06 November 2008

The chick of Scaly-breasted Munia

I found this Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata) chick fell down from the nest, at high gutter at my clinic on monday morning. There was heavy rain the night before.
Two of the chicks died of the impact and one chick survived, stood motionless in the small drain. Since I can't locate the nest and the bird might drown in the drain, I took the chick home. I thought that my son can feed the chick. That was a mistake. The chick didn't want to eat any thing. We tried feeding it with small grasshopper, rice and bread, but it didn't open its mouth. It keep crying chip-chip, calling its mother.
Dr. YC Wee from Bird Ecoloyy Study Group said, "If the chick is fully feathered and can run away and flap its wings, the best thing to do is leave it alone".
Here some FAQ about 'little bird has fallen from a nest' - from Ulster Wildlife Trust.

chick of Scaly-breasted Munia and grasshopperFirdaus put the chick in the big box and tried feeding it with grasshopper.

Firdaus feeding the chick of Scaly-breasted MuniaThan tried with rice, but it did not open its mouth.

Chick of Scaly-breasted Munia on the palmThis is the chick size relative to my palm.

chick of Scaly-breasted MuniaI took the chick to the rambutan branch to dried it wet feather, but it fell down. A neighbor cat wait outside my front gate, in attacking position. Quickly I put it back inside the box.

chick of Scaly-breasted Munia
After unsuccessful feeding for 24 hours, the chick die.
Dead  chick of Scaly-breasted MuniaFinally it rest in peace...

6 comments:

Amila Salgado said...

Poor little bird!
Nice of you to help it.

Anonymous said...

Hey!
You are very cruel!
You killed this chick!. (sob.. crying)

Jason Bugay Reyes said...

unfortunately it died ... at least you tried to help :)

Lana Gramlich said...

I'm so sorry about the troubles for both you & the bird! When I'd bring home chicks like this as a kid, my mother would use an eye dropper to give the bird a little warmed milk every so often. Eventually we'd switch to small pieces of bread soaked with milk. You might want to try it if something like this happens again.

Anonymous said...

An ornithologist once wrote that up to 80% of all young birds die in their first year of life. This is nature in the raw. And someone asked, if this is so, why do we not see dead birds all over the place? The answer: predators, scavengers, etc are around all the time to remove them. And also the cleaners...

Redzlan aka Tabib said...

Thank for all your comments.
Now I feel less guilty after YC comment.

I should just resque the chick form the drain and just left it on higher ground for the mother to continue feeding.