Pica prepares for solo life

Meet Pica the magpie who is preparing to fly the nest after being nurtured almost from birth by staff at a Wolverhampton animal park.

The six-week-old bird arrived at the city's bustling menagerie Wickid Pets days after he was born.

He had been taken in by vets at the Cavan surgery in Stafford Road who did not know where else to turn. Staff quickly took the tiny feathered friend under their wing.

They fed him a diet of cat and dog food before heading out and about around their site to catch bugs for his meals as he got older.

He made his maiden flight yesterday and will continue to explore his home, off the A449 Stafford Road in Dunstall, until he is ready to leave his aviary permanently.