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I found this fledgling a few hours ago and can't find its nest anywhere. It's after 7 p.m. so I can't reach anyone at bird rescue societies or wildlife rescue societies so I have to feed it. I found an article on feeding baby birds but I don't know if it needs fruit or protein.
My house is at 81 degrees right now so I wasn't worried about keeping it warm but I will make sure it's surrounded by alot more cotton balls tonight or a warm water bottle.
Please respond asap and tell me what kind of bird it is and any tips on feeding it would be greatly appreciated!
Ok i got the mealworms but i cant get him to open his mouth. He did it a few times but i couldnt get the worm in. Now he wont open no matter what i do. I tried tapping the top of his beak, the sides, underneath… I tried showing him the worm... Nothing works.
I know you meant well but you should have left it where you found it. Every year well intentioned people do this. My wife and I used to raise numerous baby birds every year the customers brought into her store. If it is still alive you will need a plastic syringe and a commercial powdered fledgling food. It takes a practiced touch but basically place the plastic tip of the syringe in the corner of the birds beak where it hinges.
You need to microwave the formula mixed with water. It should be similar to pudding and warm not hot. Test it on the inside of your wrist like people do with baby formula. They need feeding about every two hours. Feed until the crop is nearly full, you can feel it in the neck. Be gentle and don't shoot the formula into it under pressure. The food should be available at Petsmart or Petco.
It is a lot of work, good luck.
Thank you Dober1. I honestly would have loved to put him back but I got him from a cat (luckily he wasn't injured) so I had no idea where he came from. I live on a small cul-de-sac so I looked at every tree in the street and even went into a few neighbors back yards to look for its nest.
I have a bit of good news. After a few hours of not being able to feed him, I could tell he was going downhill because he wouldn't open his eyes anymore so I called my neighbor at midnight and got her to put the worm in while i opened his beak. Amazingly enough we managed to get 5 worms into him. I got another 3 in this morning by myself and this afternoon HE OPENED HIS BEAK when I held the worm and ate 6. I can't tell yo how happy that made me!
I also got some great advice from a local bird seed place which I turned to because I've had no luck with rescue organizations. A very nice man gave me a lot of advice that I hadn't heard or read anywhere else so I'm writing it here so it will hopefully help someone else.
He said I could put the fledgeling in a shallow box and put it in a bush or tree UP TO 40 feet away from where I had found it because it will call its parents. Then watch the box from far away for a few hours to see if its parents find it. Of course its best to put it in a box as close as possible to where it came from but I didn't know it didn't have to be exactly the same spot or I could have done it yesterday..
He also told me that its a myth that birds will reject their young if you have touched them because they don't have a good sense of smell.
Right now I put the little guy in a cream cheese container filled with straw that I wedged into a tree that has a bush underneath in case he falls out. Luckily its 80 degrees out so I'm going to leave him out for a few hours and pray his mom will find him.
If the mom doesn't find him, can anyone tell me how long they are at the fledgeling stage before they fly off?
For some reason I cannot get your thumbnail photos to open. But from what I can see it is not a sparrow, possibly a mockingbird. We have hand raised several. I would say it's close to 4 weeks. In about 2 weeks should be good to go. Don't worry about imprinting but do worry about when it starts to try out its wings.
I don't know where you are keeping it but it will attempt to fly soon.
Here are a few more pictures of him. I cant believe how much he has grown and changed in 2 days. He eats about 100 small meal worms a day! I am amazed that any mother bird can keep up with feeding a few chicks. Its more than a full time job.
I am worried that he isn't learning the bird lessons his mom would be teaching him like where to find food. I've read that birds that are hand raised then released are "social outcasts" in bird society because they don't know how to behave. I'm also more worried that he will starve because his mom hasn't taught him how to find food. I don't want to release him to starve but I HATE the idea of keeping him in a cage.
I've attached a few more pictures. Sorry they're not super clear. I didn't want to use a flash and I'm trying not to let him see or hear me as much as possible. I don't think he is a Sparrow either because his chest is almost yellow. I would love to know what he is because I don't know if he is supposed to eat fruit as well as meal worms to develop properly. What is their source of calcium in the wild?
I'm seriously thinking of calling an Ornithology department of a university (if I can find one) to ask if they can evaluate whether or not he is releasable. Is that a crazy idea?
Do you know if there is such a thing as a bird sanctuary where they are enclosed in a very large where they can fly as much as they want?
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