Starling, Crow, Raven? (1 Viewer)

Living in Central Maryland, US. This fledgling was at the city pool. My daughter was doing a meet on an EXTREMELY hot day and no other birds were observed caring for the bird after 5-6 hours. When approached, it was gaping desperately and I heard no other birds when I approached it. After this time, I felt the bird was probably abandoned or lost.

After a little research, I was pretty sure it was a crow, however my neighbor who just returned from vacation and is an avid birder, thought there might be the possibility it may be a starling and the rare possibility that it could also be a Raven. She’s about 70% sure it is a crow.

Could anyone make an identification with utmost confidence? I can provide more pictures if needed, just specify what would be useful.

Thanks!

You can safely rule out starling. The bird obviously needs nourishment and hydration so unless you can provide this round the clock and for several weeks may I suggest it's taken to a wildlife rescue centre. It is a "nestling" corvid so likely to be an American Crow though the beak does looks large. Possibly fell or "exploded" out of a nearby nest. Highly unlikely to be repatriated with its parents or siblings.Good luck for a positive outcome.

Thank you so much for the reply. We’ve had the bird since Sunday and between me and my two daughters who are thankfully out of school, we have been doing a pretty decent job. This picture was taken on Sunday. I’ll post another one which shows it looking more health in my opinion. I have been feeding it a variety of all natural chicken, beef and vegetable baby food. Also some milk and bread mushed up.

Here are some additional pictures to aid in identification. I noticed that the bird does not have blue eyes, which I thought all young crows have?

Bryan79 said:

I have been feeding it a variety of all natural chicken, beef and vegetable baby food. Also some milk and bread mushed up.

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Should be OK, except use water, not milk, to moisten it - birds can't digest milk and it gives them diarroea.

Nutcracker said:

Should be OK, except use water, not milk, to moisten it - birds can't digest milk and it gives them diarroea.

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Aha. Yes, the would explain a few things. I did that for the first day, which was a MESS. Will use water from now on. Thank you.

Yup, a fledgling Crow. Have you tried contacting any wildlife rehabilitators in your neck of the woods?
A google search for wildlife rehabilitators close by to your town should help. Good luck and please keep us posted.

I have. The person I spoke with was pretty down to earth and told me that if it gets too much to bring her in. She seems super healthy and we have a lot of crows in the area. I keep her outside a lot during the day. I’m hoping that she can join up with their flock when she can fly better. She can fly about 30’ at the moment and made her first turn in flight this afternoon. I showed her how to drink water from a small bowl and she has caught on quickly. She’s having a lot of fun hopping from branch to branch is out lilac bush and perches on our lamppost for hours at a time. I’ve observed her cleaning her feathers and she has decided that stage 2 Turkey babyfood is her best friend.

We've decided to call the bird, "Bailey" and it has been with us for a little over 2 weeks now. It's definitely starting to explore further away from our home and most of the neighborhood keeps an eye out for it. I put a cockatiel nesting box out in my garden on a small post last week and usually put Bailey in there at dusk, where she stays until she decides to stay until morning, when she hops out of the opening and begins exploring.

Bailey is getting pretty decent at flying, but I have yet to see her go any higher than 10-15 feet. Her (I'll just call Bailey a she, as everything else in my home is female) landings are controlled and calculated, which makes me happy. She's definitely liking to hang out in trees, so I'm not sure the nesting box is going to be needed for her safety at night. I have noticed that once the sun starts to set, she goes completely silent.

Feedings are starting to differ a little bit. When we first got her, it was literally every hour and she would eat until we stopped providing - which was usually when her crop was huge. Now, she will usually pop over and ask for a bite or two before flying off on her own. My next step is to perhaps pick up some mealworms and begin the process of teaching her to eat on her own.

Her eyes were never blue, nor are they now - which stumps me a little based on what I have researched online.

She definitely has a personality and can differentiate between different people. There are some she loves and others she dislikes. She also has my morning schedule down, as she is usually waiting by, or on my car every morning for a quick snack before I leave for work.

Feathers are really starting to grow. I had tried to help break the feathers out of the tubes for her, but I'm not 100% sure she likes that, or if it's good for me to do. Through a little work, I do have her taking bird bathes and she really enjoys doing that.

Anyhow, that's about all for my update. I'll attach a picture of her from yesterday.

That's brilliant!

What a story you have to tell - and with a happy ending.

Well done you :t:

Thank you! So far it's been a happy story. I try to do my research, but I'm having a difficult time finding information sometimes. I wish I had an estimated age for her, so as to cross reference with a behavioral study of crows. Anyone have any ideas? She's just starting to get feathers above her beak and behind her eyes now, if that helps.

Might be a long shot, but this guy does have a contact page with a facebook link - and even land line and mobile phone numbers!

Anyway, he's a regular guest on the BBC tv programmes Springwatch, Winterwatch etc here in the UK.

He knows his stuff so it might be worth seeing if you can contact him for some advice?

http://www.lloydbuck.co.uk/crow.php

Bryan79 said:

I have. The person I spoke with was pretty down to earth and told me that if it gets too much to bring her in. She seems super healthy and we have a lot of crows in the area. I keep her outside a lot during the day. I’m hoping that she can join up with their flock when she can fly better. She can fly about 30’ at the moment and made her first turn in flight this afternoon. I showed her how to drink water from a small bowl and she has caught on quickly. She’s having a lot of fun hopping from branch to branch is out lilac bush and perches on our lamppost for hours at a time. I’ve observed her cleaning her feathers and she has decided that stage 2 Turkey babyfood is her best friend.

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You're feeding a crow... turkey baby food?? Isn't this a lot like cannibalism, for birds?? Surely you can get some meal worms from the pet store or something?

Fraulein ash said:

You're feeding a crow... turkey baby food?? Isn't this a lot like cannibalism, for birds?? Surely you can get some meal worms from the pet store or something?

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No. Easting kangaroo meat isn't cannibalism for humans, either. Also, crows in the wild prey on birds that are much more closely related to themselves than turkeys are.

RichieTwitchy said:

Might be a long shot, but this guy does have a contact page with a facebook link - and even land line and mobile phone numbers!

Anyway, he's a regular guest on the BBC tv programmes Springwatch, Winterwatch etc here in the UK.

He knows his stuff so it might be worth seeing if you can contact him for some advice?

http://www.lloydbuck.co.uk/crow.php

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I will totally check this out! Thanks much! Also, I did pick up a 50 count of small mealworms today and they were a hit. They were also gone in about 10 minutes...

This is a Common Grackle. Crows are considerably larger (any crow that size -- relative to the hand -- would probably still be in down) and have nasal bristles on the top of the bill, which this bird lacks. It's also Federally illegal for non-permitted individuals to keep native birds, for whatever reason.

Have to disagree: definitely a corvid imo

rylirk said:

Have to disagree: definitely a corvid imo

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I'd agree with Common Grackle - see the note on eye colour in post #4 :t:

Just in case anyone is still following this, I would have to agree that Bailey is a Grackle. She’s not getting any more feathers in and the yellow eyes have become very prominent. She’s such a cool friend to have around. I live in a community just outside city limits with 1 acre open lots and Bailey loves it here. I watched her fly away a week ago to explore the forests and fun sounds of other birds on the border fence our farming community, fully thrilled that she was healthy and free, but she returned a few hours later. A lot of people the neighborhood are well aware of her and put treats out that we know she likes, but I’ve watched her hunt and stalk insects and from the days between her visits I know she is able to find her own good when she wants to. I’ve watched her fly with friends. Yesterday she brought back around 20 grackles which all perched on the top of my roof for awhile. Whenever I called her name to the flock, I heard her and only her respond. She is definitely more reserved than she was a few weeks ago. My wife, my neightbor’s teenage daughter and I are the only ones she will actively engage, but she does often. I always keep a pack of “superworms” and hard boiled egg yolks around for her when she swings by.

I really wrote in to thank everyone for the advice and their help. I had considered handing her over to a rehab center and am well aware of the law, but my family made the decision that we had enough resourced available to provide care for her. We watched MANY videos and read MANY articles about rehabbing birds and we all felt it was something we could do. I think the hardest part was teaching her to forage. I cannot imagine how INSANE I must have looked in my front yard doing that, but she is a very smart bird and caught on quickly.

I’ll attach a quick picture of “her” and I’ll check in from time to time with updates on how she is doing. I had considered banding her, but after some thought I didn’t really see the sense in it. I want her to look just like the other birds and I do not need a band to recognize her.