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It's very satisfying to rescue a humming bird on the ground and nurse it back to health then release it. Here is how I've done it a couple of times.
I found this little guy sitting in the road as I biked by on a very cold early morning ride. Traffic was light so I circled back to pick him up before the next cars would come by.
I put him in my shirt pocket to warm him up. I looked at the nearby trees to see if I could tell from where he fell. He seemed cold, dazed, calm and lethargic. He made himself comfy in my shirt pocket. I put my hand over the pocket to further block the wind and warm him as I rode home.
My daughter named him "Wallace".
I found this little guy sitting in the road as I biked by on a very cold early morning ride. Traffic was light so I circled back to pick him up before the next cars would come by.
I put him in my shirt pocket to warm him up. I looked at the nearby trees to see if I could tell from where he fell. He seemed cold, dazed, calm and lethargic. He made himself comfy in my shirt pocket. I put my hand over the pocket to further block the wind and warm him as I rode home.
My daughter named him "Wallace".
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Wallace and I start reviewing the literature to see what we may be in for.
He is an Anna's hummingbird according to our book.
He liked looking at the picture and reminiscing about family etc.
The sock nest was roomy and comfy for him.
He is an Anna's hummingbird according to our book.
He liked looking at the picture and reminiscing about family etc.
The sock nest was roomy and comfy for him.
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We were lucky and we know it. This was one of those times that wildlife rehabbers wouldn't take the bird-we checked. They were usually overwhelmed as is was with the endangered critters and birds of prey. Other areas would be different and you always need to call and check with them before taking in a bird or other wild animal.
oh, please, give it a rest
Alternatively, you could would let the bird bathe itself in a shallow pan with 1/2 inch depth of 100 degree F water (body temperature). That might let the sugar disolve. Then try to let the bird dry off out in the sun or maybe 2 feet away from a hair dryer on the low setting for a minute or two. The important thing is not cooking or chilling the bird and helping it get clean and dry quickly so it can take over its own temperature management.
Good luck.
Yes, I know this is over a year late but it might be able to help someone else.
V.
This hummingbird may not have needed rescue at all, certainly not for as long a time as you kept him. Hummingbirds use so much energy that when they sleep, they must enter a period of semi-hibernation. On "very cold" mornings it may take a little bit longer for them to wake up. A good meal at most was what this hummer needed, and you could possibly have simply warmed her up in your hands and he would have been fine. Although you saved him, this bird could have easily died ( I have seen it happen many times). A wildlife rehabber is really your best bet if you think it really needs care.
My family helped a few birds over the years-mainly morning doves and a couple of starlings. Usually they needed little other than a safe place to recover for a few hours away from predators (crashed into window and then dropped into the pool below being rather common until film was put on the windows).
The one longer term wild resident-a starling-was found far from any potential nest and possibly had been played with a little by a cat beforehand. We didn't have any extra cages at the time and had to put her in with some zebra finches to keep her safe from our cats (NEVER mixed wild and pet birds if there is any alternative at all-they can make each other very sick-even a box is better in most cases). She had just started to get some pinfeathers and was quite a bit larger than the finches. Zeebs being prolific and prone to feeding any baby that demands it, kept her stomach full although she still had to be hand fed mashed up bugs as the zeebs are seed eaters, not omnivores like starlings. Flight training for her was difficult, she enjoyed just sitting on a perch and getting fed and clung to us as we tried to get her to fly back and forth. Eventually she did take off and apparently thrived-unlike most rescued birds returned to the wild...the next year she brought half a dozen newly fledged babies of her own to show off and wasn't above begging neighborhood kids for a bit of peanut butter. Shortly afterwards my family moved away so we don't know how long she lived but with her obviously thriving and finding a mate with which to raise at least one clutch we are pretty comfortable calling her a huge success. Even wildlife rehabbers often lose many of their baby birds and the number that can be successfully released is very small and even smaller still is the number who can survive their first year in the wild.
Megan
http://video.pbs.org/video/1380512531
I love watching birds when they do that; my gramma's cockatiel would do the rapid flapping while hanging upside down
Like this?
thankfully we haven't had any fallen chicks around here; though we do have quite a few feral cats, =(