# Baby Bird Fallen From Nest



## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

This morning I found a baby bird on the ground in front of my house. The baby could not quite fly right, so caught it. I worried that a baby alone who could not fly completely would be easy prey for a cat or other animals. I put the baby in a cage on my back deck. I have been feeding it Kaytee Exact formula through a syringe -- I try to let the baby suck the formula from the syringe as much as possible.

I will post pictures shortly, and I would appreciate if anyone could tell me what kind of bird this could be. My guess, based on a little web research is that the baby is a starling, approximately between 10-14 days old. Also, would appreciate is anyone could give me an idea of how long I will need to care for this little baby before he/she can be released ... doubtful my pigeons Pete and George are ready to fully share me with another bird, although as many on the site have expressed, it is tough to say good bye to these lovely little creatures when the time comes.

Thanks for any help anyone can give ... pics to come shortly.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

First off, you need to bring the baby inside your house. Outside on your deck isn't a safe place.
Pictures would certainly help us identify the baby and help instruct you as to how to proceed. If it is indeed a starling, there is an excillent site called, starlingtalk.com that is a wonderful resource.
They are,starlings, enchanting and smart. I lived with one for 14 years and miss her every day.


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

Charis -- Thanks. I'm working on the pix right now. I should have clarified about my deck -- the baby is inside of a 6' X 6' cage that is secure. I have it in a box with a heating pad underneath some towels ... although the baby seems to prefer perching on the side of the box or on a large perch that sits on one side of the cage.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Will wait for the pics, but if it is a baby starling, please see this: http://www.starlingtalk.com/babystarlings.htm .. it's the site that Charis mentioned. Kaytee Exact or other baby hookbill formulas won't work for baby starlings or sparrows. You can keep them alive for a good while with such formulas, but you will eventually end up with a dead youngster or one that is so health compromised that it will have a very short and poor quality of life.

Terry


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

Terry & Charis -- Thanks for the starling website. Still working out the kinks on the pix (need to delete some of my older photos). Will make sure to get some proper starling food tomorrow morning.


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

*Pix*

Here are a few


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

I can't tell what it is, but it is NOT a starling. A starling would have a yellow mouth inside and either a very wide yellow lipped beak when very young and when a bit older the beak would be much longer than that of your bird. The pink inside the mouth is a clue as is the feather color .. how many toes? And, by the beak on bird, it is probably an insectivore/omnivore so the starling diet should work at least for a short time. Tis important to figure out what it is though. Can you make the pics bigger or send them in a bigger format to me ([email protected])?

Terry


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Some type of dove? Sparrow??


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

It could be a sparrow -- there are a bunch of house sparrows who live in the trees around my house and eat on my back deck.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Nope .. definitely not a dove or a sparrow either .. I'm looking for some links I used to have for ID'ing fledglings .. not having much luck.

Terry


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

I'll cross post the pics to a couple of other lists where there are some really wild bird savvy people and let you know. For now soaked dry cat/dog food, hard boiled egg yolk, meal worms (drowned or beheaded before feeding), and perhaps some small pieces of grapes should work. Or the Starling-Talk diet.

Terry


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

It's not a dove and it's not a house sparrow.
It certainly is starling size.
A bigger picture could help solve the mystery.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Do you know the kinds of birds in your area, Derrick?

Maybe naming them could help.


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

Terry -- Will send the bigger pix to you via e-mail shortly. As for birds in the area -- the birds whom I feed on my back deck are pigeons, house sparrows and mourning doves. There are also some black birds with longish beaks that I think are crows. Also get the occasional cardinal, oriole and bluejay.


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

Toes -- The baby has 4 toes. Looked at some pix of baby crows on the web, and there is a possibility that this baby is a crow, and that the parents live in a tree in front of in back of my house. One website said that if the baby is feathered and able to balance on my finger, I should put the baby back on the ground near where I found it so the parents can reclaim.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

The baby is not a crow. Too small for that.
I don't know if putting it back noe is a good idea. Hasn't it been over 24 hours?
Will it eat on it's own if you put food in front of it?
How about drinking water?


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

*Brewer's Blackbird?*

Charis -- I have not tried to feed the baby on its own yet -- that is, by putting food in front of it. However, when it sees the syringe, it seems to know that food is around and opens its mouth to be fed.

You're right, too small for a crow. How about a Brewer's Blackbird? Perhaps the birds in my backyard that I thought were small crows are blackbirds ... attached are a couple of pix.


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

*Baby Brewer's Blackbird*

Here's a baby


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

*Grackle?*

Close relative of the blackbird


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Are there bigger pictures on the way?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Could be a grackle or some type of baby blackbird. If you are able to watch carefully for an hour or so, I would put the baby back out and see if the parents come to care for it. If they do then all should be well. Then it's time to either sign on for hand raising it or finding a rehabber or facility to take it in. I'll try to do some diet research in a little bit just in case.

Terry


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

Charis -- I sent the large pix to Terry via e-mail. Doubt that I could post much large pix given that I had to resize the pix of the baby bird to make the pix fit. If you PM your e-mail, I could e-mail the regular sized pix to you via e-mail.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Here's the larger pictures:

http://www.rims.net/BabyBird1.JPG
http://www.rims.net/BabyBird2.JPG
http://www.rims.net/BabyBird3.JPG

Terry


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Hi Derrick, congratulations. To me, it does look like either a grackle or blackbird and I would lean towards the grackle. They are really nice little birds.

I wanted to share this link I found from a forum discussing care of grackles. There is a web link within it to the Geocities website that gives several formulas, including some for doves and pigeons but the grackle shouldn't be given those. There is a Macleod diet that looks pretty good. The Geocities site opens up at the bottom of the article so you'll need to scroll up. 

http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3085


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

Thanks Terry for posting the larger pix, and thanks Maggie for the link. So far so good for the baby bird ...


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

Update -- Just spoke to my realtor, who was at my house yesterday afternoon conducting an open house for prospective buyers. He said that one of the adult blackbirds/grackles in my backyard attempted to feed the baby bird through the cage on a few occasions. He said the adult bird stayed near the cage and spoke to the baby bird. So I think this adult bird was a momma or poppa bird, which is good, and the baby bird is a nestling who is trying to learn to fly. I'm going to check for the parent bird when I get home. Seems to me that I should try to reunite parent and baby bird ... what do you guys think? Any tips?


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Derrick, it would be worth a try to set the baby out in the area where his cage is and stand back a bit and see if the parents will feed him. They may try to coax him under some bushes to keep him hidden but if they don't I wouldn't leave him in the open. If there are a lot of cats/dogs in your neighborhood I would just continue to feed him.

I don't know about grackles but I do know that finches will feed a baby even if it doesn't belong to them. Even finch siblings help out. Maybe grackles do the same.


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## dekebrent (Jun 17, 2005)

Update -- I arrived home yesterday to find the momma bird diligently sitting on the fence chatting w/ the baby bird -- I think they are blackbirds. So I released the baby bird into the back yard and momma immediately flew down to her baby. Momma appeared to feed the baby, then escorted it to a safe corner of the yard, near some trees, before flying up to the trees herself. So all appears to be well for the baby and its mom, glad to know she is watching over her baby.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

That's good news, Derrick! I'm glad Mom and baby have been reunited.

Terry


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Ditto to that!


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

What a relief!


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Derric, I so love happy endings!  Great job on your part.


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