Baby Starling Dilemma

[Goldenchaos]

This afternoon, my dad found a baby starling , that apparently , just got out of its nest...to fly. But it wasnt successful. We put the bird out where the father could see it, it was chirping out for it, but it didnt come down..during that time a second one came out of the telephone pole hole the nest was in..:\..it jumped, but instead of going up, it went down.

I think they are way too young to fly, they can barely even hop. My guess is that they came out due to the heat. I don't see the mother bird anywhere, so I assume something happened to her. Already a crow took one of the chicks earlier in the day (There were three)

Problem here is..what do I feed them..in the meantime that their wings are strong enough for them to fly up? And what do I do about water?

They have their feathers, but a bit of baby fluff, some of the feathers still have that white filmy stuff, so they havent broken out yet.

I had to bring them in for the night, because of cats, and coyotes, I will likely set them up in a tree nearby the house , thatll cover them up from possible crow attacks, though I don't know if thatll be effective. Im stuck on what to do, really..D: I want them to be free, of course, especially since the dad was looking for them, I didnt see the mom bird, so shes probably dead, or somewhere else.

^_^ Thanks for any help!

[Cranberry]

This site should help (cached because the real link doesn't seem to be working). Good luck.

[Goldenchaos]

Awesome thanks. And I had no clue the formula to feed them involved dog food..

Ill probably set them outside tommorow..:\ don't know if thats a good idea since itll be hot..but Im out most of the day, so I don't know what to do with them

[Cranberry]

Is there a vet college or a shelter or anything like that in your area? Usually they'll look after little birds that need help, I think... and if not, they'll know who you should call.

[Sagrei]

Have a look online, or in a phonebook, to see if there are any wildlife rehabilitation places where you are. Bird places, especially, since they've got special needs. If you phoned up a zoo they might be able to get you in touch with one.

At one point I had the world's dumbest mockingbirds living in my dahoon holly -- every spring they'd knock a baby out of the nest. This went on for three years. No, two. The third was a blue jay whose equally dumb parents had chased the mockingbirds out of the tree. Any tree that sways when a songbird lands on it is a bad place to put a nest. Darwin was on vacation, or something.

Anyway - I got hold of a place that rehabilitated injured waterfowl, and they agreed to take my foundlings. They told me, when I got there, that they usually get inundated with baby songbirds. So if you do find a place, bring them a donation or see if there are any supplies they need. They'll love you for it.