abandoned starling

[shirlthegirl43]

Is the rescue lady close enough for you to go and visit?

[peanut]

A caged life isn't really a life.....you've done the best for him till now, so do the best for him again and if he must live a caged life let him do it in a large avairy with other birds. Starlings are group/social birds, being in a cage on his own isn't the right choice for him.

[Two_Sheds]

Joanna, A cage isn't necessarily a prison ... my birds are free-ranging when I'm home, and go in their cages to sleep. Yes starlings are flock birds, but then dogs are pack animals, and nobody thinks it cruel to keep a dog. The human keeper becomes a substitute for the flock/pack. Anyone who keeps a parrot for instance, knows how much they bond with their owner, to the exclusion of all others!
This starling has bonded with me, and he wants to be with me all the time, and he is adorable.
However, he can't feed himself, and I can't be here all day to feed him by hand. We're also going away quite a lot this summer, and it's not fair to land him on our relatives.
It's a really hard decision, but I think he's going to have to go to a new home on Monday: Wing and a Prayer

He's cost me a small fortune so far, but I'm still going to make a donation to the rescue centre ~ what a hard and thankless job they do.

[HeyWayne]

Joanna, A cage isn't necessarily a prison ... my birds are free-ranging when I'm home, and go in their cages to sleep. Yes starlings are flock birds, but then dogs are pack animals, and nobody thinks it cruel to keep a dog. The human keeper becomes a substitute for the flock/pack. Anyone who keeps a parrot for instance, knows how much they bond with their owner, to the exclusion of all others!
This starling has bonded with me, and he wants to be with me all the time, and he is adorable.
However, he can't feed himself, and I can't be here all day to feed him by hand. We're also going away quite a lot this summer, and it's not fair to land him on our relatives.
It's a really hard decision, but I think he's going to have to go to a new home on Monday: Wing and a Prayer

He's cost me a small fortune so far, but I'm still going to make a donation to the rescue centre ~ what a hard and thankless job they do.

I think you're doing the right thing, for the right reasons. Well done TS.

[rustylady]

As long as he goes to a home and not the gas chamber OK. You've done really well so far and I hope he/she has a long and happy life. He/she wouldn't have had a hope without you.

[yoanbob]

good luck darling in your new life

[Beki]

Awww wow! You've done a wonderful thing

We found a baby thrush a few weeks ago which we believe had been pushed out of it's nest We left it for around 3 hours, watching it closely, as it was in our drive, under a bush.

Nothing happened, it just sat there chirping away

Anyway, we phoned our vet, who didn't want anything to do with it. "It's not our problem", they basically said. So we tried to ring the RSPCA. Again, "not our problem. we don't deal with small wild birds".

So we phoned the vet's back and they managed to find the number of a lady who takes in and rescues wild birds who only lives about 5 miles from us (although why they couldn't have given us her number in the first place i have no idea?!).

She kindly let us take the bird to her, and she said she had a mother thrush who she hoped would 'raise' the baby bird. If not then she would take over and hand feed.

This is him/her waiting for another worm (was eating them like there was no tomorrow! lol)

[littlewin]

what a lovely thing you have done, hope you get your little friend sorted out alright.

[dinky_doo]

What have I done?
This little fella was hopping round my plot today, for ages. No other bird came near, and he didn't call for his mum either. He was pecking a lot at the ground, so I went to investigate. He hopped away from me but couldn't fly more than 6 inches.
I left him for an hour.
Still no adults came to feed him.
I thought I'd put him up in the ivy for the night where he'd have some cover from marauding cats. He hopped right into my bucket and I noticed he has a deformed beak: he can't close it.

A goner. How can he survive if he can't feed himself? He can't even make a noise, to call for his mum.

I know you shouldn't pick them up, or handle them, and I know about imprinting. What would you do? Me, I went and dug up a few worms and hand-fed him. After a couple of minutes he perked right up and tried to peck them for himself, but being unable to close his beak, he can't pick them up.

What a dilemma.

I couldn't leave him overnight, unable to feed or fly, so I brought him home in my lunchbox
He's now in my kitchen, eating worms every hour (that's what mum would be feeding him). Mr Sheds just went out and bought some Whiskas too (but it's only 8% protein, so not ideal)
I intend to take him back to the allotment when he can feed himself and fly. I told Mr Sheds I'd take him back in the morning, but I think it'll be a couple of days.
baby starling, 1 June 08 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Energency care of baby birds

the kids went to the park today and found a little blue tit on the ground he couldnt fly as his wing seemed to be broken, we watched him for a while but no other birds came near him, so they brought him home.
the wife is taking him to the vets in the morning to get him checked out.

[lynda66]

we had a collared dove a few years ago, it was out of the nest, unable to fly, there were lots of cats around, and we put it back in the tree where it promptly fell out again ........ anyway parents nowhere to be seen, so it came home with us, fed it up, luckily managed to get it to not imprint, after a few weeks we put the cage outside, for a couple of weeks, then opened the door ..... it couldn't wait for freedom, but came back every morning for its breakfast