Blue Jay Rehabilitation

[Socrates]

Hi everyone,

I've been busy rehabilitating 2 Blue Jay babies since July 4th. I thought it would be nice to post some pictures, so everyone can see how "my" babies are doing.

Here's a picture taken 7-7-07, 3 days after the rescue. They were estimated to be between 3-4 weeks of age, with the older one being about 4-5 days older than his sibling. I named them "Swifty" (the younger one) and "Sammy", and yes, I did get quite attached.

Here they are again, 7-10-07

Here's Sammy on the same date

Sammy became quite sick after a week, and I was afraid I was going to lose him. His illness was neurological, but he miraculously overcame it and recovered completely.

Here are 2 pictures taken of them 7-22-07 (they were spending all their time outdoors at this point)

Here is Sammy on 7-24-07

And here is Swify on 8-6-07, looking like a punk rocker with his crest and face in full molt

One more. Here's Sammy today, after taking a long bath in my soup bowl.

Both of them have been fully flighted for many weeks, and now spend the majority of the day investigating the neighborhood and looking for food. However, when they are nearby and hear me calling them, they come flying over and get a morsel to eat. My husband and my teenage sons tell me that my neighbors are now convinced that I have officially lost my mind because I go out and yell: "BABIES. Come here babies." But hey, it works each and every time, and I am rather proud of their progress.

---
Wendy

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

That is way cool! Congrats on your success!

The pictures are great!

 

[JLDomestics]

Cool whered you get them?

 

[Socrates]

Thank you both so much.

I didn't "get them" anywhere really. They were found by locals, and I since I do native songbird rehabilitation I was contacted by the State and asked if I was willing to raise/rehabilitate them.

It's been very rewarding, even though it is quite a commitment. When they were younger I had to be up at sunrise to start feeding hourly until sunset. They needed to be weighed daily and progress needs to be recorded. Still, I love(d) each and every minute of it.

---
Wendy

 

[bugmankeith]

I never saw baby blues before. Is the one with the dark head male, and the one with the gray head female?

 

[Socrates]

I never saw baby blues before. Is the one with the dark head male, and the one with the gray head female?

They are impossible to sex visually, unfortunately. The one with the gray head is going through a molt right now, and I believe his crest will be as dark as his sibling once he's done.

---
Wendy

 

[Rain_Flower]

That's really cool...
There aren't blue jays where I live. Everyone thinks there are, but there aren't. We have Stellar Jays (way cool birds) and everyone mistakes them for Blue Jays.
Nice to see someone taking care of them