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Need help with a wild baby bird

GregW

GregW

My six year old son, Gavin, was walking in the woods behind our house today and found this baby bird. I looked around but couldnt find any nest. I think it might be a grackle but can't tell for sure. Anyone have any experience raising one of these? I know I'm looking at a lot of work here but it's kind of important that I keep this guy alive - Gavin's grandpop died a couple days ago :'(

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D

duijver

SPCA will take it if you are unable to care for it yourself.

We just dropped off a sparrow or robin fledgling on tuesday that had a broken leg and was abandoned by the mother.
 
GregW

GregW

Holy cow! How much do these things poop? It seems to be pretty happy eating worms that my son digs up and moist dog food.
 
Tazmaniancowboy

Tazmaniancowboy

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Good luck, we went through this last night. I put it in the nest twice and it got kicked out both times. After that, my wife brought it in and it didn't make the night. We tried. :'(
 
D

duijver

I could be wrong, but I think once your scent is on the baby the mother refuses to care for it again. At least that's what I was always told as a kid - maybe to keep me from grabbing birds from their nests and bringing them home. ;)

Then again... that didn't stop me from digging up the termite and ant holes for the queens... and swimming for the turles, frogs, salamanders, snakes.. ok you get the picture.
 
Tazmaniancowboy

Tazmaniancowboy

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
duijver said:
I could be wrong, but I think once your scent is on the baby the mother refuses to care for it again. At least that's what I was always told as a kid - maybe to keep me from grabbing birds from their nests and bringing them home. ;)

Then again... that didn't stop me from digging up the termite and ant holes for the queens... and swimming for the turles, frogs, salamanders, snakes.. ok you get the picture.
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I was told the same thing. I had to tell my wife that she shouldn't pick it up, but it was after the fact. We would have had to pick it up eventually anyway, too many predators around. We wanted to try and teach the kids to help out when something or someone is in need
 
J

JerseyWendy

duijver said:
I could be wrong, but I think once your scent is on the baby the mother refuses to care for it again. At least that's what I was always told as a kid - maybe to keep me from grabbing birds from their nests and bringing them home. ;)
Click to expand...

Not true. Birds don't rely on scent at all. Touching a baby bird will not stop the parents from raising it. I took classes on Wildlife Rehabilitation when we lived in Oklahoma, and specialized in rehabilitating song birds.

Greg, worms are fine, but the moistened dog food is even better. ;) You can also get a few cans of Gerber baby food (or pick some up from me, I still have some) and mix that under the moistened dog food. I might also still have a vitamin supplement for birds which you are more than welcome to. Robins rely on worms more than any other song bird, but Grackles are omnivorous, they eat what they can fit into their beaks.

My deepest condolences to the loss of Gavin's grandpop. :'(
 
GregW

GregW

Thanks all and Wendy (I was hoping you would reply :) ) He's on dog food only now (no worms for me thanks). I'll try mixing it with some baby food like you said.
 
D

duijver

JerseyWendy said:
duijver said:
I could be wrong, but I think once your scent is on the baby the mother refuses to care for it again. At least that's what I was always told as a kid - maybe to keep me from grabbing birds from their nests and bringing them home. ;)
Click to expand...

Not true. Birds don't rely on scent at all. Touching a baby bird will not stop the parents from raising it. I took classes on Wildlife Rehabilitation when we lived in Oklahoma, and specialized in rehabilitating song birds.
Click to expand...

That's good to know for next time. :) Thanks!
 
S

Scottyrock

yeah.. chopped up earthworms and or dogfood will work good.. its a baby starling, and looks like it will be flying in about two weeks. i really dont think the human scent will scare the mother away... think thats a story mothers tell their sons to keep them from diggin in birds nests. haha
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
How is the little guy doing? I have raised baby birds (wild and captive-bred) successfully using Zupreem (Embrace) and Lafbers (Nutri-Start) formulas made specifically for them, fed with a syringe. Four babies successfuly raised (1 conure, 1 cockatiel, 1 pidgen, 1 bluejay), no fatalities. Good luck!
 
GregW

GregW

Thanks for the info Mike. He seems to been doing great. Wakes me up at 6am every day (including Sundays), eats at least once an hour from sun up to sun down, and poops like I've never seen anything poop before. Kinda reminds me of my kids when they were babies ;D

I'm pretty sure it's a grackle and not a starling. All the pictures of starlings I've seen have yellow on the edge of their beaks - this one's black.
 
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