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Found a baby Starling!

T

tom e

New member
In my kitchen cabinet, lol! The ductwork from the fan goes through hole that is a little too open and he fell through. I can hear the rest of the nest chirping and squawking above.. I know how they got in the roof, I'll probably try and seal it up once they've fledged.

Anyway he's not quite a fledgling though he's got almost all the fuzz off. Any thoughts, suggestions? I want to keep him, and he's already hand feeding really well.

They aren't indigenous to the states so I don't feel any ethical qualms about keeping him, even though I do know I could put him back in the nest pretty easily..

I'll put some pics up in a bit..
 
When I was a kid, my neighbor disturbed a starling nest and then brought me the babies when the parents refused to return. I raised them, tried to teach them how to find food by themselves the best I could and then released them. When they were little, I was told by a vet to feed them with a mixture of dogfood, water, and bananas; blended well in a blender. It was disgusting but it seemed to work fine. You can feed them with your pinky finger. Just get some of the paste on it and stick it down their throats. They help you in that regard by jumping up and pretty much swallowing your finger.

It's not too hard to care for them, but if you suspect trouble you may want to find a nearby animal rescue to take it to. They'd be more experienced.

If you have any specific questions, I may be able to help. The starlings were a long time ago, but a few years ago I rescued some magpie babies. It was pretty much the same deal.
 
I imagine they're probably in about every state in huge numbers.. I've always liked them cause the mimic so many sounds. Last house I lived at there was a wild one who used to sit in a tree near where I smoked and make a bunch of different sounds at me. I'd try and return the same sounds back, it was hilarious like dueling banjos. They're pretty clever IMO..
 
You can find baby-bird food at most pet stores. Good stuff that. Also, I actually suggest you do NOT take the starling to a wildlife rescue as the one near me at least euthanises non-native wildlife.
 
I have to admit, I'm a little sympathetic to that point of view Shiari. They can be a problem to lots of native species.. though he won't get into too much trouble at my house, so he's safe.

I named him Samsquanch.
 
I sympathise with it, too, which is why I'm currently on the look out for a little Weaver/House finch baby right now. No legality issues with keeping it. >_> I really want to have a tiny hoppy bird.
 
That talking starling is so cool! I can't believe all the things he can say.


...now I want one. Gee... so many starling nests outisde right now.:dgrin:
 
I've raised and released starlings before, they do really well on raw minced steak and hard-boiled egg while the beak is still floppy around the edges, and mealworms. (Their parents would mainly feed them on insects at this stage, the same goes for thrushes and blackbirds)
As it starts to get less of the floppy edging, a mixture of seeds and crumbled boiled eggs is a good 'weaning food' for it to start feeding itself.
When they can feed themselves and fledge out enough to fly, I have to release them, because it's illegal to keep our native songbirds, but I did meet a hand-raised starling that could say 'good morning' in my teens. A neighbour who kept hawks and owls kept a starling that he'd fledged because it had a withered leg. It was a very cheeky and confident little bird.:)
 
tom e said:
They aren't indigenous to the states so I don't feel any ethical qualms about keeping him, even though I do know I could put him back in the nest pretty easily..
Click to expand...

Bingo. Invasive exotics. Yuck. I wouldn't even consider putting it back in the nest if I had found it. I would have practiced some "exotic abatement" on the entire nest.....lol.
KJ
 
the store brought baby bird food is the best. Mix with mater lightly heat it up then feed it with a syringe. Make sure you keep him on some heat though.
 
Nanci said:
What a cute baby! Do you want to keep him forever, or until he's ready to leave? I've heard they make great pets. Really smart. This is my favorite starling story: http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/carwash.asp
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm going to keep him. My girlfriend laughed at my 'powers' cause before we moved, I used to talk about finding a starling baby, and showed her a bunch of those videos on youtube.. Then we moved here and one just sort of appears in our kitchen cabinet, lol.

Love that story Nanci, maybe I can teach him that trick!
 
wmdude102086 said:
the store brought baby bird food is the best. Mix with mater lightly heat it up then feed it with a syringe. Make sure you keep him on some heat though.
Click to expand...

From what I hear, it's too low in protein for these guys though, being made for seed eaters..

He's being kept in a shoebox nest on the snake racks- just about 85 degrees!

Don't worry KJ, I'd never let one go once I took it in. I won't mess with the nest again though, unless someone wants the other. If there's one thing I do want to do though (to do my part) it'd be just to make sure and get that hole closed up so they can't nest in the roof anymore.

It's kind of sad, I don't even know what our native songbirds are. All I seem to see out here are Starlings and Sparrows...
 
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