Someone just brought me a baby bird :(

[IcyWolf]

Ok, so before I get told they should have left it alone, I know that and would have told them the same thing. There was a nest in the awning of their second floor apartment and this baby bird fell out and their dog was trying to attack it. So they took it inside and then called me when they were already on their way here! I'm not sure what kind of bird it is yet, I'm thinking a black bird or a starling, I have it set up in a brooder in a completely different part of the house from my birds and it is in a strict, permanent quarantine. So I guess my question is, does anyone have any advice? I would prefer to take it to a rehabber but the only one around here is run by a bunch of, well, I'll leave that to your imagination, but I have a few choice words for them. This is the last thing I needed to deal with right now, I have 10 babies I'm handfeeding right now, one of my parrotlets just hatched today and there are two clutches about to hatch and we are babysitting two birds and a kitty that is still on the bottle! Ahhhh. sorry lol. Here's a pic...

Just did some google searching and I'm pretty sure it's a baby starling.

 

[MikeyTN]

That looks like a black starling to me. This is what I was told by both humane society and wild life rehab when I took in a baby robin neighbor kids found. They both told me they don't have anyone available to handfeed so they would euthanize the baby. I told them no thank you, i'll raise him on my own and they were fine with it as I will not be in trouble if someone reported me cause they kept my info just in case.

 

[mcw009]

If you can bring it back and get it back in the nest, it's not too late to put it back.

 

[IcyWolf]

So I've been looking online and and it is apparently legal to have starlings because they are not an indigenous species. There is no chance of putting it back in the nest, he was on his way to work when he came over so he just dropped it off and left and my car isn't running at the moment so I have no way to take it back.

I'm reading online and it says that a dog food mixture is best. The one recipe calls for dog/cat food, applesauce, boiled egg and water, problem is I don't have applesauce or eggs. I do have high quality lamb dog food(no fillers, corn, wheat or soy) does anyone know if I could mash that with water and give it to him? I gave him a tiny bit of parrot formula and then realized you're not supposed to feed them that. whooops.

And apparently wildlife rehabbers don't normally take starlings since they are an invasive species and are in open season all year round.

 

[cdog]

I think the best thing for it would be for you to handfeed it, or someone else to handfeed it. I think it is probably too late to put it back in the nest, I found a baby blue jay when I was 10 that wasn't injured but it had fallen out of the nest so I put it back. I watched it for a few days but the parents stopped taking care of it. This was before I knew how to handfeed otherwise I would have raised it myself.

 

[IcyWolf]

I am trying to hand feed him, just want to make sure I give him the right thing before I make a mistake I can't reverse.

 

[mcw009]

I know the rehab center I worked at wasn't allowed to take invasive species, but we usually still did and just didn't report them (speaking of rehab centers filled with people to have choice words about). Have you looked for any lone rehabbers who aren't affiliated with your local center?

I'm not really sure if an all-meat diet is good for him. Starlings normally eat grains and insects, I think. Or more commonly, leftover french fries from the dumpster behind McDonalds. I actually feed my starlings a corn-based chick feed. So perhaps a lower-quality dog food that DOES have some fillers like that would actually be better for it. it'd also probably appreciate some live mealworms.

 

[IcyWolf]

I don't know of any private rehabbers but I can look. I don't have a problem caring for him if I can figure out how to do it. The site I'm using seems to be the best one because all of the other sites just link to this one, it has a section about keeping pet starlings and they even suggest dog food as a large part of the diet saying that they need high levels of protein and insects alone aren't good for them. I really have no idea, I've always left wild birds in the wild.

Baby Starling Care: precise information on caring for wild baby birds

 

[charliesmommy]

What about birdie formula? Would you be able to get some? The bird shop where I get all of my supplies from has it, and even if they don't sell it they would give me some if I needed it.

 

[IcyWolf]

I have parrot formula, I'm feeding 10 babies right now. It says all over the web not to give them parrot formula, that parrots are herbivores and these guys are omnivores that need high levels of protein.

 

[Mare Miller]

One of my dogs brought me a baby bird, two years ago. She has a very soft mouth, sweet dog, I had no idea where it came from. I believe it was a sparrow of sorts. It couldn't fly yet so I ground up some of Amigo's pellets, soaked them in a bit of water to make a thick paste. The bird thrived. I had it for about 2 and a half weeks before she/he could fly away. She/he was like Amigo in the sense that she/he would follow me around the yard, land on me and hung around for a couple days before it took off.

 

[Spiritbird]

I guess it is baby bird fall out of nest time. Maybe you can get a young helper child from the neighborhood since they know you as bird mama. Good luck http://www.ehow.com/how_7270038_feed-baby-birds-chicken-food.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_8234111_raise-release-baby-starlings.html

 

[MikeyTN]

When I was caring for the baby robin I fed parrot formula partially then fed worms, berries and insects.....He used to sit with you if your in the rocking chair, he'll fall asleep while you rock. He went from a featherless chick to a full grown baby. The day he took off we had a horrible storm and I was worried sick and not sure how he did.

 

[Spiritbird]

Interesting this link says baby starlings make good pets and will learn to talk.

http://www.starlingtalk.com/index.htm

 

[cdog]

Yeah, on one of the other parrot forums I go on, multiple people have pet satrlings and say they make just as great pets/talkers as mynahs do.

 

[amysaviary]

Could u add extra protein to the formula? Like add peanut butter? or Chic peas? or eggs? I have the formula that is higher in protein would that help? U can also mash up meal worms for added protein? I would just try to add protein to the formula u have and make that work.

 

[IcyWolf]

I'm posting from my phone so bare with me. I also have some of the higher protein formula but from what I read its not just the nutrition of the formula that's bad for them, it seems they aren't meant to have liquid food. I have fed him twice so far and I just took some of the dog food and crushed it up and added water until it was soft. The first time I was a bit worried because he didn't want to eat but he eventually got the hang of it. It looks like a starling to me but its pretty big, I've never really seen a starling up close so I'm not sure how big they actually are.

 

[KatherineI]

Interesting this link says baby starlings make good pets and will learn to talk.

Starling Talk: The Care and Feeding of Injured and Orphaned Starlings

That's quite interesting! I never would have thought that they could learn to talk.

 

[ann]

you did a great thing taking him in ! would a soft bill hand feeding formula workif you added some protein to it? good luck!

 

[mcw009]

Meat- and Poultry-Based Pet Food ? Premium Dog Food, Cat Food, Ferret Food, Dog Treats ? EVO Pet Products
I believe this is what we fed baby birds at the rehab center. I know it was dry evo cat food, for sure. We soaked it in water until it was soft but not total mush. Omnivorous passerines also got diced fruits (banana, grape, apple, starfruit, strawberry, pineapple, whatever basically), and, as I said, live mealworms (well, with heads recently chopped off or crushed. they WILL bite babies from the inside otherwise). We would pretty much just stuff their little faces until they shut up.

Adult starlings are about 80g on average, if that helps at all.