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[fimbrethil]

or anyone else that could help me with a wildlife question. This morning at work we kept hearing birds chirping loudly but we couldn't figure out from where. We later discovered there were 3 starling fledglings in a closet. We also figured out that mama bird had flown down a very narrow opening very high in the ceiling, behind some pipes, and made

Comments

[irontongue]

Do a web search for "wildlife rescue" that also includes your town or county. In the East (SF) Bay area where I live, the Lindsay Wildlife Rescue Center takes in wounded or orphaned birds. There is probably a similar place in your area and the folks there can give you advice about the birds.

[fimbrethil]

We did call a few places. They don't save starlings and didn't have any advice other than let them go and see if they can fly (which they can't). I did find an awesome website though, that helped a lot.

[irontongue]

Oh, dear.

[fimbrethil]

It's okay, they are eating and that's a start. :)

[swimmingotter]

I spoke with Joe, who did a lot of wildlife rehab upstate. He said that you should feed them farina or cream of wheat, because the dry food pellets might be too hard for them to digest if they're small, then in a week or so feed them some mealworms.

If they don't know how to fly yet, he said you can teach them by building up their wing muscles. You should stand, with the bird on your finger, and then slowly lower yourself down--the bird should start flapping its wings when you do.

I'm not sure if this is any help, but if you want, you can call me and I can pass you to Joe--he's done a lot of Starling rehabilitation.

[fimbrethil]

They are happily eating canned cat food, as recommended by a Staten Island vet who also does rehab. I also read that starling need a lot of protein and the site I found also recommended the cat food and they aren't regecting it so that's good at least.

Thanks for the flying advice!

I appreciate the help. :)

[swimmingotter]

The starlings in my backyard always eat the food we put out for the strays, but I'm wondering if he thought they were really small or something.

Any time! I was happy I could! :)

[fimbrethil]

The starlings on my front porch eat my dry cat food outside all the time. But these guys probably can't eat dry yet.

[erin_c_1978]

Yeah, that's one of the things that horrified me when I found that pinky bird, I think it was last summer? I was afraid that it was a house sparrow, which is a similar case -- non-native and will be euthanized. Fortunately, it was an American robin, and the rehabbers took him.

From my reading, remembered as best I can from last year, cat food is good, as is dry dog food soaked in water, and use a flat toothpick to get the food back as far as you can. Also, it's best to keep them in a cup-like nest so they don't grow up spraddle-legged. Of course, you may have read up on all this yourself by now!

Unfortunately, I'll have to go -- will say more later.

[fimbrethil]

Makes me wonder about last week's rescue. :( (Edited it to the right emoticon)

So far these guys are eating and doing well.

[erin_c_1978]

That's great that they're doing so well! Here's one of the Web pages I was looking at last year when I still thought I might have to be raising a baby house sparrow all by my lonesome:

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

They also have a message board, linked here:

http://www.starlingtalk.com/guide.htm

...but you have to register.

Of course, you may already have run into this, but I throw it out there FWIW. If these folks really have raised starlings as pets over the years I imagine they have some expertise, although obviously you never can tell with stuff you find on the Web. They have some useful pictures, like of feeding techniques and what a healthy nestling's poop is supposed to look like, although it sounds like your birds are fledglings.

Good luck! I'm crossing my fingers for the little guys!

[fimbrethil]

That is exactly the site I found! It looks wonderful and has lots of great advice!

[fimbrethil]

They are almost completely feathered. I can see the quills near the skin but the feathers are mostly in.

You and I found the same recipe! I think I'm going to stick with the cat food since they seem to be tolerating it well.

They are in a small cage and doing well. They are active and flitting about the cage. The website I found said to keep feathered starlings at around 70 degrees and it's that in the house anyway. When we found them, they were walking around the closet.

I saw that fledglings can go one to two hours between feedings. So far, so good.

As always, thank you!