Anybody know the species of this fledgling?

MataVatnik@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 281 points –

Update: The consensus seems from Lemmy and my friends seems to be European Starling. Thank you so much everyone. I was concerned on what kind of diet this fella should be fed, looks like I have somewhere to start now.

Having issues contacting the wildlife shelter at the moment

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Reverse image search gives me a Spotless starling.

But if it is a new species I call dibs on naming it: Grumpy featherfluffle.

That's a European bird, we're in the northeastern US. But we can name them Grumpy Featherfluffle anyways 😄

European Starlings were introduced in the US about 100 years ago by a misguided fool in Manhattan. They are invasive, but absolutely everywhere around the US at this point and that's definitely a European Starling fledgling.

by a misguided fool

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starling

As part of a nationwide effort, about 60 common starlings were released in 1890 into New York's Central Park by Eugene Schieffelin, president of the American Acclimatization Society. It has been widely reported that he had tried to introduce every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare into North America, but this claim has been traced to an essay in 1948 by naturalist Edwin Way Teale, whose notes appear to indicate that it was speculation.

Yeah, that seems somewhat misguided.

And they're assholes.

They're perfectly nice birds unless you're a farmer, leave out trash, or conveniently have an open dryer vent for them to loudly nest in like I do.

For those that don't know, they're a common nuisance bird because they nest in enclosed cavities like tree trucks or the siding of your house or any open vents. If you're from the US (At least the Midwest or East Coast, not sure about the western states) and have seen very large flocks of small black birds dancing in the air like schooling fish, behavior called murmations, those are Starlings.

I have this wonderful memory back when I lived in the The Netherlands and worked near Amsterdam of people outside in an open shopping area, sitting down on a table and eating patates (big chunky chips) and a starling on the ground looking at them and seemingly giving them a long speech.

I always imagine it was some "poor me" speech on how he had 8 starving young ones at home and would they thrown a patate his way.

For some reason in that place starlings were much comfortable around humans thanwhat I've seen elsewhere, and like sparrows would be going around on the ground looking for scraps.

Now that you mention that I can probably guess where the nest was in our building. I hear birds chirping in our warehouse all the time.

They're pretty loud in general so you would probably know, but they don't tend be like to hang about indoors. Might just be house sparrows if you're hearing them on the warehouse floor.

You should download the Merlin ornithology app. It's built by the Cornell ornithology lab and has picture and sound ID features for birds as well as just a lot of generally useful identification information.

just give it to me straight internetor, is my outdoor cat cancelled or not?

Little bastards are why I now know you need to hide your grass seed beneathe staw. Lazy little fucks.

Na, that's fantail (nz bird). Grumpy little fuckers - they even yell at you and get somehow are also really social with people.

Fantails buzz around you because of the small insects that get disturbed by a person's presence. Basically they are enjoying an easy lunch when you walk through the Bush.

That's a baby starling! They do exist in North America.

Walking around the building I saw a bird that looked a lot like a starling.

That could be Mama. Nests are not the safest place for fledglings, so mom or dad will push them out of the nest, but they are not abandoned. (Predators can find a nest easier than an able-bodied fledgling).

I once rescued a baby chickadee from a neighborhood cat that was stalking it. The parents were going nuts in the tree above, so i set the little bugger in a yew bush and took the cat away and gave it treats. Everyone was happy that day

Yes, I did the same with an american robin chick when an entire nest fell off. Mom and dad were still there. I put the nest back up with the chick and the parents continued to look after them.

As for this fella here my boss was the one that took them in. I wanted to tell him to leave it back where it was, that mom and dad will probably look after them. But I didn't push it.

Just so you know, these guys are invasive and do their best to kill native species of birds.

Fun fact: In Washington State, not only are you allowed to kill European starlings, people are ENCOURAGED to kill them and destroy nests.

Terribly invasive species.

We're in southwestern Pennsylvania

Me too. Yea it looks like a European Starling. The juveniles are brown and adults are black with speckles. We get tons of them this time of year. They are very loud and bully the smaller birds. If he can't fly yet, you can try and put him back in his nest.

Looks like my boss took it as his baby so it will be up to him, at least I can give him a proper diet to follow which was the main reason I was trying to identify the chick.

goverment owned drone

Considering my occupation it would only make sense for the drones to be minding our work

I did this myself a few years ago. Put a planter full of coir in the closest bush I found it near. Fed twice a day on mealworms. Disappeared after 3 weeks. Mine was either a starling or a grackle.

Starling! Our neighbors raised an abandoned fledgling and he decided the world was his best friend, and made him take us on car rides every day, as well as going for walks with the dog and sitting on my head. They're very personable and have unique personalities.

Important question : What geographical area are you in? Location matters for identifying the species and what you should do with it.

Now for some actual info.

Do not pickup wild birds, even fledglings or babies. Bird flu is running rampant right now, birds can have very nasty parasites on and in them. If you find a "naked" baby bird, it was probably ejected from the nest, this is natural. It is either sibling competition, or the parents downsizing because they can't care for it. If it is feathered, then it is probably a fledgling that has left the nest normally and is learning to fly. You are not helping it by bringing inside. If the bird is in a dangerous place, like a road, use a stick, or cloth to move it to a safer location.

Based on my area (Midwest US), this looks like a European starling. They are invasive in the US. A wildlife center is not going to take it (except maybe as hawk food).