by Calah Beckwith, Lead Wildlife Keeper
It was a little late in coming this year, but baby bird season is upon us! We are busy feeding many of these little guys every thirty minutes, but I wanted to take a moment to share some photos of the current crew.
Two of the first babies to arrive at the Wild Bird Hospital this year: European Starlings. Upon arrival, they were ice cold and barely breathing. We got them warmed up fast, and they were begging and feisty in no time!
And look at them now! Only a few days later, they’ve grown feathers and refuse to stay in their nest. They scoot around exploring and snuggle under stuffed animals.
The starlings were quickly joined by an American robin. This little one fell more than 20 feet from her nest. She had swelling and bruising around her abdomen with likely internal trauma – very dangerous injuries in a tiny baby bird.
But she’s a strong little robin, and she fought hard to heal. Now she’s big enough to perch on branches and exercise her wing muscles. A true fledgling! She has plenty of company now, with three nestling robins that are just about ready to pop out of the nest and explore the world for themselves.
Our most recent patients are these captivating nestling blue jays. Even as nestlings, we can see the unique crest on their heads and white bars on their wings. This brood’s tree was accidentally cut down. Though the nice folks who picked them up tried to create and new nest in hopes that the parents would return, they were nowhere in sight. We’re very careful with these special babies; they are very easy to imprint, so we can’t talk to or spend too much time with them – which is incredibly difficult with such adorable and interesting little birds.
Ultimately, we know that keeping our distance is in their best interest and will help them survive in nature as truly wild blue jays. If you’d like to watch as these baby blue jays grow and change every day, click here to check out our baby bird cam.
Excellent care of the baby birds! Vibrant commentary and photos …
What beautiful little babies!