Photo Thread, Pt Two

[Adam]

just googled and he does look like a baby blackbird yeh

found this on someone's blog:

On Sunday my nephew J found a baby blackbird (aka ‘grackle’). It had fallen out of the nest but we couldn’t locate its parents and reunite it with them. So we took it home. Then yesterday J had to leave the island to visit family in Italy. Of course Sue and I are left with the bird.

We’re feeding it cat food as a kind of worm/insect mash substitute and it seems to be working. The bird has been named ‘Eric’ by a guest who is staying with us, though of course we don’t know its sex. It sleeps right through the night but does make a real racket whenever it wants to be fed, which is about every 40 minutes during the day.

worms should be fine

[lutra]

Not 100% sure it's a blackbird chick but I'm pretty (=88.4%) sure it is. Colouring, on pics, kinda tells me it's a young female blackbird.

Also, if it starts to squeek/make very high pitch repetitive 'eeeh.. eeeh.. eeeh' noises.. it's calling for his parents and is basically hungry. You could, if there's no potential danger around, under your supervision, place it in your garden (near the spot you've found her), take a little distance and see if a parent responds, I was thinking. Don't worry about scent or something.. birds recognize their offspring via looks and sound mostly.

Think, best surviving chances it has is try to see if the parents reclaim their daughter here. Maybe place it in a plant pot fairly high in the hedge and see if one parent return..

Well, dunno. it's a good sign it eats your brought worms though. Maybe a little later you could try some pieces of a ripe berry perhaps. Like strawberry.. grown up merulas love them but I'm not sure if they're good for such a young chick.

[Adam]

or maybe u should contact the RSPB. here's what they say: http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/health/babybirds.aspx?mediacode=t08ith0124&=125272

for now, I just read this: "In the meantime, you could try wetting some bread with milk. Or regurgitated a chewed worm for it. It depends on you! "

maybe mash the worms up or something? if he seems to be digesting them fine he should be ok though, but I know fuck all about birds tbh. I'd ring the RSPB to be sure

[TheoK]

Baby birds are actually scared of living worms at first, so he should learn to eat them alive.

[Adam]

but dont their parents regurgitate them when theyre still young?

lutra's point about seeing if the parents come backm for him might be best actually, if it's possible. if not then I think ring the rspb, just to be safe

[TheoK]

Yes, they do, but if no adult bird will take care of him, he has to learn it by himself anyway.

[midlifeaspie]

Cute birds Bodie.  My new house has 9 nests packed up around the house because it was vacant for a year before I bought it.  They are all packed full of little pink naked birdies too.  Fortunately their moms are still actively caring for them so I just get to watch

[Peter]

Thing is.. you have to feed it.. very young bird don't have a 'get food' need, intrinsically, I believe. Stupidly they will not initiate searching for food themselves.

Probably because searching for food themselves would invariably lead to them falling out of the nest and being eaten by the next fox or whatever that passed by.

[midlifeaspie]

I have attempted to hand raise baby birds before, as well as squirrels and other assorted wildlife that would find their way into one of my clinics back in those days.  Don't feel bad if it goes south.  Baby birds are almost impossible to keep alive.

If you want your best shot at it, this is the stuff you need:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=5755&cmpid=04csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA%26CAWELAID%3D525353534

[TheoK]

Well, if she nourishes and protects him, he might be able to survive. In 2001 there was a hurt great tit here. It was an adult, though, but he survived despite harsh circumstances. He had hurt his wings and couldn't fly. It was deep snow and -18^oC. He found a hole in the snow, where he could sleep. Every morning he tried to fly. He walked to get the bird seeds. After about a month he actually learned to fly again. Now he's most probably dead, but I'll never forget how tough he was 

[Adam]

Sounds very difficult to do on your own bodie. I reckon contact the RSPB and tell them about him and see what they say.

he's seriously cute though, I'd wanna keep him

[bodie]

Elvis has left the building!

I emailed RSPB but had no reply!  I tried ringing RSPCA -  it just rang...
but, because the other two had gone off on their own ok,  and Dickie had been eating live worms like a savage i took him back to where i had found him.  He was just in a cardboard tray with some leaves and stuff.  As i was carrying him up the garden, a bird swooped right by my head.  I figured it to be mom,  because she had no other reason to come that close to me!  I put him on top of the newly chopped hedge,  he was shaded by the tree, and i have never seen a cat on top of the hedge so i figured as good a place as any.

I have been assured that it often happens, that birds fall from the nest, and mom and dad still feed them. 

Yeah i have tried to raise several baby animals in the past, including birds and have lost them all.  Except for one baby magpie, but i think they are very hardy anyway.  I think saving them from the cat, keeping them overnight and making sure they had some food was about as good as i could hope for.  The longer you keep a bird in a box then i think you are decreasing it's chances of survival.  I had observed Dickie really pick up in the 24 hrs,  he had eaten, poo'd and had a little water.

Anyway i sat out with it for a bit, the mom bird was nearby then i left to go horse riding.  It is not there now.   

I hope it is ok.  It was a good lesson for the urchin, as i really want him to be good with animals and nature.  He spent all day trundling around digging up worms and finding bits of foliage for his 'nest'.

[Jesse]

baby birds are unattractive. but how did you get one?

[Parts]

I raised a baby robin when I was about 6.  He was hurt when we got him and one wing was never right, he lived over a year.  I do not remember what we fed him beside worms

[TheoK]

Robins are