Baby wild bird feeding

Question
Hi Jana
Yesterday I was given this baby bird from a girl who had found it somewhere (didnt specify). It survived the night and its eyes opened this morning (this thing is tiny! hardly any feathers). I have reared many birds before, but never one this young. Anyway, I have been hand feeding it (with a syringe, on a mixture of pronutro and water), but it seems to have a lot of air in its crop, and i dont know what to do. Will it be ok, or should i try and "burp" it. Im very worried about it.

Thanx so much
Nina

Answer
Well I looked up pronutro and while I cannot find the ingredients it appears to be a cereal of some sorts. We use canned Science Diet Puppy food to feed wild birds. We do not feed them water because they usually get enough moisture from the food, but you can add a tiny bit of water to the food. We use forceps to push the food gently into the throat, but some people use a q tip, or a wooden tongue depressor. Birds feed their babies proteins, not cereals to help them grow.

The air in the crap is probably from the syringe. How large is the crop and why do you think it's air? Could it be full of cereal? I would think that if it had a lot of air in it it will most likely resolve on it's own, but you might want to post this question to the birds section in Allexperts.com.

Here is the link:
http://www.allexperts.com/el/Birds-General/

But as far as feeding him/her use the puppy food. Don't just get any canned puppy food, it should be Science Diet as it has the correct consistency and nutrients for these birds.

I hope that helps some! Let me know how the little darling does.