mocking birds

[Rescue04]

we just found crows attacking a mocking bird nest....last year they killed all the babies. what should i feed the babies. mom and dad bird just could not protect the nest. otherwise i would NOT interfer with nature. i have four babies. they are starting to get their big bird feathers in now. do it wont be long that i will have them. i dont know who on here is a bird expert so to speak. so spread the word please!! thanks!!

[djarenspace9]

If I'm not mistaken, psychobird is THE bird expert here :D

[astra]

If I'm not mistaken, psychobird is THE bird expert here :D
no, you are not mistaken, :) She IS THE bird expert

[Rescue04]

well then i need psychobird!!

[astra]

well then i need psychobird!!
send her a pm

[quagmire]

Petco sells a baby bird formula. I have used it with success with baby house sparrows in the past. Other pet chains and stores may have it too. I don't recall the name.

It was recommended (if I remember correctly) to feed the babies every 2-3 hours during daylight. At night they sleep and don't need constant feeding like baby squirrels do. Check it out.

If you didn't know baby birds have a 85-90% mortality rate, I was surprised to learn that but it makes sense. I imagine that % will be much lower since they are not being attacked by crows and in good hands :-)

Good luck.

[Rescue04]

Petco sells a baby bird formula. I have used it with success with baby house sparrows in the past. Other pet chains and stores may have it too. I don't recall the name.

It was recommended (if I remember correctly) to feed the babies every 2-3 hours during daylight. At night they sleep and don't need constant feeding like baby squirrels do. Check it out.

If you didn't know baby birds have a 85-90% mortality rate, I was surprised to learn that but it makes sense. I imagine that % will be much lower since they are not being attacked by crows and in good hands :-)

Good luck.

i have that stuff. they are old enough. i have giving them worms tonite. they are sleeping and happy. i also picked up crickets {live ones} and grasshoppers. i researched the diet for mocking birds. includes it all. i am just wondering how to get water into them?

[djarenspace9]

Just a caution, but I was told by a rehabber that you cannot give LIVE food to baby birds being hand fed.

Mom will kill the food first before feeding to the babies.
They need to eat it on their own if it's live or you have to kill it.

[CritterMom]

Just a caution, but I was told by a rehabber that you cannot give LIVE food to baby birds being hand fed.

Mom will kill the food first before feeding to the babies.
They need to eat it on their own if it's live or you have to kill it.


I don't know about that. I have hand raised about ten thousand barn swallows :shakehead from a couple days old to nearly fledged and used live mealworms to do it. I always crush the heads of the mealies before I feed them to destroy the chewing jaws, but that does not kill them (!!)

Don't EVER feed fishing worms or night crawlers...they can cause something called gape that looks like lockjaw with the beak open. Robins in the wild are one of the only birds that actually will eat earthworms but I still wouldn't feed them.

[djarenspace9]

Maybe that's what they meant, I remember them telling me you have to cut the head off the worms and crickets.

That's the moment I decided not to rehab insect eating baby birds :D

[Rescue04]

i was actually taught to let me worms soak in water. which i am doing. i am giving them meal worms. which they love. i also have ants {found in the nest} that i am drowning and giving them too. just like mom and dad would. i found a great site that told me their diet. they are pooping and everything. so i must be doing something right.