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How to Feed a Fledgling Starling

If your fledgling starling has all of its feathers, it's likely that it may not need your help. Fledgling starlings may spend a couple days out of their nests before they learn to fly. During this time, they are attended to and fed by their parents. If you determine that the fledgling starling does indeed need your help, consider taking it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, who will know exactly how to care for it so that it can be released back into the wild when it is old enough and healthy enough. In the meantime, however, it is important that you feed this feathered omnivore a proper diet. Keep in mind that if your starling is younger than 4 weeks old, you may have to hand-feed it several times a day, as often as every 30 minutes if it is very young.

Things You'll Need

1 cup dry cat food
1/4 cup applesauce
Hard-boiled egg
Shallow saucer
Drinking straw
Scissors

Instructions

- 1
  Soak 1 cup of dry cat food in water until it is soft.
- 2
  Mix the softened cat food, a hard-boiled egg and 1/4 cup of applesauce with just enough water to bring the mixture to the consistency of a thick gruel.
- 3
  Place a bit of the gruel into a shallow saucer and offer it to the fledgling starling. The bird may be old enough to eat the food directly from the saucer. If the bird doesn't eat from the saucer, cut a groove -- a "trough" -- in one end of the straw with the scissors. Scoop up a bit of the gruel into the "trough" of the straw and offer it to the bird, holding the food against the end of the beak. It may take several attempts before the fledgling starling accepts the food from you. In some instances, it may be necessary to force-feed the bird a few times before it willingly accepts food from you.
- 4
  Gently open the bird's beak with your thumb, if you must force-feed. Place a small amount of food in the bird's mouth and pause to give the bird a chance to swallow the food. Be very careful if you must force-feed. The baby bird can easily inhale the food, which will result in death.

Animals & Science