up? Are you sure you should be at work today?
I mean, the entire staff is shaken by the incident. But you were actually there…
Are you sure you don't need a day off?
/Fae
Sent by: Jessica Grant
Recipient(s): Faeowynn Wilson
Faeowynn, it's hard of course.
I was there, tending to Reggie, when I saw him… I assume his foot got caught in Reggie's territory, 'cause he was just suddenly there on the ground.
I…
I called for help immediately, but I thought my training would help me stabilize him at least. But god… seeing limbs bent like that… I don't think it has fully sunk in.
As to your question, yeah. I think I need to stay here and keep working. I don't think I would be okay just sitting with my own thoughts right now.
Don't worry though, I have contacted a therapist already. I will be sure to take care of myself, but I also want to help protect and care for more critters now. It feels nice to be able to help some creatures, even if I can't help them all.
/Jessica Grant
Sent by: Faeowynn Wilson
Recipient(s): Jessica Grant
Alright Jess, I won't force you to do anything.
Just be sure to tell us if you need some time off, or if there is anything we can do to help.
We humans are creatures who should be cared for, just like our animal friends. So make sure that the wonderful critter known as Jessica Grant is well taken care of too!
/Fae
