A rare bird which fell from a nest has been saved and hand-reared by students who fed it - with a tiny paint brush.

The gouldian finch was one of a pair thrown from their nest 18 months ago at the college's aviaries.

Students at Duchy College Rosewarne, in Camborne, noticed the two baby birds on the ground.

One of the birds was unfortunately already dead, but the other was showing slight signs of life.

Weighing just 1.4g, staff and students did not expect the bird to survive.

At first the finch called Jester had to be fed with a fine tip paintbrush that had been dipped in formula and painted on her mouth.

Jester has made a made a hasty recovery and now spends her days entertaining the students at the college.

Jester, the rare Gouldian Finch. See SWNS story SWLNbird. A rare bird which fell from a nest has saved by students who fed it - with a tiny paintbrush. The Gouldian Finch was one of a pair thrown from their nest 18 months ago. Students at Duchy College Rosewarne, in Camborne, Cornwall, noticed the two baby birds on the ground. One of the birds was unfortunately already dead, but the other was showing slight signs of life.
Jester, the rare Gouldian finch (Duchy College Rosewarne / SNWS)

Katrina Sullivan, 46, head technician for animal management at the college, said: "The students noticed had noticed two baby birds on the floor, and has the bird specialist they came running to me.

"They were newly-hatched chicks that had been thrown from the nest. I could immediately see that one of them was dead as they didn't have a blood supply to the brain but the other one did.

"I didn't think the other one would last long. I warmed it up in my hands but when it started to move around I took it back to the office and put it in an incubator.

"It's colour went back to pink and when she took her first feed we realised she was a fighter so we decided to hand rear her."

At first, Jester had to be fed with a fine tip paintbrush that had been dipped in formula and painted on her mouth.

Kat fed her this tedious way every 30 minutes for the first three days and then every hour for the following weeks. She said: "It was very intense at first. It was a lot of work.

"She's always been strong but she did get very poorly at eight days and I thought we might lose her, but she pulled through.

"At around seven days she opened her eyes and her feathers started to peek through. She started to eat on her own at four weeks and has been getting better ever since."

Jester, the rare Gouldian finch, been hand-reared
Jester, the rare Gouldian finch, been hand-reared (Duchy College Rosewarne/SWNS)

The "beautiful" red-headed, lavender-breasted gouldian is now a favourite amongst staff and students at the college, which has an extensive bird collection.

Weighing a now healthy 24g, she has met all of her development milestones and spends her days flying around entertaining pupils.

Kat said: "We named her Jester because she's such an entertainer. She's always throwing things around and getting into trouble.

"She's definitely a favourite but as she's so small everyone has to be extra careful as she'll ger under your feet.

"She's a very happy bird but she's also got a sassy attitude. She loves biscuits and crisps so if you're eating a biscuit she'll cry and sit on you.

"Conservation wise, she's near threatened. We're grateful we've been able to hand rear her back to a healthy, happy bird."

Tiny Jester the baby bird. See SWNS story SWLNbird. A rare bird which fell from a nest has saved by students who fed it - with a tiny paintbrush. The Gouldian Finch was one of a pair thrown from their nest 18 months ago. Students at Duchy College Rosewarne, in Camborne, Cornwall, noticed the two baby birds on the ground. One of the birds was unfortunately already dead, but the other was showing slight signs of life.
Tiny Jester the baby bird (Duchy College Rosewarne / SNWS)