Zekie is starting to get his pretty feathers

[Mimsy01]

Just wanted to show off Zekie's adult feathers that are starting to come in. All iridescent and pretty.

And a picture of wet birds after their bath.

 

[RavensGryf]

How cute! Friends with Foo. Is he a Starling? Please give an update when he's finished molting!

 

[Mimsy01]

Thank you! Yes Zekie is a starling a neighbor found. I'm guessing he was a late in the season fledgling when we got him. We had some in our roof who were long gone when he was brought to us. He was just a little feathery bag of bones with a bad respiratory infection going on. We were shocked he made it. He was also older so doubly shocked that once he was well he imprinted on us. (and the dog and Foo)

He's became my little side kick. Must be attached to someone in the house. On a shoulder, on a dog, bothering Foo, stealing her toys. Foo has her moments of enough is enough, but she has been mostly extremely tolerant of Zekie, who has terrible manners and doesn't see any reason he can't go into her cage and see what she has. Both like to spend most of their day on computer key board fighting it for attention. (also causing me to have to do a lot of cleaning of the keyboard-Foo has ok potty habits, Zekie is terrible.)

I'll show him off when he gets fully feathered. I don't have anyone outside immediate family that has any interest in him, otherwise known in most places of US as flying rats. (though I like rats too, so ya know)

 

[EAI]

He's going to be so stunning when he gets older! Why would anyone NOT want him

I cant wait for the future updates on him

 

[RavensGryf]

Too cute! I'm so glad they all get along. Your dog has nice markings almost looks like they're wearing something on the head that ties under the neck lol.

What do you feed a Starling? Are the poops loose?

 

[Mimsy01]

The poops are similar to foo, maybe firmer probably due to diet. He poops like all the time however!

There is an excellent site online talkingstarling, that gives a lot of information on starlings and their diet. You can also find a few studies done by zoo's and such on their diet. Originally people were trying to feed them low iron soft bill food-which was still causing iron storage and other issues, or they would feed mostly insects-then they were getting bad feathers, leg bumps ect. Though they eat mostly insects in the wild, in captivity we are not able to provide the same variation in bugs which causes nutritional issues.

For an adult starling their diet would be a quality dog/cat food with either poultry mash or softbill food. You would grind 1 c dog food to 1/4 cup bird food that can be left dry to free feed. Daily extra egg and fruit. Treats-fruit, veggies, flowers, meats, insects ect.

Seeds are not really recommended at all unless sprouted.

 

[RavensGryf]

How interesting, thanks!