CHIMNEY SWIFTS
If you are fortunate enough to have these birds in your chimney, consider
yourself very fortunate. They will return each year about April, have
their babies about June, and leave the end of September, eating thousands
of flying insects each day. The flock flies in large circles in the air
with their mouths open, catching insects in flight. If you hear them in
your chimney in the spring, close the damper so that they do not end up in
your fire box and eventually into your house. These birds are very
difficult to rehab. because they eat on the wing, so both babies and
adults must be hand fed as long as they are in captivity. Their diet is a
strictly insectivore diet. They cling to the side of the chimney, not
perching like most birds, so they will need a tall basket lined with a
towel to simulate their habitat in the chimney. They shake their heads
vigorously making it difficult to feed them, but with a little patience
you will soon get the hang of it. Their release should be at dusk, placing
them on the side of a tall utility pole, tree, or even the second story of
your house. If they are healthy and ready to go they will fly away.
If an adult ends up on the ground or inside the fire box of a chimney on a
flat surface, they are completely helpless and cannot take off in flight
unless they are on the side of a structure. The simplest solution is to
put them back up the chimney and close the damper.
Back to top
|
FLICKERS AND WOODPECKERS
These birds also cling, not perch. A cage should be lined with a towel, so
that the wire on the cage does not damage the tail feathers. It should
also have lots of logs for them to peck around on. The same insectivore
diet applies. They are aggressive birds and will attack their own kind
unless they have been raised together, so tread cautiously when caging
them with other birds.
Back to top
|
HUMMINGBIRDS
Hummingbirds feed on nectar, small insects and small spiders. They have a
very high metabolic rate and must eat 50 to 60 times a day. Injured or ill
adults will need to keep it in a small aquarium or box to prevent them
from escaping. Place a towel on the bottom, a small branch close to the
bottom and a piece of screen on top of the container. They are little
escape artists, so a birdcage should have very small mesh. Place a small
tube feeder in the container at a height that is easy for the bird to
reach. An eye dropper will suffice if the bird is immobile. You will need
to feed often, every fifteen or twenty minutes, taking care not to let the
bird become sticky from the solution.
Homemade Hummingbird Formula
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons distilled water
1/8 teaspoon Ensure or Nutracal (high calorie nutritional supplement)
1 drop avian vitamins
1/8 approx. freeze dried insects (tropical fish food)
Blend all together so that is will easily flow through a tube.
Don’t forget a small container of water placed in the bottom of its
container (a small jar lid works well).
If you choose to purchase commercially made nectar, be sure to add the
other ingredients to it. The nectar is only OK for birds in the wild that
can supplement their diet naturally.
Back to top
|
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Pigeons and Doves, or Columbids eat from their mother’s crop. The mother
produces what is called crop milk. The young sticks it’s beak into the
mother’s crop and feeds, so you will have to tube feed them when they are
very small. Hold the bird with one hand, gently open the mouth with the
other and insert an eye dropper or pipette into the right side of the
mouth and into the crop. Fill the crop half way about every thirty minutes
until you feel comfortable doing this, then you can fill the entire crop
and extend the feedings to about three hours.
As the baby matures add less water and make little dough
balls, dip them in water and insert it into the crop of the bird.
Eventually, add seed in the bottom of the cage and gradually decrease the
formula as the bird starts eating seed. REMEMBER: All seed eating birds
must have grit to digest the seed. This can be purchased where ever you
buy domestic bird seed.
Back to top
|
| SEED EATER’S DIET
Kaytee’s Exact Hand Feeding Formula, or equivalent brand; add an avian
vitamin and mineral supplement. Mix fresh at least once a day and keep
refrigerated.
|
PRECOCIAL BIRDS
These are birds that hatch covered with down and begin to peck around for
food as soon as their down has dried. They generally build nests on the
ground and are easy prey to predators, lawnmowers, and people who pick
them up when they should not. Anyone who sees a fuzzy baby walking around
on its own naturally assumes that it is lost or distressed, but it is not
usually the case. It is more than likely pecking around for food with the
mother and rest of its siblings not far away.
These birds include shorebirds, geese, quail and ducks to name a few. Baby
ducks around local ponds usually end up being picked up by kids or well
meaning adults and if taken from the mother, will need to be cared for
until it can fend for itself, which usually means adulthood.
A mesh cage works well to prevent escape, and remember that they are very
good climbers and will escape from anything without a top. Place a shallow
dish of Kaytee baby bird formula mixed with water in the cage along with a
shallow bowl of water and very small birdseed and grit. A good substitute
for mother is a feather duster hung from the top of the cage which allows
it to go under for safety. It will need to be kept warm which means either
a heating pad on low with towels under the cage to keep it from getting
too hot, or an incandescent lamp over the cage. They are messy eaters and
the cage will need to be cleaned often. These instructions work well with
all precocial birds although ducks are the most commonly found. Most other
precocials do not take to captivity as readily ducks and care must be
taken, as with all wildlife; to keep them as stress free as possible and
that means quiet and away from noisy children. Shorebirds and quail should
be released into their own environment as soon as they are large enough to
survive without mother
Back to top
|
HERONS, EGRETS, BITTERNS
These birds are found in wet, woodland areas, streams and swamps as well
as coastal wetlands. They are at home in both salt and fresh water. They
like to roost on tree limbs and stumps close to the water’s edge. Their
diet consists mainly of small fish, but will also eat prawn, crickets,
crawfish, grasshoppers, snakes, frogs, mice, snails, water bugs,
earthworms, leeches, lizards- anything they find along the water’s edge.
The parents regurgitate the food, but it is not predigested. If the baby
bird is newly hatched when you get it in, it is much easier to mix a tube
formula for a few days. A good formula is:
1 cup Science Diet Feline Growth, dry
1 hard boiled egg
1 teaspoon calcium phosphate powder
1 teaspoon vitamin and mineral powder (Superpreen or Vionate)
1/2 cup Purina Trout Chow
1/2 cup water
Mix to a consistency to tube feed and feed slowly, making sure you are
well past the air hole.
After about a week, start feeding small fish such as minnows. If all you
can find is bait fish, cut the head off, cut into small pieces, dip into a
vitamin mineral powder, making sure it contains vitamin B1. Try placing
the food in front of the bird and encourage it to pick it up and eat it on
its own. If necessary, pick up the piece of fish with a pair of forceps or
long tweezers and place it into the throat of the bird. They have the
capacity to hold a large amount of fish, but the fish should not be too
big or the bones will be too large to swallow. At some point they should
start attacking the fish you throw at their feet as a beginning to their
self feeding. At that point, place the fish in a shallow pan of water.
Keep trying this method. Eventually they will get the idea. In hot
weather, the fish and water should be changed often to avoid spoiling.
Juvenile birds should be released at about eight weeks old, but be sure
they are self feeding, have good flight skills and are waterproof before
releasing them into an area where others of their own species are found.
Back to top
|
|
Birds of Prey I have not included a chapter in this book on Raptors, or Birds of Prey.
That is because they are so specialized it is absolutely imperative to
their survival that someone experienced care for any hawk or owl that you
may find to be sick or injured. Your state’s wildlife agency or the local
humane society should have names and numbers of wildlife rehabilitators or
centers that specialize in birds of prey in your area. If there are
injuries to the wings or legs, they must be treated by a veterinarian as
soon as possible. If a wound or break goes too long, it cannot be treated
and the bird cannot be returned to the wild. Diet is also very
specialized, so as tempting as it may be, for the sake of the bird, turn
it over to someone trained in the field. The same applies to them as to
any other wildlife you come in contact with. Keep warm, dark, and quiet
until it can be turned over to the proper person.
Back to top |
|
Return to Table of Contents |
|
