Starlight Trust

08/09/2024

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03/09/2024

Did you just call us about a pigeon in New Addington? If so, please call back. We got cut off and our phone system doesn't show me your number to call you back, unfortunately.

21/07/2024

A rare picture of Meg, our most shy resident. She's been here since 2018 and is partnered with Forrest.

Not being one of our more showy pigeons means she's never attracted a sponsor :( Could you change that? Sponsor Meg or any of our other residents at https://starlighttrust.org.uk/residents/

In the background here is Hazel who came to us last September with a badly infected eye.

20/07/2024

I'm so very sad to announce that our lovely Randall degu has passed away :(

He came to us, along with various family members, in early 2020. It wasn't a good situation and there were lots of degus of both sexes living in one small cage with no hay. 5 boys from that rescue stayed here with us as we didn't want to separate them and we feared they would have health issues as a result of their bad start. Sure enough two of the others - Kevin and Miguel - had ongoing dental problems and have since left us.

Randall was an independent, free thinking sort of goo. Whenever I gave them their morning treats, the other boys would scrabble at the door to get theirs first. Randall would climb to the very top of the cage, sit on his favourite shelf, and wait for his to be delivered. He was very calm, gentle, and affectionate and loved a cuddle and a chin tickle.

When he refused his breakfast treat for the first time ever on Thursday morning it was clear something was wrong. I thought initially it might be his teeth but he went downhill really quickly and refused all attempts to syringe feed him, before slipping away peacefully.

Run free, darling Randall. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to you not sitting on that top shelf waiting for your treat 💔

14/07/2024

Lunchtimes can get a bit....dramatic!

Did you know, we spend about £50 a month just on seed? We feed a mix of large pigeon seed and good quality wild bird food with aniseed and sunflower hearts to peek their interest. It's important to us that they get the best, most delicious food we can find for them.

Donations to help with their costs are always very much appreciated. One of the best ways to help is to sponsor one of our residents for £20 a year. Find out more at https://starlighttrust.org.uk/residents/

13/07/2024

Not our usual post but we wanted to highlight Violet's story.

We're not fans of breeding animals generally - there are already more than there are good homes - but breeding deformed animals with health issues because it creates a 'cute' or 'fashionable' appearance, to us, is abhorrent.

Violet is a victim of this cruel practice. She's considered a 'pedigree' and has papers. She probably cost about £800 to buy. But breeding her to look a certain way has left her with a deformed mouth causing a tooth to grow sideways and become infected, preventing her from keeping her tongue in her mouth, and causing awful breathing problems.

Starlight volunteer, Louise, took Violet in a couple of weeks ago when she was being given away free online. She wasted no time in getting her to the vet and it's going to cost over £900 for surgery to get Violet more comfortable. Starlight Trust have contributed £250 towards her surgery. If you would like to help, I know Louise and Violet would be extremely grateful - https://www.gofundme.com/f/violets-vital-dental-procedure

Thank you x

Hi everyone, Violet is an Exotic Persian cat that we unexpectedly… Louise G needs your support for Help Violet To Have Vital & Life Changing Dental Treatment

10/07/2024

Please get in touch with GRR if you can offer a good home to any of these lovely rodents.

07/07/2024

Freshly baked loaf of Charles anyone?

06/07/2024

The last couple of months have been pretty stressful as we've had quite a few very poorly pigeons in care.

Tiddler was caught by a cat and lost all his tail feathers. A heavy parasite burden had also left him quite small for his age.

Sweetness was another cat victim, with a bruised and infected puncture wound under her wing.

Boo and Fennel both had adeno virus and both came close to not making it. They were too poorly to eat and were even vomiting up their syringe feeds.

After lots of intensive care and determination, this lovely group moved to their release aviary today. I am so delighted and so proud of the beautiful, healthy juveniles they have become :)

30/06/2024

If ex-racing pigeons Banjo and Ariana were still racing, their bond would be exploited, with one taken hundreds of miles away and their desperation to get back to the other used to try and win a race.

We think they should just be left to snuggle instead!

29/06/2024

We're very sad to announce that permanent resident Brontosaurus passed away suddenly last week.

Bronts came to us from East Sussex WRAS in 2018 because he hadn't recovered well enough from a neurological problem for release. While with them he had fallen in love with another twisty bird, Bill (short for Cross Bill as she had a wonky beak). So the two came here together and have been a very happy, loved up couple ever since.

Bill is understandably upset by losing her husband and protector and has been a bit extra twisty since. We have a plan to introduce her to another kind, protective boy pigeon soon once she has had a chance to grieve.

Fly free, Bronts 🕊

26/06/2024

Boo, one of four young pigeons we're currently caring for, has found a very sensible way to coo(l) off in today's heat!

23/06/2024

A bit of morning yoga from Chilli 🧘🕊

17/06/2024

Change For All Life

16/06/2024

Clash of the Titans (Donnie & Banjo)

11/06/2024

In the first half of this year we have removed 40 rescues from our directory. In some cases the owners have retired or taken the decision to close due to health issues, but many tell us it's because of a lack of funds, no volunteers, or because they can no longer cope with how rude members of the public can be when contacting them.

We are incredibly blessed to have wildlife rescues in the UK. There are many countries where wildlife rescue simply is not a thing. But we are in serious danger of taking this for granted, of assuming that rescues will be there to pick up the pieces, and someone else will do the work and make the donation. We destroy habitat, we allow our pets to attack wildlife, we drive carelessly, we cut our hedges in Spring, we leave our litter lying around but it's all ok because the wildlife rescues will fix it.

Our wildlife is ALL of our responsibility. We can't all run a rescue but we can all....

- Take care not to disturb or harm wildlife
- Be polite, be grateful, be understanding
- Donate what we can, even if it's £1 a month. It all adds up.
- Donate supplies such as newspaper, shredded paper, towels etc
- Volunteer - clean cages, do pick ups, raise funds
- Spread the word and encourage your friends to help

Just as rescues help our wildlife to survive, we need to help them to do the same.

Donate at helpwildlife.co.uk/1forWildlife or visit https://directory.helpwildlife.co.uk to find and support your local rescues.

09/06/2024

The beautiful Cooper

As our most disabled and tamest pigeon, she holds a very special place in my heart.

02/06/2024

We regularly put a handful of to***co stalks out in the aviary. They're great for nest building and the pigeons have loads of fun running back and forth with them (and sometimes stealing them from each others nests!). Here's Turnip taking a prize stalk back to wife Joy

26/05/2024

Surely the most Regal Charles in the land? 😉

You can sponsor the care of Charles or any of our other residents at https://starlighttrust.org.uk/residents/

19/05/2024

How is Walter so beautiful? Those colours!!

You can sponsor the care of Walter or any of our other residents at https://starlighttrust.org.uk/residents/

11/05/2024

Peggy enjoying a swing!

You can sponsor the care of Peggy or any of our other residents at https://starlighttrust.org.uk/residents/

05/05/2024

Frosty, who came in close to death, is out in the aviary now and exercising her wings ready for her freedom!

04/05/2024

I made them a double decker sun terrace this morning. I think Charles and Cooper approve

28/04/2024

A rare picture of the rather shy Aristotle.

You can sponsor the care of Tots or any of our other residents at https://starlighttrust.org.uk/residents/

20/04/2024

We contributed some comment to this nicely balanced and positive article -

Amidst new concerns about bird flu, London’s animal-rescue charities are helping to protect pigeons and challenge their negative reputation.

20/04/2024

New pickstone day!

Oh and the pigeon on the left trampling over everyone else? That's Frosty who arrived half dead last month. Safe to say she's doing well!!

14/04/2024

Lovely Lola

10/03/2024

Despite what Donnie, Ariana, Wesley, and Pretzel here would have you believe, they're not starved. Keeping our 40 odd resident pigeons fed is an expensive business though. You can help by sponsoring a pigeon here - https://starlighttrust.org.uk/residents/

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09/03/2024

It will soon be 5 years since we upgraded our aviary at HQ so some of the furnishings are showing their age. Today we've been replacing some of their nest boxes with these slightly hacked Ikea Eket cubes. There's been quite a bit of interest already so hopefully they will approve! These should be easier to keep clean than the previous ones too I hope 🤞

06/03/2024

Introducing Frosty. She's a fledgling who was found at the side of the road in London and came to us on Friday. On arrival she was barely conscious and couldn't stand up. I was pretty convinced I was just going to be giving her a warm, comfortable place to pass away to be honest. Believe it or not the first picture is a few hours in after she started looking better! After some pretty intensive care over the last few days including treatment for quite severe coccidiosis, today she is finally able to stand up by herself. She has proven herself to be a real fighter, this one!