Eight birds glued to sticks in ‘horrific incident’ in Wickford

The discovery of eight birds glued to wooden sticks has left the founder of a wildlife charity “heartbroken, frustrated and angry”.

Sue Schwar from the South Essex Wildlife Hospital in Orsett said a member of the public spotted a blue tit struggling near a makeshift bird feeding station in Wickford that had been surrounded by glue-coated wooden dowels.

She said six blue tits and two great tits were taken to their hospital for treatment on Thursday and were expected to make a full recovery.

The charity confirmed it was working with Essex Police and the RSPCA as part of an investigation into the “truly horrific incident”.

In a Facebook post, it said: “Missing feathers, bruising and significant stress plagued every single one of them but, amazingly, they seem to be doing well in our care.”