Need help with this baby bird (i think its a cuckoo)

[Charis]

Originally Posted by altgirl35

the dog or cat food and eggs, are to mimic the animal based nutrition of insects, insectivores eat such a wide variety of insects there is no way we can mimic it in captivity, but we can offers some insects that are readily available to like mealworms, crickets, waxworms, or composting worms.
it also said that they eat fruit so what grows naturally around your area? i wouldn't feed banana's unless it's a natural food for them, banana's have a lot of potassium and it could be to much for him.
you can also get some jarred baby first foods, like baby chicken or turkey just try to find the ones with little or no salt, the more pure the better.
if this bird won't eat on his own, you should consider taking him to a professional, that has experience and the tools to force feed, so he will have the nutritional support he needs to heal from his injury if he can heal from his injury

The challenge is finding someone in India that is a wildlife rehabber or even a vet that understands birds and will treat him.

[altgirl35]

i know, i think he mentioned he knew of a place, force feeding these kind of birds is so tricky, they are so easy to kill when it's not done perfectly, and even then just the stress of being force fed can kill them.
uhh this is tough, i wish he could just bring him over to my house

[spdevanand]

Thanks altgirl, Cynthia, Charis and everyone. Banana is one of the naturally grown fruits here. I would try feeding Apples as well. I am very doubtful if I will be able to get any kind of insects for this bird here

Regarding the professional vets for birds... is just next to impossible We don't have any vet who takes care of birds especially for these types of critical ones. My last option would be to hand over this bird to C U P A (http://www.cupabangalore.org/) but even they are not specialized in treating birds.

The bird liked to be under the light the whole night, I have been feeding water mixed with honey.. I am suspecting it has got a major problem, because apart of from not eating, it still cannot keep it's head straight more than few mins it's legs are not strong enough to give it support for standing.. here is the snap and this is how the bird is 98% of the time

[altgirl35]

it looks like CUPA treats birds, it might be worth a call to them. poor little bird, keep up the good work, keep him cozy warm and hydrated

[plamenh]

Posture is the same as in PMV affected birds. I don’t know if koels’ do get it, but supportive care is extremely important. You’ll need to find a way to feed it as illness may take some time.
Do you know how to tube feed birds?

[altgirl35]

if you go to the wildlife part of the website you can see some that they have rescued, sees like a wonderful place

[ssfguy]

Koel's love Mangoes, that's their favorite. They defend their Mango trees like no other. They do eat eggs and insects. Bird in picture is not a baby, it's a full grown bird. Might be suffering from car injury, check chest for swelling. 0 watt bulb is not going to keep it warm. Try heating pad or hot water bottle with towel on top and let the bird get some heat from it. You might have to force feed, try eggs, also place Mango in front and observe the reaction.

[spdevanand]

Hey all,

I tried feeding it banana and it was able to swallow it. These birds seem to be having a broad throat, so I had to push the food very much inside than what I would for my baby pigeon. Though it had very little, I felt something is better than nothing. I am trying to get few more fruits which are available here. Will let you know how it reacts.

@altgirl35: Yeah CUPA is good in treating the animals. I am a member of CUPA so I could kind of understand their treatments for birds. Though its not great, people still reach them as a last option. They generally send the birds / animals to Bannerghatta National Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannerghatta_National_Park) after the recover from treatment. If someone wants to adopt any bird / animal from here, that is possible too. I am trying to reach out many people there to make sure they are going to care for this bird before giving it to them.

@plamenh: Exactly, I was also wondering if Koels also get affected by PMV What treatment do we generally follow for PMV on Pigeons? I am thinking if I can do the same for this poor bird as well. I am able to hand feed this bird as of now, I have also seen the videos of tube feeding, so if necessary, I will tube feed this baby.

@ssfguy: Thanks for the information. Now I remember seeing these lovely voiced birds in the mango trees at my village when I was a youngster. In India, its now unfortunately not a season for mangos, so I need to try at multiple places and see if I can get it. I will do that. And yeah, I actually replaced that 0 watt bulb with 10 watts bulb so its better. I could feel the warmth myself when I kept my hands near the bulb.. thats where the bird likes to sit too.

[plamenh]

Please use either 60W bulb or add 2-liter coke plastic bottle with hot water wrapped in towel.
I had 30W infrared bulb and replaced with 100W infrared, as first one wasn't providing enough heat. Of course depends what is air temperature in India.
If you decide to go for tube feeding -
- Use soft silicon tube, not hard plastic one.
- Lubricate it with veg oil before inserting it in.
- Insert it well inside 40~50 mm to avoid inhaling food.
- Give 5~10 ml at time press plunger slowly.
- Make sure the bird is pooping and crop is empty.

PMV is viral disease, only supportive care is required. Feeding, hydrating, vitamins, porbiotics.
Because of secondary infections (immunity is compromised) sometimes treatment with antibiotic is required.
As mentioned before, treatment for parasites would be my first choice, before anything else. (Ivermectin one drop between shoulders)
I agree with Ssfguy - this is adult bird as per Iris coloring. Concussion is also possibility.
In any case, hydrating with honey and feeding are priorities. Keep it warm, out of bright light in a quiet place.

[spdevanand]

Thanks Plamenh for the details. I do have Ivermectin. I also few other anti biotics, I will use them. I was observing the bird and it looks like an adult bird to me as well. It's beak were hard, claws were lengthy an sharp. I have been hydrating the bird and keeping it warm. I will replace the bulb as well.

[Feefo]

Please, please don't think of this bird as a pigeon, or treat it as you would a pigeon...you really need to talk to someone that understands the species. For example we don't know the location of the crop, whether it is bilateral or unilateral. Tube feeding without basic knowledge of its anatomy will be dangerous.

Also, we are familiar with Pigeon paramyxovirus (APMV1), but this is not what this bird has. The species might be one of the various avian species affected by Exotic Newcastle Disease (APMV-1), which mainly affects poultry, but I doubt it .

This is the link to the places we know of in India. One of them might be able to give you advice on the telephone:

http://pij-n-angels.forumotion.net/p...india-t302.htm

This site offers information on handling and feeding of various birds:

http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation...Management.htm

[spdevanand]

I guess handing it over to CUPA would be the only option left now. I will give it some probiotic and Ivermectic and then hand it over though I doubt if they can really do anything about this. Please don't think I am being overtly critical about them, I am telling this out of my experience and talking to people who have already been there.

CUPA is an ok place for homeless or injured animals which have no other place to go but they really lack funds or support to do reach out to a wider variety of animals or birds. I have personally seen and heard a lot of kittens and puppies that have been adopted from CUPA die due to feline virus or diarrhoea or other problems. It's a sad thing but yes they are trying their best to do whatever they can by the limited resources that they have.

Coming back to this bird, as Altgirl and Cynthia have suggested, will hand it over to them. Will also call a wildlife rescue helpline that i found from this site:

http://www.wildlifesos.org/contact/contacthome.htm

Got this from following one of the link Cynthia's sent that's in Delhi: http://www.friendicoes.org/

Thanks all for the concern and support, really appreciate it. Will keep you posted.

[plamenh]

Feefo is right that is allways good to ask someone with actual experience with this kind of birds.
By the way I would not suggest crop feeding if this was dangerous for the bird.

Diets: Koels, orioles and figbirds
Natural diet
Native fruit and berries and, occasionally, insects.

Captive diet
Fruit (whole and diced), water-soaked dog kibble (one to two small pieces per bird each day), and, occasionally, insects. A pinch of multi vitamin powder (available from pet shops) should also be sprinkled on the fruit pieces. Very thin birds can have fruit lightly sprinkled with Wombaroo high protein flying fox supplement or Heinz high protein baby cereal.

If the bird isn't eating
Put small pieces of fruit in the bird's beak and gently massage them down its throat. If the bird is severely debilitated, crop feed it a puree of natural fruit (e.g. baby food) and nectivore mix or polyaid (a food supplement available from bird suppliers).

Fruit should be replaced twice a day during hot, humid weather.

https://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_co...rds/diets.html

[Feefo]

By the way I would not suggest crop feeding if this was dangerous for the bird.

There is always an element of danger, even with a pigeon that has a large bilateral crop.

You have to know the weight of the bird to assess how much to gavage at any one time , you have to watch the bird's throat for signs of liquid backing up, you have to have an idea about the location of the specific bird's crop...they are not all miniature versions of a pigeon, some birds don't even have a crop.

[plamenh]

There is always an element of danger, even with a pigeon that has a large bilateral crop.

You have to know the weight of the bird to assess how much to gavage at any one time , you have to watch the bird's throat for signs of liquid backing up, you have to have an idea about the location of the specific bird's crop...they are not all miniature versions of a pigeon, some birds don't even have a crop.

Agree, for the person who never did it before this is difficult and for the bird dangerous and possibly fatal procedure. It is allways better if bird can swallow food, even a pigeon. This kind of bird do have a crop and quite a big one though and I suggested tube feeding as Dev said that it is not swallowing food at all.