This summer I had the priviledge and joy of raising an orphaned Eastern Bluebird in Algonquin Highlands, Ontario.
This blog journals his daily growth, experiences and his successful release back into the wild where he belongs.
I hope you enjoy reading about Sammy, as much as I enjoyed caring for him and helping him learn how to be an Eastern Bluebird.
Sammy continues to beg and gape for food, thank goodness! It was quite a long time waiting for him to start doing this and I'm so glad I don't have to pry his beak open anymore. I bet he is too! When he sees me coming to his aviary, he starts chirping, gaping and quivering like crazy. He readily eats live crickets and grasshoppers, and of course his beloved mealworms. His nestling formula...not so much, lol.
He also began a new habit of calling and landing on the screen door of the aviary when he's hungry. I guess he figured out that his meal delivery service (me) comes through that door, lol.
Sammy has enjoyed a couple more baths since my last post, he is a picture of pure, uninhibited pleasure while he bathes. He dunk his face and breast into his shallow bath and shakes his head back and forth vigorously. Then he lowers his back end into the water and beats his wings quickly, getting thoroughly soaked. I'll post a video of bathtime soon! Sammy's bath is a shallow, clear plastic tray for a plant pot that is lined with small pebbles to give him sure footing.
Playing with a twig in the bath
Sammy makes puts on quite the show when he preens after his bath, flapping his wings so fast you can barely seem them moving. He pulls his beak down the length of individual feathers grooming them methodically.
Sammy preening under his wings after a bath
Stretching and drying out his wings
Thoroughly soaked from his bath
Spreading his amazing, vivid blue wings
He has also started drinking little sips of water from either his bath or water dish. He dips his beak in, gets a couple drops and then tilts his head far back and swallows.
Flying down to the grass is common now, I think he is hunting little brown ants on the ground, but I'm not sure. He likes to spend a fair amount of time perched on a branch that runs up the side of his aviary facing the seed feeders, just taking in his surroundings and the other birds. He doesn't seem to like when blue jays come in, they're such noisy birds when they announce their arrival, and Sammy usually flies back up to his sheltered corner perch until they leave.
Watching the sky above him
Cuddling continues to be something Sammy initiates, landing on my shoulder and then tucking himself under my ponytail or against my neck. He's also a little intrigued by my eyeglasses and pecks them sometimes.
Sammy is certainly one stubborn little bluebird baby - he still will not gape for food. He doesn't even make the begging sounds I have heard and seen on videos of other nestlings. He's hungry, he eats well, but I still have to open his mouth to get the food in. I use my thumbnail to carefully open his beak, which is still soft and yellow, then I can place the food in his mouth. He actively swallows as soon as he feels it in his mouth. I hope he starts opening up on his own soon, it would really make feeding time so much easier for him and me.
Male Eastern Bluebird nestling developing lovely blue wings
Wing fluttering is strong and he takes a firm grasp of my finger to perch. His crawling/hopping is getting better too, he can now move about a foot's distance before he stops. His tail has grown to approx 5-6mm now and he is almost completely feathered, just the odd, tiny bare patch. Sammy's beautiful dark eyes are still bright and alert.
At each feeding, I kept him out of his nest for a few minutes so he could build up strength in his wings and legs. I took a really cute video of him today for my grand-daughter, Tenley. I promised her I would send her videos or pictures every day of Sammy..she said she would miss him when I took him home yesterday. Usually it's me she's going to miss and never wants me to leave..I think I've now been displaced by the baby bluebird, lol.
At 12 to 13 days old, the blue of Sammy's feathers is more vibrant and richer, especially on the bottom part of his wings at the front, the primaries I think they're called. I am almost positive now that he is a male. His breast and stomach are almost totally covered in feathers now, with beautiful soft, white spots surrounding by a warm rusty-brown. He still is fairly bald under his rump though.
He is very alert and watches my movements often. When Sammy sees my hand, he crawls/hops into it all on his own..is he looking for comfort or safety or just to feel snug I wonder? My heart says he's looking for a cuddle with his mama (me lol), but my head says he's probably just trying to feel safe and secure, and for him, that means in my hand. But, I'm going to go with my heart.
He also hopped/crawled into my grand-daughter Tenley's hand today and she held him so tenderfully in her cupped little hands. She is an animal and nature lover and is a very gentle soul. He seemed perfectly content nestled in her hands...he must have know he was safe with her.
A couple of times today, while on my hand, he clung to my finger with his little claws and perched there. He was very steady with a strong grip. A first!!
Sammy is still eating heartily even though he still won't gape on his own. It doesn't take a lot of prying, but I wish he would just open his beak on his own. He is still being fed every 30-35 minutes about 1/2 tsp of nestling food. I weighed him today and he is a hearty 28-30g, right where he should be.
His wings are developing beautifully, they are getting longer and more open every day. This afternoon, he started fluttering them when he was out of his nest for feedings. Another first for Sammy today! What a proud mama I was watching him do these two new things. It's been an amazing and heartwarming experience watching him grow and develop each day.
