Last November, Sharon Foster from Bellingen Saddlery and Pet Supplies was driving her 13-year-old daughter to catch the bus to Chrysalis School when Modena spotted a tiny little fluff-ball on the edge of Kalang Rd.

She asked her mother to stop, but it was raining and they were in a hurry.

“No, I’m sorry, we’re getting the bus. That’s nature,” Sharon told her.

But four days later when they saw the baby bird again in the same spot they had more time, so they rescued it.

“It weighed nothing,” Sharon said. “It was so sick and weak.”

Coming from a pet shop family, Modena had the resources to take care of a baby magpie, and over the next couple of months Maggie grew tamer and stronger, learned how to fly, and was given the run of the property inside and out.

She loved Modena and would follow her everywhere. She became friends with the other residents, including Maisie the Cavoodle and Korea the cat.

But one day last summer, she flew into the house through the open front door and met with disaster.

“She ran into the ceiling fan,” Modena said.

“She went flying into the wall and it shattered her wing. We took her to the vet and they bandaged her up, but they said she probably wouldn’t fly again.”

These days, Maggie gets about hopping and flapping, and she’s as mischievous as a puppy.

“If you drop a small piece of clothing like a sock while you’re hanging out the washing, she’ll grab it and run,” Modena said. “There’s a lot of stuff under the house now.”