THIS striking tawny frogmouth chick is being hand-reared by bird-keeper Jade Stott at Cotswold Wildlife Park.

Jade took on the role of surrogate mother to the baby bird when, unfortunately, the breeding adults didn’t prove to be the most capable of parents. To give it the greatest chance of survival, the bird section decided to hand-rear the chick.

It is the first time Jade has hand-reared this particular species and she has dedicated the last month to raising the tiny chick at home. It was no small task as the newborn required 24-hour care and feeds every two hours.

The park’s bird section is delighted with the blossoming healthy chick, who is growing day-by-day thanks to Jade’s dedicated parenting skills.

Weighing just 21 grams when it hatched on June 4, the fluffy chick now weighs 231 grams and has made quite an impression on its surrogate mother.

Jade said: “Hand-rearing the tawny frogmouth has been a massive learning curve. Having a tiny chick absolutely dependent on you is a little daunting at first, but the rewards of seeing it grow and develop its own cheeky character are more than enough payback for the sleepless nights.

“I’m definitely a proud mother hen.”

Tawny frogmouths are native to Australia and are often mistken for owls due to their nocturnal habits.

See a video of the chick here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndy7vpmu9dw&feature=youtube_gdata.