Maui, HI USA Baby Bird identification and feeding (1 Viewer)

[Nicholas Bedworth]

Does anyone know what species these young birds are? Their nest fell out of a royal palm tree. They are quite vigorous, and seem to be able to swallow water out of a soda straw.

How old are they? What should they be fed, and how often? I'm at home all day and so can take care of them. I have fed young parrots, but they had just been weaned.

 

[Nicholas Bedworth]

How to feed very young birds properly?

After reading a few Web pages about taking care of these babies, I've kept them alive for 48 hours and they seem to be vigourous. They are being fed about every 4 hours with a mixture of warm Cream of Wheat with a little mushed up mango in it, and a little unprocessed sugar.

The food is in a syringe, and eat bird gets about 1/2 ml per feeding, and it's administered in little squirts (0.2 ml) and after the bird appears to swallow, then it gets another 0.2 ml.

They are kept in a cardboard box on top of a toaster, which is set to a "warm" setting, and the inside of the box is around 86 degrees F.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

 

[aikidoka]

They are gamebird chicks, not sure what the options are in Hawaii but perhaps the introduced Japanese Quail. However, gamebirds nest on the ground, not in trees, so I guess the nest was on the ground near the tree rather than in it. The rest of the family may still be around.

Ideally get them to an experienced wildlife rehabber. Failing that, there is plenty of info on the internet about caring for quails. A few thoughts - baby quails are able to feed themselves and drink almost straight after hatching. You should not need to use a syringe, as the instinct to peck at stuff on the ground is hardwired. Food for domestic hen chicks would probably be suitable, perhaps crushed down to a smaller size. They will probably also require grit, as well as clean water, and would probably appreciate the chance to forage outside for greens and insects.

 

[Nicholas Bedworth]

Excellent, and many thanks. I've see larger quail on the property. Given that the birds seem healthy enough, seems like I should just let them loose again, near where I found them. What do you think? From your note, it sounds like they're pretty much able to fend for themselves at this point. We don't have any cats in the area.

They were hopping around near where a palm frond had just come down (fortunately without crushing any of the babies), so I thought they must have been in a nest in the tree.

I also have bird seed for small parrots (conures, cockatiels) on hand. From what you said, I could simply grind this up a bit, and spread it around for the birds to peck at on the ground.

 

[aikidoka]

Excellent, and many thanks. I've see larger quail on the property. Given that the birds seem healthy enough, seems like I should just let them loose again, near where I found them. What do you think? From your note, it sounds like they're pretty much able to fend for themselves at this point. We don't have any cats in the area.

They were hopping around near where a palm frond had just come down (fortunately without crushing any of the babies), so I thought they must have been in a nest in the tree.

I also have bird seed for small parrots (conures, cockatiels) on hand. From what you said, I could simply grind this up a bit, and spread it around for the birds to peck at on the ground.

I am not sure about releasing them straight away - while they should be able to forage and feed themselves they may still need their mum around to brood them at night and to help keep them safe from predators etc, and it may be too late for them to successfully reintegrate with their family. But I'm no expert! They should certainly be releaseable very soon. I think young quails are able to fly at a very early age - two weeks or earlier - and once they can fly they should be good to go. The food you suggest would probably be fine. I'd still seek some more expert help though... good luck

 

[stonechat1]

Aikidokia is right. I wold suggest you offer them some kind of Chicken Starter Food. Take care on the structure, in this age they prefer mealy food, later they change on pellets.