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New Photos Added at End of Gallery.“Like Weeds”, as the saying goes. I’ve added some photos, taken today, May 25th, to the baby bird gallery for your enjoyment. Compare today’s pictures to those taken a mere two weeks or less ago. It’s astounding how fast young birds grow and change.
Of the three species here, some interesting facts:
In the wild, House Finch eggs hatch at 12-14 days, their eyes open at 4 days, they grow feathers at 3-6 days, and they leave the nest at 14-16 days. At Gayle’s house, these finches were over four days when they arrived, as they had feathers and their eyes were open. They are now at least fifteen days old, they’re still begging to be spoon fed, though they’re eating on their own. They fly well, but it’ll be at least a couple weeks of outdoor acclimation (still have to build the facilities!) before they can be released.
In the wild, Common Grackle eggs hatch at 12-14 days. The babies’ eyes open at 3-5 days, they feather out at about 14 days, and they leave the nest at 20 to 23 days. This means our young Grackle friend was a good two weeks old when he arrived, for he was quite well feathered. That would make him at least 27 days old now, and he is still, I repeat, still not feeding himself.
Starlings. Oh, my, Starlings. The European Starling’s eggs usually hatch in the wild at 12-15 days, and the young are fed by their parents for 20 to 22 days. They remain dependent on their parents for 4-5 days after leaving the nest, and will follow them and beg to be fed. These Starlings were at least nine or ten days old when they arrived, some several days older than others, on the 12th of May. That would make them about 22 days old now, the age at which they’d be leaving the nest. They just started picking at the food on their own today, and are now causing me some indigestion as they randomly refuse spoon-feeding even though they’re not getting enough on their own. However, having been down this road before (and trust me, these guys are trying to eat much younger than Stars and Stripes did!), I know this is a phase and they’re not going to starve.
In my last post, I mentioned how baby animals are so much better off being raised by their natural parents. I’ve included the facts above to illustrate how hand-rearing wild baby birds does, in fact, set them back. All three species are progressing more slowly than they would have in the wild … especially that darned Grackle, though I cannot shake the feeling that he’s snowing me.
The finches, if I had facilities ready to do so, would be moving outside very soon. Tomorrow, my dear hubby is going to be swinging by Lowe’s and trying to pick me up some materials to begin building my release area. These birds escape at the slightest sign of an opening (witness the adventure trying to get a Starling out from behind the washing machine this morning). Should that happen outside, before they are acclimated to the outdoors, to eating from outside feeders, etc., that would be a death sentence. Therefore, these facilities have to be pretty darned secure.
I’m looking at two-by-two lumber and hardware cloth of no more than 1/3″ gauge (1/2″ is too large — I’ve seen baby Goldfinches hang themselves in 1/2″ gauge cages). The cages will be meshed on all four sides, with one side of each cage a door, in which there will be a secure feeding door. I’ll also put a similar flap in the side of each cage, which will be locked shut till I’m ready to release birds. Once they’re ready to fly free, I’ll open that small door, and let them find their own way into the wild.
I’d love to eventually get two three-foot by six-foot by six-foot tall cages built, one for large songbirds, and one for small. For right now, though, a single cage will have to do.
I plan to build them in panels. I’ll make three-by-three panels of lumber and hardware cloth, and create modular cages of whatever size I need. Thus, once a single cage is done, I’ll keep making panels and adding to the facilities.
One very important part of each cage will be an entrance addition. This will be a 3′w x 3′l x 6′h cage attached to the door end of each main cage, so that I can walk into the entry, secure the door behind me, and then enter the actual cage or open the feeding door without having to worry about birds releasing themselves before they are ready.
I’ll hang bird feeders, set up feeding trays, install water dishes/baths into the cage(s) as well as hanging and setting up identical ones all around the outside of them. The release area is going to be located under some nice bushy arbor vitae trees, for shelter, and in which to hang feeders. Thus, the birds, when released, will have feed and water available in stations they already recognize, and plenty of shelter in the bushy branches of the trees. I’ll also be setting up nesting/roosting areas for them.
And the trick is, of course … how do we afford to do this right? As usual, for now, I’m tossing that out to the Universe and trusting that the answer will soon arrive!
