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› Forum › THE LOUNGE › HELP! I dont know what to do! My boss was trying to shoot baby birds…
I am at work at the moment, we just had lunch outside under what my boss calls a “glory Vine”, and a bird pooped on the table while we were eating. we looked up and there is a birds nest up there and it has 2 baby blackbirds in it and its mother was there feeding them. My boss and his son flew into a rage and said that the nest had to go. Scott (my boss’s son) is going to shoot the mother because he says that the birds are a nuisance and mess up the backyard with their poo. I said “What about the babies?!” He said “oh they can starve to death”
I couldnt believe it! Then my Boss said “no they wont starve, get them down, I’ll wring their necks!”
I said “no you wont, I’ll get them down and look after them at my place!”
Scott said “Or we could shoot up at the nest until they fall out, and feed them some lead!’
I got really upset and told my boss that I was going to get up there with the ladder and get them down and take them home and look after them. He got really cross with me, but I argued back.
He finally said ok, and will let me get them down just before I go home. Im in heaps of trouble now I think because they are being very blunt with me, but I didnt want the little baby birds to starve or be strangled.
I have no idea what to feed them. the mother I think eats fruit because she hangs out near the apricot tree.
How do I feed the babies? How often?! What do I give them for food?
I’m not sure where you live, but it is illegal to harass or disturb many types of birds and can be punishable by law (and depending on the bird, it could mean serious jail time, even types of birds you wouldn’t think were covered). Your best bet would be to take the babies to a local wildlife rescue and tell them why you had to move them.
I live in Adelaide, Australia. There was a wildlife rescue for birds here, but they closed down last year (just found them on the net) I cant seem to find any more nearby!!!
Oh my gosh. Thats just… what the hell are they thinking?? Wanting to kill baby birds just cuz one had to go potty. Poor things. Hope you can find out what to do for them And extra thumps from monkey at those meanies! *angry MB*
Hey, birds need to be feed every 4 hours when they are young but it really depends on how far into the feathering process they are. They need to have a special forumla depending on breed and also the forumla has to be at the right consistance and temp otherwise you run the risk or buring their crop (a horrible way for a bird to die) as they are softbilled not hook billed you need a special feeding tube which I can point you towards how to make one but not for a few more hours. Your best bet (to not get your boss into trouble) would be to find a wildlife carer and say that you found a dead bird looked up and there was a nest, you watched and after no other birds came to the nest for a few hours you removed the birds. Taking the babies and removing the nest will stop the bird re nesting there.
thanks angelic, I am trying to find a wildlife place that can look after them, but I am not having much luck so any info you might have on this kind of baby bird would be awesome, if you have the time.
I will have a look at them when they come out of the nest, my boss hasnt taken them down yet. I am just so mad at myself that I couldnt convince him to just leave them there.
Ok, I have the name and number of a wildlife place in SA now, I am going to call them as soon as I leave the office. (if I do it in the office my boss will think I am making a fuss and wont let me take them)
I’d try to find a wildlife place-baby birds are too hard to look after
I hope you are ok with your boss. Some people just don’t get how we feel about animals…at all. Kudos on saving them
i have raised baby birds from featherless fledglings before. As a matter of fact, we have a family of blackbirds that come back every year and raise their family in the bird house we made for them.
Use tweezers and feed them bits and pieces of worms that you did up, it is that easy. You can also buy meal worms at a pet store and they love that too. You can also feed them small pieces of bread. If you are there all the time, I would give them a little every hour. If you are not there, then they will have to wait but if you fill their tummies good before you leave, they should be fine. I raised a baby blue jay that my cat had got and he,she, had a broken damaged wing and I raised him to be a pet. He even talked and called the cat, “kitty kitty kitty” and said hello and hi. I have also raised baby sparrows from babies. In Australia, there was a bounty of sparrow heads and my grandmother had traps and would trap them but I would let them out. When they would knock the nests down from the gutters, I would rescue the baby sparrow and feed them until they were big enough to fly away. My grandmother was a cold hearted drunk that had no respect or love for creation. It was all food or money to her.
You will really get into enjoying being a birdy momma by the way. They will be very tame and when you let them go when they are big enough to fly, they will stay around.
We have all kinds of bird families that live here that know me. I feed them all the time. As a matter of fact, a mommy sparrow sat on the back of our porch swing that is right next to our living room window. She kept chirping at me through the window and I asked her what she wanted. She fluttered against the window to let me know that she wanted my attention. I went outside and found out that the feeder was empty!! She was letting me know that because they were raising their children, they wanted food!
Here is the picture of “Hortense the horrible” the bird that I rescued from the kitty. I tried to let him, or her, go but the wing was too badly damaged. She loved to play a game called, “bite the hand that feeds you”. And, it did talk!! One time when I tried to let him go, he got lost over the fence of the neighbors and I was so upset because I knew that he would not survive. Our kitty Tuffy brought him back home over the fence in his mouth, unharmed! That is no lie! Tuffy was the one who actually caught him and I had to get him out of his mouth. After Tuffy found out that he was a pet and got used to him, I didn’t have to worry about him trying to hurt the bird anymore and he actually rescued him which was miraculous. I did pray that God even cares when a sparrow falls to the ground and I prayed that God would protect my birdy that I spent so much care and love to keep alive when he was little. This was taken in 1987. I am much younger in that photo! I used to have really wild hair.
Posted By Desma on 10/26/2009 12:24 PM
! I used to have really wild hair.
–seriously you look great!
Oh my I like that saying Dana Krempels has on her siggy on emails. Goes somethign like this
You can tell the state of a person by the way it treats animals. Gosh murderers.
OH good you found a wildlife place cool.
To tell you the truth I would have the overwelming urge to keep them
My dad once had a Indian Miner as a pet that he stole from its mama’s nest just before it was getting ready to fly. He said it made a really good pet but he said that he got pecked a lot by the mama when he stole it. He said he would walk around with it outside and it never flew away. He also said that it never pooped on his shoulder, it would always go back to its cage to poop. THis amazed me because my bird always pooped on my shoulder
I heard that crows make really good pets, very smart, I’ve always wanted one
Don’t know much about black birds though.
I do have an overwhelming urge to keep them! but I am worried about what angelic said about burning their crop. If I buy mealie worms and feed them mealie worms, do I have to mush them up first? Or can I feed them whole?
They are still in the vine outside. My boss has gone away today, but said that I have to take them down by tonight.
And I have called the wildlife rescue and they said someone will come and pick them up from me… but they are not sure when.
I raised three, or tried at least, only two made it. I found the first in a nest directly above the dead mom, who I saw with a cat. I did what I could with that because no wildlife rescue would help with advice or take it. It had a few feathers, and I feed it every 4 hours and even toke it the ‘bird sitter’ while I was at school. I got him to fly, and two days later he was off on his own. The second my moms coworker found, it was SO young! No feathers, lifeless, and we literally (not joking at all!) could not tell its head from its butt without a close inspection. But I loved him, he was huge when he grew up, a big black starling (sp?) named birdzilla for his horrible loud crow noise. After he was ready and learned to fly he lived around my house and I would call his name every few hours and hold my hand up in the air. He would always come back, land on my hand and id feed him. After a while he didnt need to eat with me, so Id call him randomly and visit with him, or he would watch for me to come outside and come visit himself. The third passed suddenly, I dont know why. I feed them watered down puppy chow through a icy straw. The kind of straw (usually red) that have the little scoop at the end for slushies. Swiped a bunch from gas stations. They got mullberriers too, which they loved. Dont know if that was a good diet, but hey I was 12ish and did what I could.
This is me with a still kind of young Birdzilla (Birdzilla on the tree stump, hard to see)
Awww Birdzilla looks a bit like these babies mum!
Thats his baby fluff, birbzilla was HUGE and shinny black
I’m not a birdman, but I really don’t want them being shot. In the city I live now ( I stay here because of work only ), some people are used to catch and eat birds. They often use net. Every spring and fall are the seasons for birds migration. When I did some trecking or mountain climbing, I always found birds caught on huge nets, some were still alive, but most already dead. The most shocking thing was that happened even in national reserve! I went cross its whole hilly area and found about ten nets and more than 100 bodies hung there. Ironically, that day was the last day of the so called “loving birds week”. I contacted the local wild rescue, named “Association of Bird Lovers”, but they said since the shortage of hands, they focused on propagandizing.
Here are the bodies and remains in the national reserve:
This was a hawk we rescued in a hill near my institute. He, she, was badly injured and dead the other day. Another small bird was lucky, undamaged, and set free.
Awwww! I feel so badly for our creation that ends up being killed and multilated by our human devices. Cars are the worst killers.
If you feed the birds meal worms, you can feed them half at a time or whole depending on the size of the babies mouths. You will be amazed on how they practically swallow the tweezers when you feed them. The tweezers work like the mother’s beak. Let us know how they are coming along.
I took the babies home last night, and found out that they are infact baby doves. I called the wildlife association and they told me to feed them mushed up weetbix, so we did that last night. I called them again this morning to find out how often I shoudl be feeding them, and a different lady answered the phone and yelled at me and told me not to feed them weetbix. she was so mad. She told me to feed them scrambled egg and mushed up dog food.
I brought them to work with me today so that I can feed them here. I bought some dog food on the way but the egg will have to wait until I get home. I can just imagine what my boss will say if I start scrambling eggs for baby birds at work!
Crackles and Snapper
Oh! they are so beautiful! I love these babies! You did great job, Kafrn!
I don’t know much about birds and can’t distinggush the diffreence between dove and pigeon. only to know, dove is wild but pigeon is domestic (I’m not sure ).
In China, we have an old saying that doves ( or pigeons) do not eat anything “breathing” ( means they are pure vegetarian) and Swallows do not eat “landing” ( they feed on flying insects only). But I don’t think this would help you, hehe~
I found a smiling bunny behind them.
Thanks Lancy! I took them to work with me this morning so that I could feed them every few hours, and I have had a breakthrough! The mum could hear them chirping in my office (on my desk), and came in to try and feed them!
So I put the box outside, and the mum sat with them for ages. There is a big tree next door that hangs over the fence, so I have put the nest securely there and the baby birds jumped into it, and the mum is feeding them right now!!!
And the tree is so dense that I dont think anyone will even notice they are there! So they are safe!
And lol Lancy, my smiling bunny is in the pic behind them – I made that at the fair we went to last weekend, and it makes a good paperweight when I am working outside
Hey – Great outcome! I would not have believed them to be doves but you only need recall the story of the ugly duckling to remember the chicks are far different from the adults.
Kafrn, you won’t believe this. Tonight I’m nervously caring for a baby miner bird. It’s more of a fledgling with some of its baby down still. I found in in the park moving along on it’s belly sort of. It had very fine nylon wrapped around it’s leg then a stick attached to end of that. It had cut into it’s skin on the leg. I’m planning to drop it into vet tomorrow. I think they used the thread for the nest and it become entangled in it. I’m thinking maybe it went to take flight and was tethered to the nest, then once loose, fell to the ground. We saw the adults around but no nest or safe place to put it. It’s hard to know what to do, leave it in it’s environment or take it in. I figured it have better chance if I got the leg dealt with. I hope so.
I spoke with Fauna Rescue of SA. Is that who you dealt with?
They are beautiful and the fact that you rescued 2 baby doves, I would instantly take that for a good omen. The wheetbix is a bad idea. The parents feed their babies insects and pieces of worms, grubs etc. The dog food is not such a bad idea. They are truly cute little darlings.
Jersey! Minor birds are so cute! You can feed them bits of mince and dog food, we have raised a couple. But if you take them to the vet or to a bird lover tol ook after, they have to put them down. My mum found a minor bird and took it to the vet and they took it off her and had to put it down. They said the law here states that they have to put them down because they kill other birds.
I have a great fantastic awesome update about the doves! I will post it soon. My boss has just come in
eek! Wel I hope that’s not the case because I have already delivered it to my vet clinic…I did ring to ask what they did for them and they said after vet care, Fauna Rescue came to take them on. From my crash course in miner birds last night, I think (hope) you were referring to Indian miner (Common Miner) which are regarded as a bit of a pest. This was, as best I could tell, an Australian Noisy Miner. That is also the type of adult bird we spotted before they took off. I read some forum pages and my goodness – people get pretty “passionate” about the ‘pest’ type. Apparently the two types get commonly confused.
› Forum › THE LOUNGE › HELP! I dont know what to do! My boss was trying to shoot baby birds…