baby blackbird

[hollie3011]

On friday night my neighbour handed me a baby blackbird his cat had been stalking in the garden, we looked for the nest but had no luck. We made him a bird box in the hope that if we put him in it his mother would come and feed him, but he kept jumping out onto the floor. Due to the number of cats around, he would not have survived very long outside.
It is now monday, and he has been living in Hotel Conservatory a la Hollie since friday! I have the blinds open so he can see and hear other birds and have been feeding him soggy dried cat food, meal worms and garden worms, with a pair of tweezers. Iniatially i was worried about his feeding, not because he wouldnt eat, but that he was eating so much! He has continued to have an appetite of an elephant, and im going to introduce some different garden insects later on. He is still learning to fly, and is practising fluttering from all the furniture, i read some where that you should release them when they can sort of hop fly (note, he CANT actually fly yet) but the cats round here would have him in an instant, plus he cant feed himself yet. I have placed a saucer of food in there for him to explore, and was wondering if placing a tray of soil with worms in it would encourage him further. (IM GOING TO HAVE TO PUT THIS ON TWO POSTS, I HAVE WRITTEN TOO MUCH)

[kym19780]

Your post has helped a lot as i to have found a blackbird that was being stalked by my cats and to no avail her parents cannot be found so i have placed her in an animal carrier with water but i was unsure as to what to give her to eat... thank u so much i now have an idea.

[ireneo]

Well, the bird was going through a normal stage of development. They hatch, are nurtured by the parents for 2-3 weeks in the nest and then they fledge. Most birds are not able to fly when they first fledge. They need the extra room on the ground to flap and develop the muscle strength to fly. That may be a few days like a sparrow or two weeks like a crow. They also learn some essential survival skills like how to find their own food and how to recognize a predator. That's where human intervention can cause a problem. You've kept the bird safe but now what? Even when the bird learns to self-feed and fly, he will still be vulnerable to predators. Unfortunately in the world of wildlife not all survive. What we strongly teach the public is to keep cats indoors as much as possible. I know you're not responsible for your neighbors but we can make changes, one person at a time. That's our goal.

I'm not sure what type of bird you have but guessing it's a blackbird or starling the diet you're offering is OK. Do put a dirt tray with bugs in there to help the youngster learn how to find food on its own. Do give it room to practice flying. The bird should be ready to go back out within a week. As for predators, it will be a sink or swim lesson for it. Let's hope he can learn without it being his final lesson. Like I said, living in the wild is a tough place to be.