Late yesterday evening, Minnie spotted a baby bird on the grass. Luckily Minnie was inside Stargate2 while the baby bird was outside of it.
We managed to catch the baby bird, now named Birdy, and put her into a box.
I’d never been successful in caring for injured birds before this, so I quickly went to this blog and wordsearched Joey Quah’s advice for caring for birds. Her advice previously was to use oats soaked in hot water, always a fresh batch. I did not have any oats in the house (due to my allergy) but I had quinoa flakes, so I used that. Birdy pecked a little.
I also quickly texted Joey for advice.
I was quite happy that Birdy was pecking the quinoa flakes (soaked in water). Joey said she would bring over the proper bird feed the next day.
Joey explained that the cat carrier is way too big for Birdy. I needed to put her into a tissue box with bunched up tissues to keep her warm. Birds have a higher body temperature than us and baby birds definitely need to be kept as warm as possible.
I found a smaller box and put her in it.
Joey discussed with her husband and they decided to bring over some quality bird feed because her husband, Reymont, was worried that the quinoa flakes would cause indigestion.
So, all the way from Cheras, Joey and Reymont drove over with the proper bird feed. Since they were here, I thought it best they showed us how to care for Birdy.
The box was changed a tissue box with the small opening, with bunched up tissues inside.
The bird feed (in pellets) was pounded fine and mixed with hot water to let it expand and soften. Then, using a syringe, Joey and Reymont showed us how to feed Birdy.
It isn’t easy for a beginner and is a huge challenge.
Birdy refused to open her mouth to eat, so Reymont showed us how to priced open a baby bird’s mouth to forcefeed her.
All this while, I thought we should handle birds very gently, or in fact, with minimal handling and contact as they can die of stress. But Reymont explained that with a baby bird, it was okay to handle her, but not so with adult birds (who already fear humans).
True enough, Reymont ably priced open Birdy’s mouth and Joey pumped in the bird feed using the syringe.
Birdy was eating!!
It was especially tricky because Birdy’s beak was so small and you have to know how much to pump in and where to place the syringe.
All this had to be learnt and we are so thankful that Joey and Reymont showed us, hands on too.
Reymont grew up in the kampung so he knows a great deal about birds and have saved many. He said, judging from the tongue, Birdy is likely to be a nectar-eating bird, but we cannot get pure nectar nowadays.
The feeding session easily took almost an hour and we were all bathed in sweat as we could not have the fan on. Reymont explained that Birdy has to be “taught” and this was the taste of food, only then might she be willing to eat. Hence, the forcefeeding for now. Also, a baby bird cannot go without food.
Finally, I tried using the syringe and managed to feed Birdy too. Forcefeeding was a two-person job; one to price open the beak, and one to pump the food in.
The amount eaten could probably last through the night.
Reymont also explained that we should watch the colour of the faeces later. It should not be all white. It could be white, followed by green. Just not all white (that’s diarrhoea and that’s bad news).
We put Birdy into the tissue box, into the carrier, and covered the carrier with a big towel to block off all the holes and left Birdy in the storeroom for the night as we do have so many cats around the house.
Joey and Reymont drove home. Thank you so, so much, both, for your compassion and kindness.
We decided not to feed again for the night as the whole experience must have been quite traumatic for Birdy as it was for us too. I was exhausted. I had to learn what to do, soak in all the information and try to remember it all.
I got up a few times in the middle of the night but was far too exhausted to come downstairs to check on Birdy.
“Do your best and leave the rest. T’will all come right. Some day or night.”, I consoled myself.