Baby Myna Bird - Advice Needed

[schmangle]

Advice needed.

About 1 week ago, my cats brought a baby myna bird into the house. I had no idea where the nest was, where the parents were, so no option to put it back where it came from. There are zillions of myna birds where I live, no idea which "group" it belongs to. Tried leaving it out in a fairly "open" bush then disappearing. After 5 hours, it had fallen out of the bush and was trying to hide under some leaves. No birds had tried to visit it (was spying out of the window about 30 meters away). I live in the countryside about 20 kms from Chiang Mai, but currently moving much nearer to the city.

Bird is now living in a cardboard box, eating mushed up adult myna bird food, bananas, worms from my herb plants, and growing, pooping and cheeping like crazy. Going by other photos on the internet, I judge it to be about 2 weeks old - can sort of crawl around, has to be hand fed, stomach and back feathers just growing in, wing feathers and tail feathers developing fast.

I have absolutely no desire to keep it as I'm very opposed to caged birds (and the 2 cats would probably cause a problem ) so my questions are:

1. What can I do as it gets older to help it learn to fend for itself? Should I change its diet, and if so, when? And would a cage be better than the yucky cardboard box its in now (plus towel)?

2. How do I "repatriate" this bird? At what age/growth stage could I leave it to fend for itself? Would it be best to return it to the original location or could I just release it anywhere (obviously not on a major highway)?

Any and all advice very welcome.

PS. I know its an invasive species etc etc so please, I really don't need any replies along the lines of "you should have wrung its neck"

[bina]

too late. u now own an imprinted myna bird. soon there will be no need to cage it as it will hang around u. yes a carton is not a good thing, try changing to a cage with branches that are easily grabbable by his feet (they circle around, not to thin, not to thick, to avoid feet/toe problems); a carton and newspaper alone is not good for him as he stands in his own shit. the cage, if u use one, should have a changeable lining though. no need for a metal cage; just build a box out of old decent wood with a fencing material on two sides and a door.

and yes, by not leaving him to nature (most probably being eaten, not by being re adopted by his parents), u interfered and have made him your pet. if u move, he may even follow (we had one do that, here in israel- as we have those mynas as an invasive species also.)

they learn to talk and are good pets, but territorial....

once he is able to proactively look and grab for insects and stuff, and he can fly farther then just a lift up to a branch and thats it, he may be able to make it on his own. if u leave him somewhere, do it far far far away from your house; and then, he may, or may not, make it. he also doesnt have a flock to join up with and will be seen as an intruder, but not much u can do about this. next time, be a good citizen and leave the fledglings alone unless it is an endangered species and u know someone who knows how to keep the fledgling 'wild oriented'. im speaking from 20 years experience ...

bina

israel

[schmangle]

Hi Bina

Thanks for the info. One of those little mini-miracles happened today. My landlord had to come in to fix something in the house, and on the desperate off-chance I asked him if he'd like a bird. Turns out he had one for years and is more than happy to adopt this one - knows all about what to feed it, has a cage already, hooooraaaaayy. Thanks universe.

PS. Being a good citizen is my absolute downfall, this is how I came to own all my cats (thankfully, have never run across any stray puppies or would have added those to the horde).

Loud cheeping heard, feeding time...

thanks again

[phetaroi]

too late. u now own an imprinted myna bird. soon there will be no need to cage it as it will hang around u. yes a carton is not a good thing, try changing to a cage with branches that are easily grabbable by his feet (they circle around, not to thin, not to thick, to avoid feet/toe problems); a carton and newspaper alone is not good for him as he stands in his own shit. the cage, if u use one, should have a changeable lining though. no need for a metal cage; just build a box out of old decent wood with a fencing material on two sides and a door.

and yes, by not leaving him to nature (most probably being eaten, not by being re adopted by his parents), u interfered and have made him your pet. if u move, he may even follow (we had one do that, here in israel- as we have those mynas as an invasive species also.)

they learn to talk and are good pets, but territorial....

once he is able to proactively look and grab for insects and stuff, and he can fly farther then just a lift up to a branch and thats it, he may be able to make it on his own. if u leave him somewhere, do it far far far away from your house; and then, he may, or may not, make it. he also doesnt have a flock to join up with and will be seen as an intruder, but not much u can do about this. next time, be a good citizen and leave the fledglings alone unless it is an endangered species and u know someone who knows how to keep the fledgling 'wild oriented'. im speaking from 20 years experience ...

bina

israel

I disagree. There is nothing wrong with protecting a life...any life of a sentient being.

[bina]

phetaroi the problem is that u condemn said life afterwards to possible slow death... hel_l is paved with good intentions.. i know, not a buddhist thing but in this case, now the person has responsibility towards what he saved. had it been anon (my husband), he would have saved it, and then released it, not caring whether or not the bird survived, as it already wouldnt be his responsibility... or he would leave it with food/and water nearby and that's that... as he did to a chick that one of his sis's pups mangled. he put the chick in a shrub, put some food and water nearby, and the chick took one night to die/be caught and eaten by dogs.... but this part of the discussion is for the buddist forum not to hijack this thread which is for baby myna bird care, and any way, in this case, a more or less happy end. myna gets life, but will be caged...

shcmangle, alls well that ends well, so u are a 'cat person?'...... its addictive to those that do it (not me)...good going, but next time think twice.

bina

israel

[schmangle]

Trust me Bina, I thought looooong and hard as I sat inside cozily while little bird sat outside in the rain for 5 hours... I just couldn't do it.

Regarding being caged, the last bird this guy had was allowed to fly around, cage door was open at all times. It stuck around for years, then one day disappeared. I wouldn't just give this bird to somebody I did not think would take very good care of it (ie. stick it in a tiny cage all day long).

Letting nature take its course is a tough one - I had an HIV cat who died recently (well, it feels like recently) and that topic was all I thought about all day long for many days. After a week of slow starvation when he just couldn't eat anything, I had him put down and I'm happy with the choice I made.

PS. Back to the baby birds, an easy alternative to a cardboard box, for those who can't find/make a cage instantly, is to use one of those plastic washing basket type things they sell at every single market. They have a flat bottom and holes in all the sides (come in various sizes). You can poke sticks of different sizes through the holes to make a perch at different levels, and change the newspaper at the bottom easily. Special food for myna birds is sold at all the pet shops - B25 for a medium packet.

[phetaroi]

phetaroi the problem is that u condemn said life afterwards to possible slow death... hel_l is paved with good intentions.. i know, not a buddhist thing but in this case, now the person has responsibility towards what he saved. had it been anon (my husband), he would have saved it, and then released it, not caring whether or not the bird survived, as it already wouldnt be his responsibility... or he would leave it with food/and water nearby and that's that... as he did to a chick that one of his sis's pups mangled. he put the chick in a shrub, put some food and water nearby, and the chick took one night to die/be caught and eaten by dogs.... but this part of the discussion is for the buddist forum not to hijack this thread which is for baby myna bird care, and any way, in this case, a more or less happy end. myna gets life, but will be caged...

I fully understand the logic...just don't agree with it at all.

[bina]

ive been there, trust me, its always a difficult decsion when we ended up with some 'rescued' wildlife since many couldnt be released, nor are they pets. they then become petting zoo pets like my white porcupine we have in the petting zoo. thats life.

bina

israel

[Royale]

phetaroi the problem is that u condemn said life afterwards to possible slow death... hel_l is paved with good intentions.. i know, not a buddhist thing but in this case, now the person has responsibility towards what he saved. had it been anon (my husband), he would have saved it, and then released it, not caring whether or not the bird survived, as it already wouldnt be his responsibility... or he would leave it with food/and water nearby and that's that... as he did to a chick that one of his sis's pups mangled. he put the chick in a shrub, put some food and water nearby, and the chick took one night to die/be caught and eaten by dogs.... but this part of the discussion is for the buddist forum not to hijack this thread which is for baby myna bird care, and any way, in this case, a more or less happy end. myna gets life, but will be caged...

I fully understand the logic...just don't agree with it at all.

Neither do i. Well done Schmangle,glad you found someone that will take good care of it.You did your best.