I found a hummingbird. help me!!!?
July 29, 2011 Hummingbird Bird Feeder
Me and my boyfriend found him during a fight.
Apparently they are "messangers of love" and taking care of him kinda brought us together.
We names him Predator and hes very trusting…
Unfortunatly, now it needs me.
It doesn’t appear to be a baby because hes big but it doesnt have feathers on his stomach and he looks like hee may be missing a feather on his tail but I cant tell.
He trusts me enough to hold him and feed him, he doesnt struggle and he licks the "hummin bird food" sugar water right off my fingers (which i wash very well before feeding). He chirps when he’s hungry and I feed him (and he stops) , I need to know if this is all he needs ? Hes chirping right now and he keeps opening his mouth like he wants something more than nector? Does he need bugs?
Also I would like to know why he cant fly… He tries really hard and can hover slightly but just falls.
Luckily he seems to trust me. Dont tell me to find someone else to take care of him… tell me what I can do now…
Please help me.
-Mikaela
RatDog – go kill yourself.
To the rest…
I dont care enough about it to take it to a place. Im staying home alone for the week and dont have my car. Nobody wants to drive me to a bird protection place my friends would just tell me to get it high. So I cannot do anything about it.
Trust me I dont want the bird… I have to wake up in the middle of the night to "chirp chirp feed me!!!" and I cant even go out without bringing it.. I left it for an hour today and I came home and it had tried to fly and crashed and gotten stuck. So lay off unless you have good advice.
Like I said my boyfriend and I found it on the ground in my yard.
Whoever gave me that formula thank you. Im going to definatly try that this minute – best answer for u
thankyou to the person who told me sugar water for too long will kill it.
When I found it, it couldnt fly.
If he dies he dies.. he would have died faster if I hadnt had picked it up cuz my dog would have devoured it
so help
Comments (7)
Hummingbirds are fun, entertaining, full of energy and it’s easy to attract hummingbirds.
here is a link for you
http://ezinearticles.com/?Hummingbird-Questions-Answered&id=634147
Please do NOT give the bird honey or milk like that other person suggested…that will kill it for sure. Hummingbirds main diet is actually insects, along with nectar. You say you don’t care what happens to this bird..so then why bother coming on here and asking?! You obviously DO care. You NEED to get this bird to a wildlife rehab or it will die. It cannot live forever on JUST nectar. Get someone to drive you there or have the rehab pick it up from you if possible. Either way, get it there. Look here for a rehab in your area:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm
Also, did you look for a nest near where you found it..it could be a baby that fell out..or that left a little too early and whose mother was caring for it. Also, birds sleep through the night..you should not have to feed him during this time..even his mom would not feed him during the night. You need to put him in a quiet dark place so he can go into a torpor state (light hibernation state) until morning. This is how hummingbirds do not die during the night due to their very high metabolism.
I think that hummingbirds only need nectar, but I am not sure. You should feed him a variety of nectar. I read that hummingbirds in the wild eat meals like people. You should try to feed him about three times a day. It is possible that he is still a baby. Maybe his feathers will grow soon. You might not be feeding him enough which is making it very difficult for him to fly. Hummingbirds flap their wings many times per second and need a lot of energy in order to do so. You could take him to the vet, and they’ll probably be a lot more helpful than me.
Sorry that I probably won’t be much help. The main reason I answered this question is because I wanted to ask you about hummingbirds being "messengers of love." Can you please tell me more about what that means? I had an unusual encounter with a hummingbird today. I am going through a very hard time right now, and I wanted to know if this encounter could have been a sign of some type. It would mean a lot to me if you tell me more about this.
How did you get a hold of this hummingbird? Please take it to a wildlife rehabilitator. I know you don’t want to hear this, nobody wants to hear this, but you have to face the facts, it is a WILD animal NOT a PET! Hummingbirds cannot survive on a diet of just sugar water, but they also need bugs, and with their high metabolism they need CONSTANT supply of food, not just sugar water. Sugar water is only for a TEMPORARY basis. Hummingbirds are extremely hard to take care of and even zoos do not have one, so what makes you think YOU can keep this bird alive, especially with no proper training. Please, take it to a wildlife rehabilitater, and don’t try to care for this bird yourself, it WILL die in your care. It’s illegal to have any wild native bird in your possession. If you know what’s best for the hummingbird and want it to survive then take it to a wildlife rehabilitator. http://wildliferehabber.org/
Also feeding sugar water for a long term WILL kill it because of the missing nutrition it needs in it’s diet. Maybe that’s why he can’t fly.
Edit – I wouldn’t hang out with those friends if I were you…
Look for a wildlife rehabilitation center in your area. They should be able to provide you with the information you need and may be able to take him and rehabilitate him. Good luck!
thats sick…
Hi Mikaela,
Hummingbirds subsist mainly on pollen and nectar they extract from flowers. Here is a mixture you can use.
1 tablespoon honey;
1 tablespoon condensed milk;
1 tablespoon baby food such as Horlicks.
Six to eight tablespoons of hot water should be added to the mixture.
Let the mixture cool before being fed to the bird. Breakdown the measure as you only have one bird. This food must be fresh daily. You can make a solution of one part honey & 3 parts water.
Word of warning all food dishes must be kept scrupulously clean.
Rex Linder Tauranga