Man, what a day! Earlier today I noticed this high-pitched chirping coming from a small ventilation shaft near the front door of my apartment building. Turns out that a bird had made a nest there. The only things I could see in the small hole were little yellow gaping maws, chirping and clamouring for food. I thought it best to leave them alone first, and letting their mother take care of them.
However, after keeping an eye on the situation and talking with some neighbours, it turned out that no one had seen a mother bird at the nest the entire day. A little later I saw that two hatchlings had already fallen from their nest, one was dead and the other one was crawling on the ground. I picked the little guy up, carried him inside and called the zoo. They told me I could bring them in if I didn't see their mother at the nest.
An hour later, I actually managed to catch another one as it fell from the ventilation shaft. I waited some more, and after I saw that some of the little birds were already quite weak and lethargic, I decided to take drastic measures, fetched my pair of tongs and fished the last three out.
I gave them water with an eyedropper and fed them mealworms. One of the hatchlings was quite dehydrated, couldn't chirp or even stay upright, and I was pretty sure there was no hope. However, after I managed to get him some water, at first just a little at a time (it was really quite heartbreaking to see the little guy labouredly gulp down a few drops and then limply nodding it's head) it soon recovered and was loudly chirping away with the rest of it's brothers and sisters! They clamped on the eyedropper like babies to a bottle, and swallowed the mealworms with ferocity that puts my Leopard gecko to shame
Word's won't describe how absurd it felt mimicking bird sounds to these ugly little creatures, and quickly squirting water down their throats when they opened their mouths to answer.
After feeding and hydrating the birds, I packed all five of them in a box lined with paper towels, covered it with a small cloth, and headed for the zoo. While in the metro, the birds started chirping every time the doors beeped before closing, and when a station's name was announced through the intercom. I guess I could've made any random loud noise and they would have still opened their mouths... so much for my bird imitation :razz:
After I left the box at the ticket booth and they called for a caretaker, I was told I could enter the zoo for free... the only problem being that it was about 20 minutes before closing time Oh well, I didn't do this for a reward anyway The people there thought that the mother bird could've flown into a window or something... :/
Remember, whenever you see an animal (or a human, for that matter) in trouble, don't just leave it for dead. Yeah, nature will take care of the problem eventually, but there's always something you can try to do!
It was hard to tell what species the hatchlings were since they were so young, but due to their yellow feathers, I'm guessing they were Parus major (Finnish: Talitiainen, or colloquially talitintti. English: ...Great tit?). Here's some heartwarming pictures I took with my crappy cellphone camera (I had gloves on at first, just in case):
However, after keeping an eye on the situation and talking with some neighbours, it turned out that no one had seen a mother bird at the nest the entire day. A little later I saw that two hatchlings had already fallen from their nest, one was dead and the other one was crawling on the ground. I picked the little guy up, carried him inside and called the zoo. They told me I could bring them in if I didn't see their mother at the nest.
An hour later, I actually managed to catch another one as it fell from the ventilation shaft. I waited some more, and after I saw that some of the little birds were already quite weak and lethargic, I decided to take drastic measures, fetched my pair of tongs and fished the last three out.
I gave them water with an eyedropper and fed them mealworms. One of the hatchlings was quite dehydrated, couldn't chirp or even stay upright, and I was pretty sure there was no hope. However, after I managed to get him some water, at first just a little at a time (it was really quite heartbreaking to see the little guy labouredly gulp down a few drops and then limply nodding it's head) it soon recovered and was loudly chirping away with the rest of it's brothers and sisters! They clamped on the eyedropper like babies to a bottle, and swallowed the mealworms with ferocity that puts my Leopard gecko to shame
Word's won't describe how absurd it felt mimicking bird sounds to these ugly little creatures, and quickly squirting water down their throats when they opened their mouths to answer.
After feeding and hydrating the birds, I packed all five of them in a box lined with paper towels, covered it with a small cloth, and headed for the zoo. While in the metro, the birds started chirping every time the doors beeped before closing, and when a station's name was announced through the intercom. I guess I could've made any random loud noise and they would have still opened their mouths... so much for my bird imitation :razz:
After I left the box at the ticket booth and they called for a caretaker, I was told I could enter the zoo for free... the only problem being that it was about 20 minutes before closing time
Oh well, I didn't do this for a reward anyway The people there thought that the mother bird could've flown into a window or something... :/Remember, whenever you see an animal (or a human, for that matter
) in trouble, don't just leave it for dead. Yeah, nature will take care of the problem eventually, but there's always something you can try to do!It was hard to tell what species the hatchlings were since they were so young, but due to their yellow feathers, I'm guessing they were Parus major (Finnish: Talitiainen, or colloquially talitintti. English: ...Great tit?). Here's some heartwarming pictures I took with my crappy cellphone camera (I had gloves on at first, just in case):
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