Magpies can have a bad reputation at times, and would be considered an unlikely pet by many, but one wildlife rescuer has forged an incredible friendship with a baby magpie after nursing it back to health.

Yolanda Boag, 41, from the southern suburbs of Adelaide, saved the life of a magpie she has named Eli.

Eli is one year old, loves singing, dancing and xylophones, and befriended Ms Boag when she became her primary caregiver.

Eli damaged the ulna bone in her wing, severely limiting her ability to fly. ( Supplied: Yolanda Boag )

"She fell out of a nest when I was hanging out my washing," Ms Boag said.

"She damaged a crucial part of her wing.

"She can't rotate her feathers where normally a bird can, so she has very poor flight ability.

"The vet assessed her and then a lovely lady, who was my mentor through Fauna Rescue, came to my home and gave me a crash course in rehabilitating a baby magpie."

Road to recovery

While Eli recovered, her parents visited frequently to talk with her and help feed her, which is an unusual thing for magpies to do.

"As far as we could tell she was healed and we released her with her mum," Ms Boag said.

"We made sure it was a time where the weather was suitable.

"She was in the exact same spot where we discovered her in our garden and her mum flew away with her."

Eli showed signs she had improved. ( Supplied: Yolanda Boag )

An unexpected return flight

Unfortunately, Eli did not thrive in the wild and remarkably the magpie's mother brought the fragile bird to Ms Boag for help.

"Two weeks later, the mum was waiting for me to come home, I think she recognised my car," Ms Boag said.

"Eli's mum pulled her baby across the road and I picked her up off the driveway and brought her inside.

Eli did not thrive in the wild and its mother returned it to Ms Boag for help. ( Supplied: Yolanda Boag )

"Eli was literally on death's door. She looked terrible. Her wing was hanging and she was dehydrated."

Ms Boag and her Fauna Rescue mentor administered emergency first aid to Eli and stayed with her throughout the night, feeding her and keeping her warm.

"After another three weeks of intense care, she was back to her normal sprightly little self," Ms Boag said.

"But unfortunately, the wing wasn't going to repair to the point where she'd be able to live in the wild."

An enclosure fit for a queen

Eli and Aggie's enclosure is no what you would expect. ( Supplied: Yolanda Boag )

Since then, Eli has been treated like royalty, living in a humungous aviary-cross-fortress that Ms Boag has called Fairy Castle.

"She thrived and it was then that we thought it would be unfair for her to be alone, so that's when I decided to reach out to the Adelaide Koala and Wildlife Hospital," she said.

"We recently introduced Aggie, who is also a special needs magpie who can't live in the wild.

"She's vision-impaired, so she has some limited vision but we think mainly she can see a few shapes and shadows.

"She also has a bit of a neurological quirk where her head bobs from side-to-side and she has lots of little jerking movements."

As both magpies have special needs, Ms Boag has had to make sure they are both happy inside their 'castle'.

Catering to special needs

To help Aggie move around, Ms Boag placed white piping and plastic containers around the cage for Aggie to use as indicators to know where she is.

"If I do make any changes, they have to happen gradually," Ms Boag said.

"For example, I have a hollow log and if I want to move that I have to do it slowly, day by day.

"Then you watch how she moves around the cage, as she touches and paces everything out, and then she knows things have moved."

Aggie is often hand fed to ensure she gets the right amount of nutrients. ( Supplied: Yolanda Boag )

To ensure that Eli does not get bored with the confined environment, Ms Boag engages her in games.

"I do things like give her an almond in its shell after I've just cracked it with a nutcracker so she has to get the nut out," she said.

"Another thing I'll do is I'll get an empty soft drink bottle that I've cleaned out and I'll put some worms inside."

Ms Boag said that over the past few months Eli and Aggie have become best friends and are two lucky, healthy magpies.