Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There's a construction site accross the street and down the road a bit. Today when the bricklayers came, they knocked down a nest, and two chicks fell out. One was crushed unfortunatly, the other is out of harm's way. I went and got it and put it in a cardboard box with paper towels in my garage. I don't have a low watt bulb (the lowest I have a 60), but I do have a heating pad I could use. I typically use it for my lizards, would it be okay to put a towel over it and use it for the chick? What should I feed it? I've already given some worm bits; I gently opened up his beak, put the food in, and he swallowed.

It's a pretty big chick, it's got primary flight feathers and smallish tail feathers. I'm not sure how far away it is from flying, but it's flapping around like he wants to. I can post a pic later, but I'm 99% sure it's a starling since I saw its parents flying around where the nest was. They were definatly smaller than crows or ravens. I would have left the chick there but there wasn't any place really safe.

What are the chances of it flying and living a susscessful wild life if I raise it? I really don't want the poor thing as a pet when it could live more happiliy outside.

I know, I know, I should take it to a rehab... but the problem is I live way out in the country, and the local animal hospital doesn't take wild animals to rehab, though they did give me a number to call. No one answered, so I'll try again tomorrow. What about the local ASPCA when they open tomorrow, could they help maybe?

Anything else I should to know, like what temp I should keep it at etc etc?

Thanks

I forgot to mention, the baby bird has tiny tiny pinhead sized bugs that crawl onto me... what are they (I think they are mites?) and how do I get rid of them safely?

Also? how can I tell what sex the bird is?

Yupp, those are mites - They can be real nasty, so Id contact a ve, and if you are going to care for the bird yourself, have him in for an appointment - to take care of the mites, and to make sure the bird is healthy.

Starlings are an introduced exotic, and if youre going to raise him yourself, Id just keep him as a pet, he will make a rewarding captive, and it will be of no loss to our native birds - BUT, make sure he is a starling, as keeping native birds as a pet without extensive permitting is a fedral offence - This site has info on identifying a baby starling -

http://www.angelfire.com/in2/doodah/

A starling is actually not a corvid at all and is a closer relation to a myna bird - There are a couple of good sites on the net about starling care - Ive included 2

Hers more good stuff - http://www.starlings.net/

If you think its a native species, like a grackle or blackbird, or robin, or you do not wish to raise a starling as a pet, your best bet is to place it withn a local rehabber -

Good luck -

Raven -