A tiny, shivering, featherless lump gawks up at you with unfocused eyes and says, “Yweek!” Now what do you do? The first step in taking care of an orphaned baby bird is to determine whether or not the bird can be returned to its nest. If not, the next step is to ask yourself two very important questions: 1) Are you prepared to cater to this bottomless beak for the next few weeks just as its parents would have? And 2) Can you deal with failure and death or success and release of the foundling into the wild? If you have any hesitation, don’t pick that baby up!
Of course you picked it up. Its survival now depends entirely on you, and if you’re like most people who don’t nurse wild birds to maturity on an everyday basis, you need help. Here are some pointers to help keep you both going:
■ Keep baby warm. 92–94°F until pin feathers develop, down to 88°F until fully feathered. Give the baby some control over the temperature by placing it in a towel-lined box with a heat lamp at one end. This way he can move closer to or farther from the heat source. Avoid drafts.
■ Weigh baby daily to be sure he gains weight.
■ Keep both ends clean. A warm, moist washcloth will do.
■ Never attempt to give straight water — babies can drown. They get all the moisture they need from runny formula.
Feeding
Just as finding containers and molds for outdoor feeding takes some recycling imagination, so can finding just the right “bottle” for baby’s formula. Depending on the size of the baby a variety of items have been known to serve.
Tiny baby — flat end of toothpick,
1 cc syringe, eyedropper Medium baby — rubber-coated baby spoon, 3 cc syringe
Big baby — washed-out squeeze mustard bottle, 20 cc (or larger) syringe
Baby formulas must be lump free, warm, and runny. Heat gently over hot water and test the temperature as you would for a human infant. Clean all utensils thoroughly after food preparation and feeding. Birds are very vulnerable to bacteria that develops all too quickily in warm food. Refrigerate leftovers for no more than 2 days. It’s better to whip up a fresh batch each morning.
¼ cup water
Pinch of ground millet*
2 teaspoons Cream of Wheat
Hard boiled egg, finely grated
Cook and stir for about 30 seconds; mixture should be runny. Add ground millet and a sprinkling of finely grated hard boiled egg.
*Hulled millet is available in health food stores. Grind in blender and store in air-tight container.
For larger babies progress to more substantial and varied formulas.
BABY FORMULA I
½ cup boiling water
1 tablespoon wheathearts
1 egg yolk
¼ teaspoon ground cuttle-bone or oystershell
1 teaspoon honey
1 heaping teaspoon powdered milk
½ baby food jar oatmeal with applesauce and banana
Cook wheathearts in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients.
BABY FORMULA II
2½ cups boiling water
2 teaspoons corn oil
½ cup wheathearts
Dash of salt
½ cup powdered milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 baby food jar oatmeal with applesauce and bananas
⅓ cup sunflower meal
¼ teaspoon fine grit
Cook wheathearts with dash of salt in boiling water and corn oil for 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients.
BABY FORMULA III
6 cups boiling water
½ cup wheathearts
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn oil
1 cup powdered milk
2 cups sunflower meal
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
½ baby food jar strained peas
½ baby food jar strained spinach
½ baby food jar strained carrots
¼ tablespoon fine grit
Combine wheathearts, salt, oatmeal, and corn oil in water and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients.