So there's a baby starling in the asparagus fern by the bathtub...

We have a nest of them in the eves of our house. They bored a hole through the facia board and, since yesterday, have been dropping in between the walls and getting into our bedroom under the bathroom cabinets. The adult birds quickly figured out how to get to escape through the open window, as did one of the babies. There is one straggler left, who just doesn’t seem up for flying yet and is crouched in a potted plant.

The little guy is all feathered out, except for a little fluff around his neck. He hops and flutters, but so far that’s all. I’ve been to sites that talk about what to feed rescued starlings and so on and I put some food out last night which went untouched.

What I want to know is what we should do with this bird. He is too old to hand feed, too young (I think) to fend for himself, and mom and dad do keep dropping by. I can’t find any wildlife rehabilitors near us and we don’t want to force him outside if he can’t fend for himself.

Any suggestions out there?

Wow.
Interesting story.
Is there any way to wait it out for another day or so and see if
he flies on his own?
Of course, then, how would he know how to get back out?
Are mom and dad still dropping by for him?
Can they show him out?
Do birds “do that”?

Mayhaps you must whisper the phrase that tiny birds hear from their parents every year: “Fly or McNugget y’stinker!”

Is there also a wee pixie in the cowslip near the bluebells?

First thing I thought of when I saw this title…

I’m no expert, but i might wait until sometime midday when the parents are out foraging and scoop the little sucker up and deposit him into the nest.

I’m pretty sure that whole abandoning the nest if humans touch it thing is bunk.

If only we could reach the nest, Omniscient, but it’s way up in the eves of a house that sits on the edge of a ravine-like drop.

I tried the McNugget threat as you suggested, danceswithcats. No joy. He’s still sitting there blinking at me.

And Bosda, there was a bustle in the hedgerow, alarming as that might be.

Wish I knew what to do with this creature. :confused:

Could you put the plant, pot, bird, and all, outside in a safe place? perhaps o a window ledge or something?

That’s what Mr. 'Addi wants to do, twickster. We live on a mountainside, though and it’s full of predators. I’m worried that if we take it outside before it can fly it will be a coyote snack.

The idea of “human scent on a bird will drive away the parents” pretty much is bunk (for the most part, most birds do not have a well-developed sense of smell). It more of the presence of humans that will drive away the parents.

Put it in a bush or low tree branch somewhere below where the nest is. If the parents are still nearby, they will feed and tend to the kiddo. If not, well, truly that is the circle of life. Predators gotta feed, too.

Starlings are a non-native (non-US) species introduced here thanks to some misguided idjit from the late 1800 who decided that all the songbirds of Shakespeare should be represented in Central Park (they are mentioned once in Henry IV, part somethingorother). They didn’t take the first two of three times he tried, but they did eventually, and the population exploded. At my former job, I did an internal library listing of periodical articles (cataloguing each article from 15 different ornithological periodicals we received), and the section on starling sightings/expansion through the western US from the 1930s (Pennsylvania) to 1950s (far western Nevada and California) is absolute amazing.

Unfortunately, they have expanded to the point of driving many native species (bluebirds, purple martins, et al) out of their normal niche. Please don’t take it personally if this one does not survive (if you are absolutely sure it is a starling), but perhaps another species might survive if this individual does not.

I had a similar problem last weekend. I had a fledgling stuck in my window well. I called animal control, and she used a long handled net to scoop him out and then she deposited him in the bushes. She said she knew that his mother was around and would take care of him. At first I was hesitant to call them because I was worried they’d take him away, but she said their job is to help them, not hurt them.

Call your local animal control to see if they have any suggestions. Good luck!

Thanks for your replies everyone. Seems our little pal has flown the coop. He wasn’t much bigger than an egg, but what a chazzerei he left behind! Bird poop, broken plants, beer cans, cigarette butts. Messy little bastard.

Glad he found his way into the world, though. :slight_smile:

if he cannot fly yet he can still be hand feed give him wet cat food or dog food it has to be a pate put a little on the end of your smallest finger and when he opens his mouth shove it down his throat you will have to feed him about every two hours if you cannot get him back with parents he will imprint on you so he will not be able to be released back into the wild but you can keep him as a pet go to starling talk to get info on him I also have a starling I found in my closet I am looking for a rehabilitator for mine also but so far no luck so I guess I now have a pet starling:D

I keep reading the thread title as “there’s a baby startling in the asparagus fern…” and picturing an infant in a plant, startling, with his little arms and legs going all crazy…

Kill it…Kill it…Kill it! Flying vermin! There are 200 million of these fuckers in North America thanks to one insane Shakespeare fan. These birds are one of the bigger reasons for the decline in native song birds, much more than your neighborhood cats. They should always be shot on sight. They are exempted from protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty.

This thread is from 2003. I’m sure the starling in question is dead. and flying around looking for…

I thought it was “staring”. I imagined the OP walking in on some wild-eyed infant that had decided to start a garden in the bathroom.

This was something of a shocking zombie…I saw that danceswithcats had posted and immediately thought to myself “That can’t be right…”.