FINCHforum

My friend found a young bluejay that fell out of it's nest. She says it looks like it's almost ready to fledge. She probably should have let it be, but like me she's a bleeding heart.

What should she do? She's tried earth worm, meal worm, bits of lettuce and seed. It eats nothing. It's lively and when she picks it up it clings to her fingers and doesn't want to be put down(how cute!!!)

Any thoughts? I know from raising finches on a small scale of what the parent would do, but what should she do?

HELP!!

The best thing she could do is see if there is a wildlife rehabilitation center or group in her area--they have you turn the birds over to one of their volunteers, and they work to get the bird back in the wild.

Barring that, maybe she could try mashing up some hardboiled egg and see if it will try that. It is hard to get those babies to eat at that age, they don't want to open their beaks. She may have to take a while, tapping on its beak or lightly on the top of its head, or stroking its back--sometimes that will work to get them to open their beak.

Thank you!!

Big Thank You!!

I am sorry to say, but usually they only will accept food from their parents when they are this far along. If they were closer to their hatching date, they woudlnt have quite developed an understanding of who the parents were and this is were you coudl have intervened with food.

At this piont, your scent (her scent) is all over them so putting it back outside or in the nest will only get it tossed. The only chance, as far as i know is to do what Sally said.

Good luck. Keep us posted!

I know. As soon as she said she took it in I cringed. I doubt it will eat from her hand. I was hoping that if she left some food with it, it would eat.

Here's hoping.

Thank you the ideas and thoughts

i dunno how blues operate, but if anything like finches, they arent "weened" so they dont understand the concept of getting their own food. Their mechanism for food is cry to that which looks like mom or pop.

I hope it works out.

The problem with trying to feed one that hasn't fledged yet is that they don't want to accept food from you, but they don't know how to eat on their own yet. They are still getting (yuck) regurgitated food from their parents. The only success I have had with wild birds was an adult dove that had an injured wing. It stayed in a cage for a short time, and did eat my finch mix that I put out for it. Eventually it recovered enough to fly off.

Thank you for sharing these stories. Last year, my next door neighbor, with twp menacing cats, brought to me a blue jay, with a broken leg and tooth puncture. As I raced around to find bird hospital provisions, she carrying the injured bird that was motionless, cupped in her open hand, following me as I gathered my first aid, bird, stuff, etc., and we were finally ready to safely house the little mature fledgling. As I gently transferred the birds to my hands from hers, and slowly lowered the bird, IT JUMPED OUT and flew away!!! Obviously, her leg was dangling and upon research feared cat tooth bacteria would do her in...but, no...for months, she came to our feeder frequently. This year we haven't seen her.

Believe it or not, I think from the same nest, the same neighbor brings a second bird w/ broken leg two days later. Now, we call the rescue group..broken leg...no problem...I delivered the bird, made a donation, neverthless, she would not let me watch the splinting process (fearing a third bird was possible!) I was peeved, but now I fully understand there was a more complex situation in store for that little bird. Thank you for sharing your insights on wild bird rescue. I believe there is no more helpless feeling than finding one of these little beauties dependent on your assistance.