EMERGENCY QUESTION... Feeding baby kildeer

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My husband just brought home a baby kildeer (we think) that couldn't be more than a week or so old. His friend found him at work and couldn't find a nest. Neither, in their ultimate wisdom have fed or watered the poor thing since lunchtime.

I have calls into the county extension and wildlife rehabber up here, but don't expect answers till tomorrow as one was closed and the other clueless...

I know that kildeer eat 'bugs', but he won't take water even if I dunk his beak. Also, his beak is so tiny that I will have to feed him with a toothpick...

HELP!!! What do they REALLY eat??? Those that eat flies and such usually won't survive on worms, but I have ready supply of one and not the other!! How else can I try teaching him to drink???

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 02, 2001

Answers

Sue,like the raptors i think they will get most of their moisture from the food they eat.(you're a falconer right?)I don't think I have ever seen a baby kildeer only the parents doing the hurt wing act.They are ground nesters and probably the baby was fine where it was they don't make much of a nest other than a few pebbles piled together.As far as feeding the little bugger chop sticks work well for feeding tools.Whith that narrow beak my guess is the parents regurgitate food as an almost liquid.an eye droper may work better than the chopsticks.Still thinking about this......kildeer are a species of plover right?Well according to my handy dandy rehab book substitutes for their diet would be Bread,beef strips,night crawlers,lettuce,chicken scratch,bone meal and cod liver oil. I'd try blending a few of these together and trying to serve it through the dropper fist after that I'd try it as a thin paste on the chop sticks.

-- greg (gsmith@tricountyi.net), May 02, 2001.

Sue, flying by the seat of my pants, I would say number one, get the bird some elctrolyte replacer. You can do this with honey, warm water a tic of salt and baking soda...maybe forego the baking soda with the bird. I have had good results with shocked chicks using this formula though. Secondly, I would make a broth of some meat really fine and stir in some oats, pulverize it all and make it quite liquid, then use a dropper or a squeze bottle to get some nutrition in the bird. Best of luck!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), May 03, 2001.

Thanks guys - all info duly noted (and SAVED!!)

Poor Rich will probably never try to 'save' anything again, lol!! He got a real baptism by fire yesterday...

I drilled him a little on if they'd bothered to look for a nest, etc etc... He said they did. He had to go dig up some nightcrawlers, cause that was about the only thing I could think of that was both easy to catch and easy to 'mush'. Then, the rehabber finally called back, and found a facility to take him - trouble was, it was over 60 miles away, lol!! Reminded Rich of all the trouble he'd gone through, and he finally decided he had and couldn't let the little thing die just because he didn't want to drive, so we took him in.

Found out that they imprint on people... Little "Bandit" (Rich had even named him, lol!) has only one eye, so my guess is he was abandoned. The found him on top of a pallet at work - was about to become birdie mush when the guy saw him... Rich just likes to volunteer -

Greg - I was licensed back in IL, but I never had to get any books. All the info I've ever gotten was for specific things, usually on the net or in a book about a certain animal... Would LOVE to have the title of that book you mentioned!! Was thinking when I get my place, I might see about trying for a license here, too.

Thanks again!!!

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 03, 2001.


Sue the name of the book is CARE OF THE WILD FEATHERED AND FURRED by Mae Hickman and Maxine Guy.It may actually be a little too basic but I must admit I learned a few things from it.I bought a pile of copies a few years back for $2.00 each.I was always the guy that folks called to "fix" what ever thay found and no longer wanted to be responsible for.After awhile I'd give them a copy of the book and say good luck.I'm down to one copy now.Sorry.I'd send you an extra if I had one.On the whole I guess it is worth owning.You should be able to find a copy on the net.As a side bar I did a little more checking and found that kildeer are not really altricial birds so it may already have been out on it's own......

-- greg (gsmith@tricountyi.net), May 03, 2001.

Sue the name of the book is CARE OF THE WILD FEATHERED AND FURRED by Mae Hickman and Maxine Guy.It may actually be a little too basic but I must admit I learned a few things from it.I bought a pile of copies a few years back for $2.00 each.The cover price is $17.95.I was always the guy that folks called to "fix" what ever thay found and no longer wanted to be responsible for.After awhile I'd give them a copy of the book and say good luck.I'm down to one copy now.Sorry.I'd send you an extra if I had one.On the whole I guess it is worth owning.You should be able to find a copy on the net.As a side bar I did a little more checking and found that kildeer are not really altricial birds so it may already have been out on it's own......

-- greg (gsmith@tricountyi.net), May 03, 2001.


I have a question. I have a couple of kildeer birds that have decided to nest in my back yard. The problem is that we are trying to landscape and we have been working around them for about a month now. I am wondering if anyone knows when the eggs will hatch and how long before they are mobile?? We are getting close to bringing in our horses and this would cause a large problem for the egss. Does anyone have a suggestion???

-- Dani (dthomas@slmortgage.com), June 04, 2001.

are kildeers dum because they had eggs in a school yard with young kids and had three eggs now their's only one.

-- majelle legros (pmrmlegros@aol.com), May 08, 2004.

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