How do I feed baby Carolina Wrens ?

Question

I have 4 baby's eyes just opened, covered indown - mom has disappeared for a day and one night. Any ideas on what I need to do at this point?

Answer 1

The daddy wren might still be alive.

Answer 2

let it go for one more day or two...she may be out getting food for them. If she does NOT return, then go to PETCO or some other place that sells mealworms and crickets,  these birds will eat voracioiusly....up to thier weight in food a day. You can also get baby bird food in the bird section at PETCO. If you use worms and crickets, you will want to use wooden tweezers to feed. The bird food may be easier for you if you have never done any of this before as it can be put into a syringe. At this age, they will need to be fed about once every two hours...I hope you have the time to do this. If you decide to become thier foster parent, you will want to take the whole nest as it is out of the tree if you can, it will make life easier. Spend 30 to 40 bucks on a cage from the store and fill the tray with aspen chip bedding or potting soiI ; If necessary and possible...assuming the branch they are on is small enough...cut it fore and aft of the nest stabilize it in the bedding of the cage.

BUT FIRST: make sure mom is actually gone or AWOL or whatever...wait another day or two. There is no harm in cramming crickets / meal worms down thier throats in the interim, but you will want to snip off the heads with scissors...( curved toenail scissors available in the cosmetics aisle) If the bugs are still alive, they may struggle on the way down and hurt the birds. Because the babies are SO small, use med. crickets / worms. If you go for meal worms, make an employee sift through the can to make sure ALL of them are alive or you could get ripped off, so to speak.  Feed them twice a day for the next two days, as many crickets as they will take in a sitting. Once you are absolutly sure mom is dead or gone or whatever, prepare  the birdcage. Don't worry about fixtures yet, they are too young to get around much. Keep it out of direct sunlight. SInce the bird food is a mealy powder and stable, you will not have to worry about keeping it alive as you will bugs. The powdered food in more expensive, but worth it.

The can will have insturctions on feeding per weight of the bird. If you do not have a kitchen scale, you will want to go get one. In order to keep track of the birds, you can use a food grade dye to mark the tops of thier heads or colored marker on the feathers once they grow in. Keep a journal of how much they eat in a feeding, note everthing. Be aware that wrens are realllly smart birds and may not want to go back to the wild as they should when the time comes. It will be up to you to help them learn to fly...once they get to that point, you will want to get what is called a flight cage. It is longer in shape and facilitates short flights. This will cost you about 50 to 60 dollars but will be the best thing for your adopted kids by allowing them to excercise safely. Once this seems to become a little confining, you can try letting them make short flights across an open room with someone they are familiar wtih as the intended landing area at the end of the intended flight path.

The intent will be to return them to the wild, but they may decide to stay at home. If this is the case, put thier cage in a secure area where cats will not be able to get at it with ease.

if you need more help along the way, email me at [e-mail]

I have over 30 years exp. with animal habilitation / rehabilitation, I check my eamil many times a day.  

You will want to take LOTS of pictures if you do end up adopting them.....I say this because I will want to watch thier progress and share in the fun, post them on my myspace page...ha ha...but you will want to have memories as well. The first animal I ever adopted was a Raccoon kit., I was five and thougt it was a puppy....