Need help with Juvenile Hummingbird

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Our cat got a hold of a juvenile hummingbird last night. He (or she) looks like he tried to fly from the nest and was then captured.

He is uninjured. We have been feeding him the sugar water mix (which I know he can't have for more than 24 hours). He can fly for short distances (around the house) but the rehab center said he wouldn't make it out in the wild yet.

They said to feed him bugs but he won't eat them. The wildlife center is 2 hours away (one way).

I think he would be ok once he starts eating bugs. I thought we could try and do this at home.

He does not seem stressed out. He even perches on my shoulder and in my hand. I would let him fly around the house free will but he crashes A LOT.

This has been a great experience- I am so glad I pounced on the cat.

Anyone done this before??

-- Amy Richards (amysgarden2 @earthlink.net), June 20, 2001

Answers

I dont know if this helps but I dont think that they eat just any old random bug, seems to me that I read that they like baby spiders. Where one would go about getting a clump of those in your area, I dont know. Theres always quite a few on my picnic table under the crab apple tree...do you have anything like that?

-- William in Wi (gnarledmaw@lycos.com), June 20, 2001.

Amy, maybe you need to ask them to be a bit more specific as to just WHAT bugs they eat??? Isn't it wonderful to feel the weightlessness of the little hummer in your hand? blessings........hope it works out with a great ending.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), June 20, 2001.

Probably TINY bugs. Best thing to do is see if you can get your wee hummer in a basket out where the mother can see it,(confining the cat indoors), she may try to take over again. It's very difficult to raise wild bird chicks, they imprint on the humans, NOT good. Mother birds need to teach them survival skills that we simply cannot teach them. Do you know where the nest was? There's usually 2 chicks in hummingbird nests. Best never to mess with fledgling chicks, even if they do seem "lost" on the ground. The parent birds always know where they are, given a chance to get to them they will feed them and get them flying. If you know where the nest is, you can try to get them back into the nest, or if it's unaccessible, a fruit basket hanging off the ground works. The parents hear the chicks' peeping, and will investigate.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), June 20, 2001.

I have a big fat book that gives details for hand-rearing 100s of species of birds. Here is what it says about humming birds: Mix 1 part honey with 5 parts water. To this mixture add 1 beef boullion cube per quart of the liquid. Also add liquid vitamins (it doesn't say what kind of liquid vitamins or how much, but I assume the kind sold in the pet store for cage birds will work). This liquid will stay good in the fridge for a week. It also says they need about 15 fruit flies daily. You can attract lots of fruit flies by putting a piece of rotting banana in a jar in your yard, but you got me how you will get hold of them and feed them to the hummer. Hope this helps.

-- Cathy<>< (trinityhealth@nativestar.net), June 20, 2001.

The mortality rate for humming birds in the first year is 60-80%, so the deck is kind of stacked badly. However, there is a product called Nektar-Plus that is sold as a complete diet for hummingbirds in zoos. It has the protein supply that pure sugar water does not. It will probably be a challenge to find it however -- try the largest zoo that is close to you, or try pet stores and see if they can ship it UPS Next Day Air. (maybe search on-line for it) The rehabber may be a better way to go at a chance for survival if they have it on hand.

The suggestion about fruit flies is a good one. You can buy wingless fruit fly cultures sold for feeding tree toads & fish, but you can start your own by mashing up a couple of very ripe bananas in a bucket, and adding a bit of yeast and sugar to attract them. When they are concentrating on the fruit in the pail, place a plate over the top, then take them in to where the bird is and remove plate. Aphids and white flies are also good for them, tiny and soft bodied.

Honey, while a natural sugar, has been implicated in the deaths of a number of hummingbirds by causing fungal growths that rot their tongues off, after which they starve. I'd go with the Nektar-Plus.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), June 21, 2001.



I don't know if they need live fruit flies, but if dead ones are OK, I have a method. Get some banana or other fruit and put it in a plastic breadbag. Let some flies gather in there. Quickly shut the end and put the bag in the freezer with the banana toward the back (dark). Close the door slowly, and the flies will mostly be toward the clean front of the closed bag. In a few minutes, they are stunned and can't fly. A little while later, they are dead. Take your pick how you like them, then put the bag back out to gather more flies.

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), June 21, 2001.

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