International rescue: Israeli bird gets feather transplant from German swift

A bird with two damaged wings has been given a new lease of life thanks to a joint rescue effort by Israeli and German vets.

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The common swift, one of the world's fastest birds and a species that migrates from Africa to Israel in the spring, arrived in Tel Aviv several weeks ago with injuries that vets said meant there was slim chance of the bird ever returning to the wild.

The injured bird before surgery (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

But cooperation between between the wildlife hospital at Ramat Gan Safari and a swift clinic in Germany saw an expert in swifts arrive in Tel Aviv with feathers from a bird that had died in Germany.

Tina Steigerwald had previously volunteered at the animal hospital in Tel Aviv, and her mission of mercy meant the bird received a feather transplant and returned to its natural habitat after a short period of rehabilitation. 

The new feathers are carefully labelled ready for transplant - two for the right wing and six for the left (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

The vet spreads the broken wings (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

The operation is underway (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

The damaged feathers are replaced in a two-hour procedure (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

Steigerwald carefully inserts each feather into its proper place (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

Steigerwald operates on the bird (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

Operation over, Steigerwald displays two repaired wings (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

The bird recovers after the operation (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)

The moment of truth: Steigerwald releases the bird back into the wild (Photo: Shmulik Landau, the Wildlife Hospital)