r/petstarlings

Named him (maybe her?) Larry Bird on a whim, but I'm curious if the community could tell me for sure.

So, about a week ago this fledgling swooped down at my head and started following me around and perching on my shoulder as if it knew me.

What caused it to do this? It will even try to follow me inside my house. I live in a remote area, so it almost certainly isnt an escaped pet.

It's also missing bits of feathers and its tail is all messed up. Sometimes it will fly off and return with small wounds and missing feathers on the top of its head as if its being bullied by others.

Is it sick/injured in a way i cant tell? Or did I just stumble across a weird one? I am not familiar with starlings, but i have had two parrots for 15 years and I raise chickens, so im pretty familiar with caring for birds in general... I just find it odd a fledgling would do this. Especially one that flies perfectly fine.

I highly encourage those seeking to re-home or adopt to go through the Facebook group "Starling Rescue and Care" where new adopters can be thoroughly vetted and provided with basic care knowledge prior to adoptions. This reddit group is for casual discussions only, serious medical advice and adoption assistance should go through the Facebook group. This is for everyone's safety.

Please do not spam multiple posts with "looking to adopt", or "I'll take it". It will be removed and you will end up silenced or banned.

This is Larry. I found him in my shop at school and couldn't find a nest anywhere. This is a picture of him yesterday, I found him last Wednesday.

I have been feeding him a mix of high protien dog food mixed with an egg yolk and a bit of applesauce, as was recommended by a Google search. He seems to be doing very well, but I would appreciate any advice that the community has going forward.

We are in summer, bugs are a plenty, but seed is a natural part of their diet, not just for harsh winters.

Found a baby bird that a cat was trying to bat about, scooped it up, no nest that I could find, no marks on it, super hoppy and chirpy little thing, I’m trying to find a wildlife rescue but not coming to much luck, what do I do 😅 feathers are just coming in, it’s completely naked underneath and round the wings

A week ago I found this guy in the middle of a very busy road. Ran out into traffic to grab him but couldn’t find a nest or risk leaving him behind as his leg seemed badly damaged. He’s doing great now due to this sub and has even started flying today, but I can’t seem to get him interested in foods that aren’t his mash that I hand feed him. My office floor is utterly covered in seeds at this point and he just flings worms all over the place. Is this just a wait and be patient sort of thing? Or is there anything I can do to help him get more interested?

We rescued Ziggy when we fell from his next a couple of weeks ago (seemed to be about 7 days old), and we had no way of putting him back. So we decided to look after him with the intention of releasing him when he was ready.

He spends most of his time in his cage, but we have a room that we let him out for ‘flight training’ a few times a day. He’s getting pretty good at that.

The area he’s not so good at yet is feeding himself. I’ve started putting live worms in with him (before was freezing/defrosting them to go with his soaked cat kibble), and he has pecked a few times, but not tried to eat them.

The intention was that once he could fly and feed himself we would sit outside one morning, open his cage, and hope that he would find his way to his family who are still around our house. At this point we would really miss him, but it feels like the right thing to do.

However, after discovering this subreddit it seems many people keep them as pets, and that releasing them might not work. Keen to hear anyone’s thoughts. Thanks!

My mom found a baby bird that fell on the ground, and we arent sure what to do with it until wildlife centers open in the evening. We have a dog at home, and our neighbors let their cats out often so neither of those options seem great. Suggestions?

So far, she is planning to leave the box on a bush or tree near where it fell in case the parents come back and monitor it from afar and if by the end of the evening the parents dont come back, bring it into our garage for the night away from the dog and outdoor cats. We do not own a heating pad

Update: we found a private exotics rehaber who is able to take the starling!

A European starling decided it would be a good idea to nest in our roof. The problem arose when one of the babies fell out. I put it back, but apparently it wasn't good enough, and it fell back out (Unbeknownst to me, it was two different babies). Finally, today those two fell out again. One of them died about an hour after we recovered it, but the other is alive, and seems healthy. So far we've been feeding it small pieces of mealworm with some soaked dog food (iron-free of course) every 20-30 minutes or so. Any advice would be much appreciated!

This is Loki, currently 23-25 days old I believe,had him two weeks tomorrow, he is interested in forging and I have a mix of bugs and mush food since 18-21days (day this photo was taken) old instead of just mush, he keeps looking for bugs but still ofcouse as a untrained baby, thinks they will just crawl in his mouth,

Ik fledglings take forever to train and I saw someone show how to make them interested in learning but idk how old he should be to start the training

Any other tips that may help with training would also be appreciated

If it helps with a idea on when to start, he has been able to fly for the last two days so I'm assuming that's a sign to start soon or now?

Wife rescued a starling hatchling several weeks ago. Got him up to good and released, he came back. So this is Echo, below it is his favored perch everytime I open his cage.

Hi guys,

I so uncertain about this little bird I rescued, is this a starling? Or is it a swallow orrr sparrow🤔
I live in Europe, I have no idea how old I should consider this little Birdy, maybe a week or so?

Really hope to hear from anyone😁