Handfeeding baby birds

[Mairte]

Well, I have inherited two pair of birds, lovebirds and parakeets. Also a baby parakeet that still needs hand feeding. I used to do this long ago but kind of out of practice(switched from feeding baby birds to the HUMAN kind,lol). However, I am not too worried.
Just wondering if anyone else out there has ever done this? The lovies and keets are both proven so I might let them breed and pull the babies at two or more likely three weeks for handfeeding
Yeah, another one of what my family calls "odd" hobbies....
Oh. And baby keet's name is "Eggbert".

[Bonny Pearl]

I have never done this but your post brought to mind a video I saw recently.  This young man rescued a baby hummingbird, fed it and helped it with learning to fly.  Super sweet!    It takes a soft hand and heart with these little creatures.


http://www.wimp.com/babyhummingbird/

[Mairte]

Wow!! I always thought it was touchy handfeeding parakeets...but I have heard of people handfeeding all sorts of tinier birds!!! Now THAT has to take a steady, gentle hand.

[Scotty Hunter]

Years ago, a friend of mine used to make a living raising and selling exotic parrots. I grew up around that, as it were, and she became like a very loved aunt to me. I remember she handfed everything from finches to african greys and amazons, I was always "nose against the glass" of the incubators when I visited, and begged to help at every chance I could. I remember one of the holy-grails of my visit was actually being allowed into the bird breeder house. She rarely allowed anyone in as it stressed the birds, so for me (a yappy bouncy excitable child) being allowed in was a true gift. I remember keeping my mouth sealed tight as can be, looking wide eyed at the gorgeous adult breeders; many of them in nestboxes sitting on eggs.

My favorite bird was a young White Capped Pionus named Brutus. He was a hand-fed baby which eventually became my little shadow once he was weaned. That bird and I did everything together. I even still have a hand-painted cloth sign that hung on my bedroom door; on the front read "Sara's Aviary" with brightly colored Conures, and on the back was "made by me and him" with a pionus footprint and a human handprint in paint.

I have since lost touch with said bird breeder, and in my last effort to contact her I received no reply.   However, the lessons I learned from her in keeping and hand-feeding birds and general animal compassion are lessons I cherish even today. I've hand-fed many a wild bird since my time with her, and all but one have gone on to lead their own lives.

*sigh* Thanks for letting me walk down memory lane. 

[Mairte]

Sam I Am, liked the story of a little girls childhood memory!
People often think birds arent cuddly or smart or ??...
I got my birds. Turns out, one pair of lovebirds, two pair of keets and the baby keet.
The lovebirds are Ziggy and Sookie. Baby keet is supposed to be Eggbert but my son keeps calling him Bob the Bird.
Any ideas on names for the two keet pairs?
One pair is pied(?) with beautiful light turquoise, yellow and while colors. The other two are different shades of green.
The baby is so sweet, he isnt scared of humans at all and likes to crawl up and snuggle under my chin. I am in love,lol.

[Scotty Hunter]

Not smart. Pfft!  The highest compliment one can receive is to be called a "bird brain!"  

Speaking of smart. Willy was another bird I distinctly remember from the good ol days. He was a Double Yellow Headed Amazon, a male, aged and a "been there done that" kind of bird. He went to schools and such for educational purposes.  Turns out though that Willy had a short temper with kids. His favorite saying was "Shut up!" and he would scream it at the top of his little birdy lungs.  Willy and his girlfriend (forgot her name) had a large walk-in aviary a bit down from the main house, it overlooked a pond and had several nearby trees. A nice birdy area, in my opinion. But of course, you would hear Willy down there in his aviary screaming every so often "Shuuuuuut upppppp!!!" He loved attention though, and I think this was his way of just letting you know he was still there in case you wanted to come down and say hi, bring a peanut or something for him to snack on.


I am no good with names. lol. Our cats have human names, we have a Zoe, a Joey, a Tia, a Bert and a Micro... well, she's named after Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs.  Then theres a Tigger and a Nonny, not so human names actually.

My two birds (Pigeons) are Andrew/Andy... previously called Raggedy Ann, until I found out he was a male and he started gaining weight and molted out all his broken feathers.  And his lady friend, PJ, or Pajamas, as she has feathered feet.  They are currently sitting on a single egg, which is due to hatch (if it is fertile) within 4 days time. I have yet to think of a name for the little new arrival, maybe Gabriel or Gabrielle.

I sometimes go with character names. Like I used to have a xanthic Budgie named Hobbles because he had hip issues from problems in the nest and always walked in a hobbling fashion.

Then I had a blind horse named Ciego, which is (I was told) Spanish for "sightless."

And there was the bright green Midorigoi koi carp named Green Goblin... it was the only name I could think of for a bright green fish.


Maybe you can go with names on their colors. Like the pieds have pastel-sounding colors, so think of "light" things like Whisp, Cloud, Mist/Misty, etc.
The greens could go the same, names on their colors, Clover, Shamrock, Emerald, Jade, Jasper, etc.

[Leyla]

...and a Micro... well, she's named after Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. 

I love that! 

[Mairte]

Sam I Am, I love the "green" names...the male is a real light all over green and the female is a vibrant green with black. Shamrock and Jade it is!
Nothing has "clicked" so far for me with the pied pair. 
Yeah, I KNOW birds are smart!! The little baby bird is already imitating me saying "hi". If I dont go to him right away, from his area, I hear "hi, hi, HI!!!!!",lol. Like "woman, get with the program and come FEED me!!!" 
Pigeons I would like again someday. I used to have a little loft building and had two pairs of German Owl pigeons.
Other things that intrigue me: koi ( still working on the pond!!), sugar gliders and tarantulas.(I have had lots of T's through the years...I know a lot of people are scared of them but I found even spiders have their own personalities!! And I have raised some from tiny specks. )
Of course my first love is dogs. Not so big on cats but they are tolerable.Just.
Back to birds,lol. I really would like to have an Indian Ringneck or Quaker parakeet one of these days.
Oh!!! The lovebirds have eggies!!! I dont know if they are fertile or not yet but the female is sure spending a lot of time in the nestbox. I guess time will tell.