Precis

A chance encounter with environmentalist Steve Irwin was a sliding doors moment for identical twins Bridgette and Paula Powers. 

The sisters were struggling to save a green sea turtle they'd found marooned near their Sunshine Coast home and Irwin was called to assist.

"We had a troop carrier pull up and a guy got out," recalls sister Liz Ether.  "He put the turtle on a stretcher... and then he spotted the girls. He couldn't take his eyes off them."

Affectionately known as the 'Twinnies' to friends and family, the sisters were an unusual sight, dressing in identical clothing and often speaking in unison. But Irwin saw something else that was special about the girls — a passion for wildlife conservation.

Years later, the sisters operate a 24-hour bird rescue service from the backyard of their home. It's a never-ending passion project and they restore birds that many others might give up on. 

IDENT BOARD

00:00

Bob Irwin to camera

INTRODUCTION: Hi, I’m Bob Irwin. I met the Twinnies, Bridgette and Paula Powers, more than 20 years ago when they were working at Australia Zoo. They’re striking because they are identical twins, but also because they are the most dedicated wildlife carers I’ve ever met. Their special blend of passion, kindness, patience and intuition that has given thousands of feathered friends a second chance.

00:10

Twins out of bed and into bathroom

Music

00:39

PAULA POWERS: The relationship that I have with my twin sister, basically probably going to be talking about myself kind of thing.

BRIDGETTE POWERS: I know that we're two

00:46

Bridgette 100%

individuals, but when we're separated and now we don't feel complete. But when we're together, yes, we've got that solid rock there again.

00:56

Twins have breakfast

We just love one another to pieces.

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: I believe that they both are so connected that they can feel one another's pain.

01:09

Helen at breakfast table with twins

Helen: "It’s just worrisome, Twinnie."

TWIN: And know what each other is thinking.  "But we’re a tough cookie, we are."

HELEN POWERS: No one else on this

01:21

Helen 100%

planet could ever break that bond between them.

01:28

Father watching TV

Twins: "Morning Dad."

Father: "Morning Twinnies. How you going?"

JEFF CRAIG, EPIGENETICS RESEARCHER, DEAKIN UNI: I've heard such twins described as two bodies, one soul. And I think that's a perfect way to talk about Bridgette and Paula, because

01:31

Jeff Craig 100%

they do appear to be a single unit and that's why they're very happy to call themselves the Twinnies.

01:43

Twins get dressed

TWINNIES: We love dressing the same. The same buttons and same patterns..

01:48

Twins leave house

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: I think a lot of people make the mistake of seeing them as being some sort of novelty act.

01:56

Chris Brown 100%

But very quickly, that just fades away to pure intrigue and wonder, just over their level of knowledge and their passion and their commitment.

02:03

Twins into aviary

Because these girls are experts, that they're absolute pros.

02:13

TITLE: Birds of a Feather.

Music

TWINS: I’m Paula.

02:24

Twins 100%

And I’m Bridgette and we’re known as the Twinnies. We’ve been rescuing and saving birds for 21 years.

02:29

Twins in aviary

Twin: "Hi Pancho, good morning, you going to come down?"

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: The Twinnies really perform an amazing job rehabilitating seabirds.

02:41

Twins: "Good morning bubbies, hello darlings."

02:51

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: So all along that southern Queensland coast, if there's a bird that is in distress or even a turtle,

02:53

Chris Brown 100%. Super:
Dr Chris Brown
vet and TV host

it's like this this bat signal goes up and the Twinnies respond. They're quite extraordinary.

03:02

Twins tend to injured duck

Twin: "He’s missed his web foot."

CLAIRE SMITH, FRIEND AND WILDLIFE CARER: I have seen Twinnies perform miracles. I’ve seen birds with open fractures, I've seen birds without beaks. And I've seen these birds mended.

03:07

Claire Smith 100%. Super:
CLAIRE SMITH
friend and wildlife carer

Very broken birds put back together with, I don't know, Twinnie magic.

03:26

Twins into sanctuary. Sign "Twinnies only beyond this point"

But in a way, the birds have also saved Twinnies.

03:35

Claire Smith 100%

Because their health isn't great.

03:40

Twins in sanctuary

Twin: "Hello Rob. What have you got?"

CLAIRE SMITH: Twinnies suffer with a lot of debilitating

03:42

Claire Smith 100%

illnesses. But the birds keep them going.

03:48

Twins in sanctuary with pelicans

PAULA POWERS: We try and forget all about the health issues. We get on with life. I guess

03:53

Paula 100%. Super:
Paula Powers

when you love something so much it's easy, yeah.

04:01

Photo. Twins as babies

Music

04:07

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: They were beautiful babies. They were just gorgeous Twinnies.

04:10

Helen and twins look at baby photos

Helen: "Forty-odd years on. Look at you now."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: I couldn't tell them apart when they were born.

04:13

Helen 100%

And the hospital had little bands on them, had twin one, twin two. I was too frightened to take them off.

04:21

Helen and twins look at baby photos

Twin: "So is this our godparents?"

Helen: "Yes."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: When Bridgette and Paula, I

04:25

Photo. Helen and John with baby twins

brought them home from the hospital and that,

04:29

Helen 100%

I thought there was something wrong and in my heart, I knew they were different.

04:32

Looking at photos

They never really sucked properly on a bottle, they used to scream a lot, they were floppy babies.

Helen:  "Always holding hands."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: Really, they didn't sit up until they were about probably 15 months old.

04:38

John 100%. Super:
John Powers
father

JOHN POWERS, TWINNIES’ DAD: We could never work out what it was. We took them to doctors and they were in hospital. You know, they just had that many problems and we couldn't, didn't know what to do about it sort of thing, neither did the doctors.

04:51

Bridgette 100%. Super:
Bridgette Powers

BRIDGETTE POWERS: If it wasn't for Mum, we wouldn't be sitting here telling this story.

05:07

Photo. Twins as toddlers with Helen

Mum did all the hard work giving us physio herself and getting us to walk.

05:11

Looking at baby photos

Twin: "You can tell we love one another, look."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: They were very, very close, like I had him in a cot together,

05:17

Photo. Twins as young children

but I tried to split them up as time went on, put them into separate beds. You'd wake up in the

05:25

Helen 100%

morning and they'd be curled up on the floor together like little puppy dogs.

05:28

Photos. Twins as young children

LIZ EATHER, SISTER: They were quite unique and funny. Like, yeah, they had this own little communication line

05:32

Liz 100%. Super:
Liz Eather
sister

that it was like nobody else was privy to really.

05:38

Looking at photos

Dad: "Which dog’s that?"

Twin: "Little Lady."

JOHN POWERS, TWINNIES’ DAD: I used to call them little chipmunks, that's how they sounded,

05:43

John 100%

like a couple little chipmunks talking to each other.

05:49

Looking at photos

Twin: "Was this our first day of school?"

05:52

Photo. Twins as young children

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: They went to a special school to see if we could get them to learn how to

05:55

Helen 100%

talk better - speech therapy and mixing because they only wanted to mix with themselves.

06:01

Looking at photos

Helen: "One sister and two brothers look at that."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: And then I got them into a

06:08

Photos. Powers children

normal school situation.

06:12

BRIDGETTE POWERS: We loved going to school and

06:15

Bridgette 100%

kids used to look at us and yell and say a few words, but we used to let it go in this ear and out the other.

06:18

Photos. Twins as teenagers

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: High school was very, very hard for them. As they got older their heart problems started kicking in. A lot of girls used to give them a hard time about

06:25

Helen 100%

not having boyfriends and saying, you know, are you having it off with one another or something, you know, horrible things.

06:39

Twins with injured ducks

Twin: "Hi you two, how is that leg?"

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: Paul and Bridgette finished school halfway through Year 10 due to ill health.

Twins: "Six months’ time."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: So what's a mum supposed to do

06:45

Helen in home office

with two little girls that are very sick,

06:57

Twins with ducks

not going to be able to hold a job down?

Twins: "There you go little man."

LIZ EATHER, SISTER :Once they moved up here onto the Sunshine Coast

06:58

Liz 100%

that was when everything kind of just started to fall into place for them.

07:06

Sunshine Coast, GVs. Super:
Sunshine Coast

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: We'd only been in Queensland for a fortnight. The boys were out fishing and they called us on the phone,

07:10

Twins feeding pelicans

"Come down to the Power Boat Club and come and see what we've got."

LIZ EATHER, SISTER: There was a big green sea turtle,

07:19

Liz 100%

obviously had some sort of problem, couldn't submerge under the water.

07:26

Photo. Liz and child with turtle

PAULA POWERS: We got there and held the turtle, we put seagrass all over his

07:29

Paula 100%. Super:
Paula Powers

eyes and his shell to keep him nice and moist. And then somebody goes, "Oh, why don't you call Steve Irwin?" And honestly, we didn’t know who Steve was at the time.

07:34

Irwin with crocodile. Super:
Australian Story, 2003

Steve Irwin: "Here he is, come on big boy, come on."

LIZ EATHER, SISTER: And very shortly after that, we had a troop carrier pull up and a guy got out. He walked straight into the water, boots and all.

07:43

Liz 100%

He got the turtle, they put it on a stretcher thing and were bringing it out of the water and he

07:59

Photos. Twins with animals

spotted the girls. And I remember it very clearly, he couldn't take his eyes off them. Steve could see just from that split second with meeting them how passionate they were about the turtle. 

08:04

Liz 100%

And that's how they came about to go and work for him.

08:20

Photo. Twins with Steve Irwin

BOB IRWIN, WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST: Steve had a what you might call a skill for being able to recognise special things that people might have. And he would have recognised that the Twinnies were

08:23

Bob Irwin 100%. Super:
Bob Irwin
wildlife conservationist

two young ladies who would be of great benefit to the zoo and also to wildlife in general.

08:36

Bob and twins at zoo

Bob: "These little guys look content, don't they."

PAULA POWERS: I don't think we could have worked anywhere else.

Helen: "I hope all these don’t fly back home."

PAULA POWERS: We've always had love for every kind of creature,

08:43

Paula 100%

even spiders. We can't even kill a spider.

08:56

Twins with Bob at zoo releasing birds

Twin: "Hi darlings, you’ve got a good life here."

PAULA POWERS: They've all got heartbeats and feelings.

Twin: "You’re free, darlings. There goes one."

BRIDGETTE POWERS: We worked at Australia Zoo for two years. And then after that we branched out on our own.

08:59

Paula 100%

PAULA POWERS: I don't know why we picked seabirds, but I think because we knew that they needed our help.

09:19

Twinnies rescue centre

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: We are a charity and we get some good volunteers, yes.

Twin: "You doing the beef heart now Ken?"

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: We’re grateful for any help.

Twin: "You’re doing a good job."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: Because it becomes costly and time-consuming.

09:26

Twins carry bird in box into rescue centre

Twin: "Hope he’s got no broken bones."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: There's not a day that we can say we haven't had a bird come through that door.

Twin: "Sorry that he had to drop it off."

09:43

Helen 100%. Super:
Helen Powers
mother

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: From the time they've started to now I'd say they've done 25,000 birds, easy.

09:55

Twins examine bird

CLAIRE SMITH, FRIEND AND WILDLIFE CARER: Twinnies pretty much do everything that a vet

09:58

Claire 100%

and a vet nurse would do, apart from major surgery.

10:07

Twins tend bird

PAULA POWERS: Some people bring the

10:11

Paula 100%. Super:
Paula Powers

birds to us and then we get calls, and we

10:16

Twins with injured pelican

go out and rescue the birds as well. They come into our ICU room first and then we move them into the hospital part. Then go into the recovery area where

10:20

Paula 100%

we start giving them a lot of physio before release.

10:39

Twins with baby bird at physio pool

Twin: "Oh my god, look at this."

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: I first met the Twinnies 10 years ago and we stay in regular touch. It's not uncommon for me to receive a text message

10:44

Chris Brown 100%. Super:
Dr Chris Brown
vet and TV host

about a patient that's just arrived and they're looking for some little tidbit of a veterinary insight from me.

10:57

Bird in physio pool/Twins feeding birds

They'll have birds in care for weeks, months and often years.

Twin: "Hungry little Vegemite, huh?"

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: They feel very deeply towards every one of their patients.

PAULA POWERS: We love them all,

11:04

Paula 100%

but our favourite bird is the pelican, yeah.

11:20

Pelicans

We just love their big eyes.

11:25

Twins into aviary

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: Pelicans are quite cheeky and I think for the Twinnies, there are some

11:28

Chris Brown 100%

parallels there, maybe they see a connection to themselves.

11:35

Chris with twins

Chris: "How are you Bridgette.

Twins: "I’m Paula."

DR CHRIS BROWN: They like to have a bit of fun along the way.

Chris: I’m sure you just say it.

Bridgette: "No, I promise I’m Bridgette. I got it wrong."

Chris: "I pride myself in getting that right."

Twins:  "It’s 50/50."

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: They take great delight in pointing out my flaws

11:38

Chris Brown 100%

and any mistakes I make, which I enjoy. But it's two against one. So it sometimes feels a little unfair.

11:55

Twins with Rob the pelican

TWINNIES: This is Rob and he’s our pride and joy. He's a beautiful boy. We have had him from an egg.

12:05

Bridgette 100%. Super:
Bridgette Powers

BRIDGETTE POWERS: We've got pelicans on our dam and we've got special permits for them.

12:14

Twins walk to pelicans on dam

They bred and there was two nests down there.

PAULA POWERS: We saw this egg and said it has to be a pelican egg.  

Twins: "And that’s where the nest was and this is where Rob’s egg was. Right here."

12:20

Paula 100%

PAULA POWERS: We picked it up and the egg was stone cold.

12:35

Twins at dam

BRIDGETTE POWERS: We raced up and we put it into an incubator and then I think it was on the fifth day we heard this little chirp.

12:37

Pelican egg. Super:
April 2020

PAULA POWERS: And we just got so excited and

12:47

Paula 100%

everything. And then the on the sixth day we saw the little beak coming out.

12:51

Pelican egg hatching

Twin: "Look. Baby pelican chick."

12:58

Feeding baby pelican with eyedropper

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: I said that is amazing but what are you going to do with it?

13:02

Helen 100%

How are you going to look after it?

13:07

Photo. Baby pelican on scales

And they said, well, we've watched the pelicans, we know what they do.

13:09

Baby pelican

Twins: "You’re doing so well… Now it’s time for bed."

TWINNIES: We were sitting on the grass

13:14

Photo. Twins with Rob the pelican

with him and then he just

13:20

Twins 100%

wobbled like, you know, he just got up and got off balance.  And then he took his first steps.

13:22

Rob walking

It was amazing. Yes.

Twins: "Good boy. Oh my god, look at that. We are so proud of you Rob."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: He's lucky.

13:30

Helen 100%

He's got two mums and they did everything right for him.

13:38

Twins with Rob the pelican

TWINNIES: "It’s amazing you’re here, you’re a miracle bird."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: But what's his future?

13:41

Helen 100%

Half of them feel that they should release him,

13:47

Twins with Rob the pelican

but then and the other half, they would like to keep him.

13:52

Twin: "Go for a rest now or go for a morning swim."

13:56

Helen 100%

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: Because that's their baby, it's got feathers.

14:00

Twins arrive at family gathering

John: "Ah hello, here they are."

JEFF CRAIG, EPIGENETICS RESEARCHER, DEAKIN UNI: Through Twins Research Australia  I've met hundreds of twin pairs. Not all sets of identical twins are close, but there's a small group like the

14:04

Jeff 100%. Super:
Prof Jeff Craig
epigenetics researcher, Deakin Uni.

Twinnies that are very close, that love to spend all their time together and have this complete understanding.

14:18

Family gathering

But I think the Twinnies are probably the most closest twins I've seen.

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: I'll have to be truthful. There's lots of times I

14:27

Helen 100%. Super:
Helen Powers
mother

just can't tell them apart. And even on the phone I say, yes, Twinnie, I don't know who I'm talking to.

14:36

John 100%. Super:
John Powers
father

JOHN POWERS, FATHER: No I can pick them. Probably be laughing at me when they see that.

14:42

Family gathering

Twin: "And we videoed you and you’re sitting on the chair."

ELLIE EATHER, NIECE: They talk in unison, which I think

14:49

Ellie 100%. Super:
Ellie Eather
niece

is really cool, but like obviously some people find that a bit annoying. But I guess growing

14:56

Family gathering

up with them, I've always found that really fascinating.

Liz: "They’re a big bird, too..."

JEFF CRAIG, EPIGENETICS RESEARCHER, DEAKIN UNI: Twins that are quite identical

15:00

Jeff Craig 100%

can attract some attention. And Bridgette and Paula  have probably got more than their fair share.

15:07

Twins on Good Morning Britain. Super: 2016

Twins: "Sometimes we do feel like we’re just one person."

15:13

Female Interviewer: "It is extraordinary that you speak in unison."

Male Interviewer: "I’m sorry how can you keep a straight face. That's one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen…"

JEFF CRAIG, EPIGENETICS RESEARCHER, DEAKIN UNI: Because they've spent their entire lives together,

15:16

Jeff Craig 100%

from in the womb, they kind of know and they respond to the same situation in the same way.

15:25

Twins on Good Morning Britain. Super: 2016

Twins: "No, how can you rehearse a conversation."

JEFF CRAIG: And that can appear as weird to the rest of us.

Male Interviewer: "This is one of the greatest interviews I have ever conducted."

15:31

Paula 100%. Super:
Paula Powers

PAULA POWERS: Me doing this interview here on my own is quite hard, because I can't remember everything and where my twin sister knows what I've missed out on. I don't know, it's a weird feeling. Yeah.

15:43

Family gathering

Twin: "We’re so happy within ourself."

LIZ EATHER, SISTER: We are pretty protective of the girls I think. They are

16:00

Liz 100%

so pure and so innocent and have a magical naivete, I suppose, about them and wouldn't wish any harm to anybody.

16:08

Twins feed birds

Music

16:17

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: They don't want to be separated. And that has been proven over and over. Somehow they met these Canadian twins and these twins, they

16:21

Helen 100%

came out to Australia looking for love.

16:31

Twins watching birds

They were lovely men and I said the Twinnies 'What do you reckon?' 

16:34

Helen 1005

Oh, the look they give me. No, that's never that would never, ever have happened.

16:42

Paula 100%

PAULA POWERS: We haven't got time for any relationships or anything because the birds need us, we’d rather give the love what we've got to the birds. Men are too much trouble.

16:52

Twins with pelican

Twin: "You need to gain some weight now bubby. You’ll be able to eat a lot more and get better now."

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: One of the true strengths that the twins possess is just this

17:02

Chris Brown 100%. Super:
Dr Chris Brown
vet and TV host

incredible ability to read a bird and just watch it for 20 seconds, 30 seconds, and almost know medically what's going on with it.

17:13

Twins tend to pelican

Twin: "There’s tape underneath this."

CHRIS BROWN: You can go to university for years and years and not be able to do that.

Twin: "You’ll be able to eat as much fish as you like sweetheart, since you’re over the worst."

BOB IRWIN, WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST: The animal may be badly injured, but it might be badly injured internally, not so much externally.

Twin: "You’re a beautiful big boy."

17:24

Bob Irwin 100%. Super:
Bob Irwin
wildlife conservationist

BOB IRWIN: Some animals, of course, suffer very, very badly from stress. And that's not always easy to pick up.

17:43

Twins tend to pelican

Twin: "Look at his eyes. Look at him looking at you."

BOB IRWIN: You've got to get inside that animal's head and the Twinnies

17:50

Bob Irwin 100%

have that ability.

17:57

Twins feeding petrel

TWINNIES: These are southern giant petrels. We’ve got to build up their strength because they’ve got a long way to fly home to the Antarctic.

18:00

Helen spraying birds in pool

CLAIRE SMITH, FRIEND AND WILDLIFE CARER: They don't let the lack of resources stop them from inventing something that will work for a few bucks.

Twins: "That looks like a bad storm."

18:10

Claire 100%. Super:
Claire Smith
friend and wildlife carer

CLAIRE SMITH, FRIEND AND WILDLIFE CARER: This leaf blower gig that the twins have got going on.

18:24

Twins point leaf blower at birds

When you blow the wind at the birds, it makes them

18:28

Claire 100%

open their wings up and then they start to flap and you can see that they want to lift up. I think it’s brilliant.

18:33

Twins feed pelicans

Music

18:46

PAULA POWERS: We have got a pelican named Graham and when our volunteers John and Julie brought him through our centre,

18:52

Paula 100%

we just burst out in tears.

19:00

Photos. Twins with sick pelican. Super: October 2018

His whole head was so swollen and he couldn't even see out of those two big, beautiful eyes.

JOHN AND JULIE ELEY, VOLUNTEERS: All I can remember

19:02

John and Julie 100%. Super:
Julie and John Eley
volunteers

about Graham was that he looked really sick and he looked as though he'd been hit.

19:13

Photo. Injured Graham the pelican

There was very little life in him. He was very sluggish.

PAULA POWERS: We feel that

19:19

Paula 100%. Super:
Paula Powers

he's gone up really close to the cleaning tables where fishermen fillet their fish and he's got probably got real close and the fisherman has donged him really hard.

19:27

Twins hold Graham the pelican

Twin: "There’s definitely a loose connection there."

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: The Twinnies sent me the x-rays

19:37

Pelican's x-rays

for Graham and I was trying to understand whether it was surgery that he needed or whether,

19:42

Chris Brown 100%

to be honest, whether it was kind for things to continue for Graham.

19:49

Photos. Graham

It was clear he'd suffered pretty serious head trauma. The worry was that if he had major

19:53

Chris Brown 100%

fractures around his skull, the beak may not be able to function.

19:59

Bridgette 100%. Super:
Bridgette Powers

BRIDGETTE POWERS: Chris gave us advice what to do and we did it, and pain relief and antibiotics and bathed eyes.

20:04

Pelican in enclosure

PAULA POWERS: We had to hand feed Graham for five months and

20:12

Paula 100%

keeping him still and poking the fish down so he wouldn't use that big bill.

20:19

Pelicans in enclosure

And it's paid off, it has.

BRIDGETTE POWERS: He's almost ready for release, almost there.

20:23

GVs Sunshine Coast. Super:
Sunshine Coast/Twins with pelicans

Music

20:34

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: I think it's incredibly hard for seabirds along the Australian coast. You look at the level of development in Australia and not surprisingly, we're seeing huge declines in sea bird numbers. The majority of the birds they're seeing have been

20:36

Chris Brown 100%

malnourished, have been hit by cars, hit by boats.

20:55

Photos. Injured pelicans

You see them hooked by fishing lines, caught in different fishing traps, crab traps. They've flown into power lines, all of those hallmarks of human development on the coast.

DR CLAUDE LACASSE, RSPCA WILDLIFE VET: We see a lot of botulism - it's a bacteria that becomes toxic and it's mainly

21:00

Dr Lacasse 100%. Super:
Dr Claude Lacasse
RSPCA wildlife vet

because of stagnant waterways and polluted water.

21:19

Photos/video. Twins with injured pelicans

It affects the pelicans and they become paralysed. So if they can't move their neck, they drown.

Twins: "It breaks our hearts when we see so many like this in one day."

PAULA POWERS: With botulism pelicans, you've got to have the patience and time to treat these birds.

Twins: "Poor darlings."

PAULA POWERS: They've got to have IV fluids and they've got to have antibiotics. We put them in portable cots. So they've got their

21:23

Paula 100%

little heads resting and their eyes are all closed.

21:52

Bridgette 100%

BRIDGETTE POWERS: We have got this good luck blanket and we cover them lightly with this nice soft pink blanket

21:58

Pelican resting on pink blanket.

and we give them leg massages just to keep their body stimulated.

Twins: "All we can do is try our best."

22:04

Dr Lacasse 100%

DR CLAUDE LACASSE, RSPCA WILDLIFE VET: The main things I've learned from the Twinnies is that a lot of birds will surprise you if you give them the attention and the care that the Twinnies can.

22:12

Sea birds in enclosure

Paula: "There’s some more behind here Bridgette."

22:22

Twins cleaning bird enclosure

CLAIRE SMITH, FRIEND AND WILDLIFE CARER: I have never, ever met people who work as hard, who are

22:27

Claire 100%

so sick as they are at times and never complain, ever.

22:32

Twins cleaning bird enclosure

BRIDGETTE POWERS: We've got osteoporosis already and we’ve got heart problems and we've got stomach problems,

22:37

Bridgette 100%

but we just go from one day to the next.

22:47

Twins cleaning bird enclosure

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: The bone density shows that their bones

22:51

Helen 100%. Super:
Helen Powers
mother

are like an 80-year -old woman and if they was to fracture a bone, it may never heal.

22:56

Twins clean oil from bird

"He came to the door for help, you can still see the oil on him."

PAULA:  It's hard watching my twin sister with

23:03

Twin 100%

that angry looking, kind of sad face when she's in pain.

23:11

Twins clean oil from bird

Twin: "Baths every day will help."

PAULA:  And it's hard for my twin sister to see me sick.

Twin: "This is a safe detergent for him."

HELEN POWERS, TWINNIES’ MOTHER: I have seven children, six to John

23:14

Helen 100%

and those six have had all health issues. And I think, why are all these kids got problems? Like is it me and then John being in Vietnam?

23:25

Archival. Australian soldiers, Vietnam War. Spraying of Agent Orange. Super: 1965

I'm starting to think, well, there's got to be a connection with Agent Orange.

REPORTER: There’s controversy once again over the chemical 245T.

23:39

Photo. John in Vietnam

JOHN POWERS, FATHER: We were the first lot of national servicemen to go to Vietnam.

23:50

John 100%. Super:
John Powers
father

That was in -- I think we got there in June, ‘66.

23:56

Photos. John and soldiers in Vietnam/Archival. Aftermath of Agent Orange spraying

I'm sure we went through an area once where it had been used.

REPORTER: The chemical, or Agent Orange as it’s known, was used to destroy jungle in Vietnam.

JOHN POWERS, FATHER: To me it’s just too much of a coincidence.

24:00

John 100%.

There's the all the things I’ve had tumours in my brain, I've had them in my kidney, in my gallbladder, everywhere.

24:12

Helen working in office

John: "There’s a box that was out the front."

PAULA POWERS: I feel sorry for Dad because he thinks it's his

24:20

Paula 100%

fault and it's not our dad's fault at all.

24:27

Twins with injured bird

Twins: "A soft tissue trauma."

BRIDGETTE POWERS: We are so blessed for our mum and dad.

24:30

Bridgette 100%

Their life savings come into our to run our organisation. If it wasn't for them. I don't know what we’d do.

24:36

Twinnies cage treated bird

Twin: "Welcome to Twinnies."

CLAIRE SMITH, FRIEND AND WILDLIFE CARER: It costs a fortune to keep Twinnies running.

24:42

Claire 100%. Super:
Claire Smith
friends and wildlife carer

They don't own the land that their facility is on it, they rent it.

24:48

Charity sign

Helen: "What do you reckon Twinnies?"

24:53

Helen and twins prepare food for birds

CLAIRE SMITH: Yes, there are small grants available. Yes, there are generous people in the public domain.

24:56

Claire 100%

But most of the money comes from Helen and John.

25:03

Helen and twins prepare food for birds

Twin: "Poor darlings."

Helen: "Who?"

Twin: "The fish."

25:07

CLAIRE SMITH, FRIEND AND WILDLIFE CARER: Helen's a dynamo. She knows that that

25:10

Claire 100%

however much hard work it is, this is what keeps Twinnies going.

25:13

Twins with baby birds

Helen knows that the birds have saved Twinnies.

Twin: "They love it in there."

25:18

Bridgette and Paula

BRIDGETTE POWERS: It's a healing thing for us it is because we've got a will to get up and will to look after them and a will to get them birds back out in the wild.

25:27

Twins in pelican enclosure

Twin: "Hello Graham, you know the routine Graham."

TWINNIES: We've almost had Graham in care for two years and we think he's ready for release.

Twin: "You’re going to go free darling."

DR CHRIS BROWN, VET AND TV HOST: Releasing birds into the wild ,it's why you do it. Releasing animals into the wild

25:42

Chris Brown 100%

with the Twinnies though, is a different thing altogether. It's like a spiritual awakening.

26:02

Twins with Graham the pelican preparing for release

Helen: "Don’t you pair start crying. You did a wonderful job with him."

PAULA POWERS: With some birds, especially the ones what we've put in a lot of time and effort, and then it's time for them to go it is so emotional for us to say goodbye to them. It's hard,

26:09

Paula 100%

because we worry about them, especially the ones we had what could have been euthanised and we fixed them.

26:30

Twinnies talk to pelican as they carry him in pet pack

Twins: "Now Graham, you’ve got to be careful when you’re at the boat ramp. Don’t get too close to anybody, please because then you won’t end up with an injury."

PAULA POWERS: When we undo that zipper on the pet pack, our hearts are pounding and we do drop a tear,

26:40

Paula 100%

but it's a happy tear and it's a bit of a worry tear as well, because we once they’re gone and out of our hands, it's up to them.

26:57

Twins with pelican

Twin: "You ready to go?  We’re not, but you belong out here, don’t you darling, with all your friends."

BRIDGETTE POWERS: We just

27:06

Bridgette 100%

love it when they spread their wings and wiggle their little tails

27:14

Twins release Graham

and sometimes the bird looks back at us and we know that's a sign them saying thank you, because we've given them that second chance of life to be a free bird again.

BOB IRWIN, WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST: I just hope they can keep going as long as possible, because it's going to be very, very difficult to find wildlife carers that can do

27:21

Bob Irwin 100%

what they do with the same dedication and success that the Twinnies have.

27:45

Twinnies watch Graham on water

Twins: "Nice straight beak Graham."

BOB IRWIN:  That takes very special people to be able to do that.

"Oh look at him he’s a bossy boots."

27:51

Intertitle:
The intergenerational health effects of Agent Orange remain a disputed area of research.

28:04

Intertitle:
It has been one year since Rob the Pelican hatched.
The Twinnies haven't made a decision about his future.

28:11

Rob the pelican in pet carrier in car

Helen: "You're off to school, aren't you Rob, to see the kids. Good boy."

28:21

Twinnies unload Rob and take him to school children

Credit start [see below]

Twins: "Hi, kids."

Children: "Hi." 

28:26

Twins: "We get a lot of phone calls about pelicans getting all tangled up in fishing lines."

28:37

Twins: "That's how they find their fish… This one's a very lucky pelican, isn't he?"

28:43

Photo. Twins with Pelican Rob on birthday

28:50

Outpoint

25:55

Birds of a Feather

Producer

Rebecca Armstrong

Editor

Angela Leonardi

Camera

Anthony Sines ACS

Sound

Ashley Eden

Caroline Smalley

Script consultant

Helen Grasswill

Acknowledgements

WTFN

Peter and May Miller

John and Julie Eley

Additional Production

Mayeta Clarke

Greg Hassall

Additional Camera

Quentin Davis
Matthew Guest

Mark O’Leary

Marc Smith

Simon Winter

Additional Sound
James Fisher

Anthony Frisina

Basil Krivoroutchko

Marc Smith

Archive

Brian May

Graphics

Deborah McNamara

Compile Editor

John Fis

Post Production Audio

Jikou Sugano

Colourist

Chris Downey

Assistant Editors  

Kai-Bin Wong
Ryan Brookhouse

Publicity

Philly Larkin

Promotions

Linda Grace

Legal

Pierce Hartigan

Digital Producer 

Megan Mackander

Production Coordinator

Victoria Allen

Assistant Production Manager

Georgia Slade

Senior Production Manager 

Michelle Roberts

Research

Annie Gaffney

Supervising Producers

Rebecca Latham

Executive Producer

Caitlin Shea