# URGENT!!! Help with baby bird!!!



## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

There has been some construction going on in my apartment building, being done by my FIL's company. They stumbled across a birds nest while installing new windows and moved it to a tree. When they moved it, they also put it on a large chunk of the fluffy yellow insulation. A baby bird is now stuck in the insulation with only it's head free and is cheeping like crazy. The birds have been touched and mom isn't coming back. The siblings are gone and this is the only one left. I'd like to help it. 

How can I get it free from the insulation without hurting it? Is there a safe way for me to house it until it can be free on its own? What do I feed it? I don't have a lot of money to do this, but I can't just let it struggle and suffer and die. It's very young, just starting to get feathers, and is very hungry. He opened his mouth when I came near for food. 

First and foremost is freeing it from the insulation.

PLEASE HELP!


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## mikeh (Jun 17, 2014)

Can you take a picture to see what you are dealing with?


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

Yeah. We're gonna go try to gently free him from the insulation now, he's struggling hard and I don't want him to hurt himself. I've got a small rubbermaid that I put paper towels and some dry sphagnum moss in. We're gonna keep him in there for a bit until we have something else figured out.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

Here he is. We got him free pretty easily his siblings died in the insulation. 

He's being noisy and hopping around a little bit in the bin.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

He is super hungry...I don't know what to feed him?!


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

We called a wildlife rehabilitator to see if she had any instructions or could take the little one, but it went straight to voicemail, don't know when she will call back.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

Here is a link to a blog we found...this bird looks identical to ours, just in case our pictures aren't clear enough. He didn't feel like posing for us. http://aesthete-studios.blogspot.com/2009/06/save-baby-bird.html


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

I'm thinking sparrow?


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

How does this link look for accuracy? He's hungry and hasn't eaten in about 8 hours, we need to get food in him ASAP.

http://www.starlingtalk.com/babycare.htm#diet


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## mikeh (Jun 17, 2014)

Looks like sparrow or fintch. Take a cereal bawl and make a tight small nest out of dry grass and straw just so that the chick fits in. 
We have same chicks now inside a low bush. Parents take bird seeds out of feeder, peel the shell and give it to their young. Its prob crushed and moistened with saliva then fed. Maybe feed it with tweezers. It looks few days old it should survive while you do some research. Keep in warm place. 
Here is what ours look like, about 5-6 days old.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

We got him to eat a small mealworm. Gonna make him a little house and get him under some heat.


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## mikeh (Jun 17, 2014)

Make it tight like photo above so he can't move around much. Not too much direct heat to prevent dehydration. Keep us updated.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

he's very antsy, likes to move around. Going to get him a nice little nest though.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 17, 2014)

You can make a gruel of baby food cereal and dropper it into his mouth. Sparrows eat more seeds than bugs, so I wouldn't feed the baby too many meal worms.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

The site I read suggested a mixture of moistened cat food (link above) and a higher protein content as babies?


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## mikeh (Jun 17, 2014)

StarSapphire22 said:


> The site I read suggested a mixture of moistened cat food (link above) and a higher protein content as babies?


That may have been for starling. Your chick looks like sparrow or fintch.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

mikeh said:


> That may have been for starling. Your chick looks like sparrow or fintch.


 
I'm pretty sure its a sparrow. This site said that diet worked for sparrows too.


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

Its too little to process solids. You can grind seeds, and a little bit of water. If you use a rounded chopstick to feed it, you'll be fine. Or a dropper like Yvonne said.


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

Every so often, add a ground mealworm for protein. But not often. SLOWLY, grind the seed less and less, so with time its almost straight seed.


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

Keep him warm. That's the biggest worry a heating mat under a bowl of nesting would be good. 
When I madea nest for my baby doves, I used hay, and one pulled apart cotton ball in the very bottom where they sat. Hay is kind of hard, and could break its skin.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

T33's Torts said:


> Its too little to process solids. You can grind seeds, and a little bit of water. If you use a rounded chopstick to feed it, you'll be fine. Or a dropper like Yvonne said.



If he ate two worms is he gonna be ok if he can't process solids? They were very small worms. :/ I have feeding tweezers, but no dropper. 



T33's Torts said:


> Keep him warm. That's the biggest worry a heating mat under a bowl of nesting would be good.
> When I madea nest for my baby doves, I used hay, and one pulled apart cotton ball in the very bottom where they sat. Hay is kind of hard, and could break its skin.



He has a cotton nest/bed thing. I think technically it's for small animals like hamsters, but he seems to like it. For heat I have regular/black light bulbs. Will these work?


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

I think it'll work. Once in a while, with a warm damp paper towel, kind of wipe him off. The bedding probably gives off dust, which most likely irritates him. Maybe he'll settle down after.


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

Do you have chopsticks? If you use the small end, he'll eat off it.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

T33's Torts said:


> I think it'll work. Once in a while, with a warm damp paper towel, kind of wipe him off. The bedding probably gives off dust, which most likely irritates him. Maybe he'll settle down after.



I had him on dry sphagnum moss (what I had on hand, lol). It's like he's part tortoise, he keeps burrowing down in it like a little goofball. I think I'm going to take it out. I'm worried he'll strangle himself. I may have some cottonballs to put in his nest though. I will check.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

Just checked on him...he pooped! Does it look normal? You can see his "nest" too.


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

Looks like normal baby birdie poop to me. You may want to add some soft stuff too. Paper towels, rags, whatever. Birds are pretty easy.


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

My main concern would be releasing him into the wild. He's going to lack a lot of skills he would've learned from mom. Like flying. 

Wait.

Jessica, can you fly?!?! Ask Taylor if he can fly! Maybe you can teach the chick! 

Anyways, you may have a new pet now!


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

I'm thinking he's buring himself trying to feel covered. Like how his mom would've compressed him. Maybe a damp paper towel draped over the nest will kill the urge.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

We added some paper towels and took out the moss. I have a 50watt heating pad for humans (just remembered, derp)...so I have that going on medium right now. We'll see how that does at keeping him warm. I can always add lights or crank it up to high if I need to. 

I think you're right on the covered thing. He is going under the edges of the nest too. 

I can't fly.    The site I am getting my info from says "Baby birds do not need to be taught how to fly, but after they are flying it is important to give them a large area to practice in and lots of free flight time so that they can build up the muscles needed for a successful release into the wild." HOPEFULLY though, we will get a call from the wildlife rehabber and she can take him and this is all temporary.


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## Kim444 (Jun 17, 2014)

I just wanted to let you know that it is not true that the momma bird won't come back after you have touched the baby bird. Normally you just place the nest in a nearby tree and mommy bird will hear baby bird and come as long as nobody is around anymore.


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## T33's Torts (Jun 17, 2014)

I had baby doves for a while. They fell and the mom was MIA. So I set them up for a month. Mom came back and they couldn't freakin' fly. She took them back in! It was awesome.


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## mike taylor (Jun 17, 2014)

You can buy chicken scratch grind it up and feed it . You dont have to teach the bird to fly he will do that on his own . You are looking at feeding him every two hours . His mom eats then up chucks it to feed them . I found one stuck in a barrel and had to step up like a few weeks ago . The good thing is they grow fast . Yours alread has some feathers .


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

I fed Royal Canin kitten food (it had an appropriate fat/protein ration that I found recommended), unsweetened applesauce, mealworms, and water with a little calcium powder that I put through the food processor. It's kinda like oatmeal. I modified it with some stuff I had on hand/could easily get from a recipe on the starling/sparrow rehab site I linked earlier. Fed off the end of a chopstick and he ate like a champ...but I think he might be choking now! Or have food stuck. He has a small lump in his throat and seems kinda miserable and uncomfortable. 

Wait, now he's up and cheeping again. The sparrow rehab site I found recommends feeding every 45 minutes-2 hours, but I don't know how MUCH to feed in each sitting. Should I just let him eat until he stops begging? I feel like if I let him eat as much as he wants he'll explode!


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

Here's his throat lump...is he ok? Sorry best picture I could get.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 17, 2014)

WELL OBVIOUSLY HE CAN BREATHE BECAUSE HE WON'T STOP CHEEPING 2X/SECOND!!!!


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## turtlelou (Jun 18, 2014)

Oh my. One year I found a baby bird. The mother never came back, so I took care of it. Lol it grew to be a starling. I feed it wet dog food from a dropper. It was such a task. They are hungry like every hour! You will have to have someone desensitize it, as it will be too used to humans. I think you can take care of this little fellow until you find a wildlife rescue who can help you.


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## parrotlady (Jun 18, 2014)

That throat lump, is his crop. When it is empty he needs to be fed. I have never raised baby wild birds but have had a huge aviary for over 20 years so I know just a little bit about exotic birds. If you can't take care of it, you can find a wildlife rescue and often they have volunteers who raise orphan baby birds yearly. Good luck keep us posted!


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 18, 2014)

He made it through the night and has had a couple feedings. He's eating and pooping well, and we filled his nest with some cotton balls to make it more snug. I think he's doing just fine! We're feeding every hour or so. I realized what the crop was, haha...my family kept birds when I was little but it looks so much more pronounced without feathers covering it up! He seems pretty happy and healthy, considering. Hoping the rehabber returns our calls soon...feeding every hour is definitely a task.


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## parrotlady (Jun 18, 2014)

Feeding every hour is a drag, remember momma bird doesn't feed during the night. There might be an exception but I haven't found it yet.


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## StarSapphire22 (Jun 18, 2014)

Yeah, we're feeding every hour from 7-9 I think.


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## turtlelou (Jun 23, 2014)

How is it going? Did you get it to a wildlife rescue ?


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