Fierce eagles of Helmsley make virtual pets for stay-at-home bird fanciers

With distinctive black-and-white plumage that makes them look like enormous magpies, the world’s heaviest and probably largest eagles are no-one’s idea of tame budgerigars, yet the only flock to be bred in captivity in Britain have attracted enough admirers to keep them in Trill for some time.

In the space of a few days, more than 100 people have come forward to “adopt” them, seduced by pictures of their two chicks and concerned for the future of the birds of prey centre that looks after them.

Charlie Heap, who runs the attraction at Helmsley, said he was astonished by the reaction to his brief posts on social media after closing his doors for the time being.

“We’re completely reliant on visitors for our survival,” he said. “We run a tight ship but as with most tight ships there’s not a great deal of slack for when something unexpected and untoward happens.

“If the Chancellor hadn’t covered employee wages when he did, I’m not sure we’d have stood any chance at all of making it through.”

It was with this in mind, he said, that he named the new arrivals Rishi and Boris. They each weighed about a quarter of a pound when hatched but will expand to nearly a stone-and-a-half when fully grown.

“A lot of people are having an awful time at the moment, and the fact that so many have taken time out day to buy an adoption or a voucher for some time in the future, or just to make a donation, has been incredible. I hadn’t expected any response at all,” Mr Heap said.

It costs £100 to sponsor an eagle for a year – smaller birds are cheaper – and adopters get a large photograph of their new pet and a certificate for framing.

The lifeline thrown by Mr Sunak, who is one of his local MPs, had been unexpected, he added. His previous business had been sunk by the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001, when little support had been forthcoming.

“The only help we were offered was to have our rates deferred. Not cancelled, just pushed back a bit,” he said.

The eagles, native to Siberia, have been resident in Helmsley since the centre opened seven years ago, but are unlikely to show much appreciation to their benefactors.

“They’ve got an enormous beak with a frightening bite and nobody has a long enough arm to keep out of their range,” Mr Heap said.

The parents are currently incubating two dummy eggs, which will be swapped for the chicks when they leave their incubator.

“They will end up being reared by their parents, which is what happened when their big sister hatched last year,” Mr Heap said.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson, Editor