# I need your prayers for this little bird . . .



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

It's the only one (of three) that fell out of a nest in my dryer vent that is still alive over 24 hours of existing on the ground. I've been both devastated and hopeful and I watched, hoping it's parents would continue to feed and nurture it. I looked up on the internet what to do when you find a tiny baby bird and it suggested putting the nest back if you could find it. Well the nest I assume is intact and still in the dryer vent which I can't access. 

Of the three birds, one died within a half hour and the other two were struggling to survive all day yesterday and into the night. Last night I made a makeshift nest out of a styrofoam dish with holes in it, covered with nesting material I found somewhere else. I thought if I put the two together their bodies might warm each other. This morning one was dead but the other keeps struggling on. All this time I've been praying that the parents find them and keep feeding them. Well about an hour ago I finally found proof that one of them was trying. So please take a moment and pray for the poor helpless little baby.

Here are some pictures I took through the window.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Geri, I feel so bad for you. This happens to me every spring. It seems the birds always nest in my neighbors air conditioner on the second floor. It is inevitable that I will find those poor babys on the ground. So goes nature, but it still is so sad.


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

Prayers and good thoughts are being sent your way-----


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Awww - I hate it when this happens. Good luck and lots of prayers that the momma bird can find her way back to take care of the baby.


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

=(

I hate that stuff. I hope your nest works. Sending lots of prayers.


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Geri, how's the baby bird doing? Still hanging in?


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

The mother bird will not likely come back but it does look promising with bugs in the adults mouth. Baby birds need to be fed about every 15 minutes during the day. The picture looks like a Starling which is mainly just a nusiance bird but it's hard to not help something alive that needs help. If the surviving one looks like the stage of the young ones in the picture there is not much hope. We have raised some but they were at the stage that they were starting to have real feathers.

Starlings are really stupid birds and build nests anywhere that they find that's easy pickings. Where you find Starling nests you usually find Black Rat Snakes, if you are in the right part of the country, not too far away as they seem to live for baby Starlings.

We have raised several baby birds but you need to identify the bird and find out what they eat. Our kids have raised several, including a Blue Jay which came back for a number of years. We kept them in a basket and Pam mixed up a concoction of peanut butter, seeds and such. I'm not sure what you do for one that eats bugs. You just pick it up with a stick and hold it over the baby and it will look up with it's mouth open. They start hollering when they are hungry which is pretty frequently.

When our son was about 12, and on a swim team which I coached, he raised the Blue Jay which sat on his bed and watched TV with him. He took him to swim practice and between sets he would feed the baby on the pool deck at the end of his lane. I asked him how he kept the bird from making a mess on his bed and he said that JayJay would always shake his tail before he needed to do anything and he just put him on newspaper. I thought it was pretty cool that a 12 year old kid could paper train a Blue Jay.

It really does take some experience. We lost some to start with too but those had been brought in by the cats and probably punctured. The cutest was a baby owl.

Good luck but if you want one to survive you have to feed it.


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## ruthann (Jan 26, 2007)

I have read that you should soak dog kibbles and make a mush and feed the baby with an eye dropper. I've never tried to do this, just read it in the local wild life newsletter from our local wild life wilderness center.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I found this with a quick Google search for "feeding baby starling":

http://www.starlingtalk.com/babycare.htm


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Feeding a baby chick is tough because if you do it wrong the baby can aspirate the food into it's lungs. Your local vet should be able to care for it or be able to give you a number for local wildlife rescue. If you know of any bird breeders they would also be able to take care of the chick. A young one like that can go pretty quickly. I don't know that the parents will stick around that long without being able to get the baby back into the nest and somewhere they feel is safe.


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## imamurph (Apr 15, 2008)

Geri..How is the baby bird doing??? 

I once found a sick dove in my yard and drove two hours to take it to a wildlife refuge..when they examined it, they said it had a type of disease that it would die from.. I was so sad!

Yesterday I saw a starling hopping around my yard on one leg and when I looked at it with my bino's I saw that the other leg was broken, twisted and withered. As much as I don't like starlings (they eat all my bird food and poop everywhere!) I felt sorry for it's injuries..


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

To show you how bad I am, I had no idea what it was but it was in trouble and I kept praying for the parent to come back to feed it. I was so encouraged when I saw the bird with the worms or whatever in it's mouth walking on the grass right near the baby. As of a little while ago it was still breathing, but it doesn't look good.

I was afraid to feed it lest I did more harm than good. I'm worried about whether it can make it through the night. When I saw the mother/father? feeding it I took heart, but . . . It just seemed to have so much will to live. I'll let you know what happens in the morning.


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## imamurph (Apr 15, 2008)

Geri..it could die of de-hydration..How hot is it there?


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## Doggie Nut (Oct 20, 2006)

Stories like this break my heart! We have tried to save baby birds and baby rabbits but none ever survived. Baby birds just look so pitiful and helpless with their little "naked" bodies. God bless you for your efforts! I hope it works!


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

Hope that the mom / dad stay around to protect the little one and the little one survives. Good luck!


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Tom King said:


> I found this with a quick Google search for "feeding baby starling":
> 
> http://www.starlingtalk.com/babycare.htm


Thanks for the links Tom. I wish I'd seen them yesterday. Maybe I could have done more. They definitely were starlings and the remaining one has the look of what they describe as dehydrated. My heart is breaking for the little thing who fought so hard to stay alive. I'm sure, based upon what I read that it can't possibly make it. So sad.


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

I have no knowledge on this subject, but you asked for prayers and that is what I can offer. Please keep us posted.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

We had a major thunderstorm last night and that was the last assault on that poor little soul that tried so hard to make it in this world. When I went out this morning it was gone. My heart breaks for it and the others who couldn't overcome the odds. The only thing I can do at this point is to give it a couple of weeks till the other(s) are old enough to be out of the nest and have someone come in and clean out the vent pipe and hopefully find some way to cover it with something that keeps future birds from getting in there and using it as a nest.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

imamurph said:


> Geri..it could die of de-hydration..How hot is it there?


Apparently dehydration in these little ones has nothing to do with the weather. I don't know that I would have been capable of feeding them since there are so many ways you can accidentally kill them by drowning when trying to give them nourishment.


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

That's kinda sad----but nature has a way of taking care of itself.


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## JanB (Oct 26, 2007)

Oh Geri, you have a heart of gold. I'm sorry this poor little bird suffered so before it died. I doubt there was little you could have done. Too bad the little thing didn't die right away; seeing the struggle to live must have been heartbreaking.

We have had nests in odd places too. Birds are not always very discriminating when they build their nests. My DH will sometimes get rid of the nest before they have eggs in it but they will often return over and over to the same place. So trying to cover the vent with some type of screen is a good idea.


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