Our Little Bird

[Trooperman]

Can any knowledgeable twitcher tell me what this little fellow is?
We found him on some low branches in one of our conifer trees, left him all day and night in case his mother was feeding him and, when she didn't appear to be so doing, we took him in and started the half-hourly feeds!

In this photo you can see that he is still bald under his neck, but is starting to develop quite beautiful yellow bands on his wings.

He's now eating a mix of bird seed, bread, honey and water (although for all we know he may be an insect eater in which case we'll have to skim the swimming pool for fodder) and is gaining strength every day.

The biggest problem is keeping our cats away from the cage we've borrowed.

Any tips on feeding, keeping or releasing would be most welcome.

[country boy]

Looks to me like a little Goldfinch, in which case he is a seed eater. The Spanish do keep them as cage birds so he should do well while he/she is getting better.

[patricia]

Looks like a young finch, could be goldfinch, they have yellow bands on their wings, young birds don't get their distinctive facial features until they are mature.

[princess peach]

we hand rear our baby lovebirds on special ready brek like mixture available from the local pet shop,(this is fed using a syringe with a small tube put onto the end straight into the gullet,when the chest area fills like a balloon its time to stop feeding it).They usually wean themselves off that,and onto seeds.Seems hes doing well and is onto seeds already.When he has all his feathers he will be ready to be released (if thats what you want to do)
Hes a beauty,well done for keeping him fed and watered!

[Trooperman]

Thanks everyone.
Goldfinch he is then. We've called him Mungo and when one names any creature, it's a path towards keeping him!
Should we keep him?
Should we release him?
What a dilema.
My heart says keep him but I'll have to talk to my 9 cats and I think I know what the answer will be!

[Scot]

Whether you keep him or release him - well done. It's a lovely story and you have made my day much happier now Keep up the good work!

[Troglodyfae]

I used to breed Roselas and Cockatiels in the UK, and we often had to hand rear them and used Milupa baby cereal as there was a nice grain one that brought them on a treat. Worse that having a baby though as the feeds were far more frequent...lol

Well done, hope Mungo does well

[gretch]

Well done Troop’. But how did you get him to pose so well for the camera?

gretch

[Trooperman]

Mungo learns to fly
[img][img]http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll26 ... 0_0501.jpg[/img]

Unfortunately, my cats are taking too much interest and Mungo will be going to a friend who has an aviary.
To Gretch who asked how he posed so well, it was the 10X zoom on the camera that enabled me to take the pic without getting too close and there were half a dozen that were rejected 'cos he moved or looked away.[/img]

[wagon ropes]

Congratulations on your new skill Mungo. I hope you enjoy your new home.

[RichardCoeurdeLion]

Mungo, can you play "The Birdie Song"