My Starling ate earwig, is this Harmful?

Question

I have been raising a starling for the past 5 weeks. He is still a baby and about 5-6 weeks old. I decided to let him hope outside to get some exercise and while he was out there, he pecked and ate an earwig. Will the bird get ill because of this or is it ok? I'm very worried, so please if anyone has any advice, please tell me!

Answer 1

He should be fine. I would worry more about a hawk swooping down to get him honeslty. I have 3 starlings as pets that I have raised from pinkies. They love mealworms which you can get at pet stores. They also love lean hamburger broken up very small. There is a wonderful diet called bugs-n-berries put out by Avico. Go to their website it has all the nutrients they need and mine love it. Starlings are Omnivours which means they eat veggies, meat, insects, just abut anything. Never feed avacodo chocolate. Good luck

Answer 2

Its only harmful if you happen to be the earwig.  Birds eat bugs as a regular part of their diet. Don't worry.

Answer 3

I raised 5 baby Starlings once, and on nice days we would take the bottom off their cage and sit it on the ground so the could eat the bugs. We only did this when they had feathers though, so they wouldn't get cold. So it is fine that he/she ate the earwig. You should do what I did whenever possible - take the bottom of the cage and sit it on the grass. This way, they can still eat the bugs, but they won't get away when they aren't ready to be on their own. Some days we would do this ALL day and bring them in when it started to get cool/dark, but only on nice days. Also, don't put them in direct sunlight if you do this, as it might get too hot and not in full shade as it might get too cool and since they can't move the cage they are stuck in one spot.

Answer 4

I am a long-time starling owner, I have never had a starling  become ill from eating any type of insect.