Baby Blackbird - did I do the right thing?

[FB.]

At the moment are some large beetle-like, woody-coloured, tough-shelled bugs which emerge from the grass and usually fly around at dusk - I think called "cockchafers" - and these sometimes come in through the open windows or doors in the evenings at the moment.

On three occasions in the mornings recently he's found a "cockchafer" and spent about ten minutes wrestling with it; pecking and beating it until it's falling apart like a wrecked car, at which point he swallows it whole!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Blimey - cockchafers are massive! They around round a bit earlier in the year too - perhaps Munch has been eating summer chafers instead?

Another common species to look out for is the summer chafer, Amphimallon solstitialis. This is a smaller species that usually emerges at the beginning of June and is common around the date of the summer solstice 21 June

from the Natural History Museum website.

[veggiechicken]

Instead of cherries, try him on unripe grapes - they're being eyed up by a blackbird in my GH now

[Potstubsdustbins]

This thread enthrals me, I have to pop in daily for my fix.

Potty

[FB.]

I recently looked up the typical life expectancy of blackbirds, to see how much impact my actions might have had. Not much, apparently.
A large number don't make it past their first year just through the challenges of life, while many others are taken by birds of prey or cats.

The average life expectancy seems to be only about three years in the wild, but can live a couple of decades if they have an easy life.

So if he isn't able to return to the wild, it might not be such a bad thing, given the very poor odds of him living more than a few years.

Birds of prey are quite active in my area - most summers I see a sparrowhawk take at least one young blackbird in my garden; probably many others are taken in other gardens or fields nearby. So if/when he's released he will need to be very alert.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hope everything is OK, ant chance of an update please.

Potty

[FB.]

Hope everything is OK, ant chance of an update please.

Potty

Yes, he's fine.
I'm at the stage where I an contemplating his release - probably in the initial stages by leaving the door open when he's out of his cage sometime in the next week or so. He can then go out if/when he pleases, and I'll encourage him to come back indoors for the night if I can - he will come to me most of the time if I call him, so hopefully I can let him out in the day and get him back in at night as a kind of transition phase.
If he decides he wants to stay with us then he can - it would not surprise me if he doesn't want to leave because he seems to want to spend a lot of time sitting on or near me.
I don't encourage him to sit on me but I don't discourage him either in case he feels rejected by me pushing him off.
However, when he lands on a piece of furniture that we don't want him to poo on, I say a firm "No, not there" and immediately persuade him to climb on my finger for transporting back to a chair which he is allowed to sit on.

My wife has just gone out with the camera and will be away for a couple of days, so it'll probably be Tuesday before I can take more pictures. To be honest, he hasn't changed much since the last pictures.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Thanks FB just nice to know things are going well.

Potty

[FB.]

Munchkin's cage is only a few feet away and whenever he sees me eating something he starts jumping around in his cage shouting "OI!" "OI!" (he speaks a few words, like a budgie might).

So if I want to keep the peace I have to offer him a few small pieces of it.

He enjoys anything with meat in it - pork pies, sausage rolls, meat hanging out the edges of sandwiches (not if it's smeared with butter though, due to many birds and animals being "allergic" or intolerant to dairy).

In the evenings at the moment, with a light on and the door open we attract a lot of moths, insects and gnats. "Supper" usually includes up to about a dozen bugs of the night and some scraps of fruit (apple cores, pear cores, strawberry "tops", the bottom bit of a banana or the odd orange segment).
"Breakfast" usually consists of several dead insects of the night which found their way into the light fitting - plus a quarter slice of wet bread, some biscuit crumbs and some halved sultanas.
"Lunch" is usually a piece of meat from my sandwich, or a piece of pork pie or something similar.

Every couple of days I put about a dozen worms in his pot of soil for him to find if hes not happy with what he's served for breakfast/lunch/dinner/supper. I find that if I put too many worms in his pot he's so good at finding them and enjoys it so much that he just digs them up, kills them and leaves them scattered around his cage; drying-out and going to waste.

[Muppet194]

Ooo I love hearing about your little blackbird! Your dedication to him has bowled me over - what a lucky little thing he was that you found him and decided to care for him.

[Creemteez]

FB, you should write his story down! Hollywood beckons!!! Who will you get to play your role????

[Martin H]

How's he getting on? Still spending most of his time indoors?

[FB.]

He's been gone for a while now; put into the garden a couple of weeks ago and not seen since.
We hope he's happy, wherever he went.

[vikkib]

He's been gone for a while now; put into the garden a couple of weeks ago and not seen since.
We hope he's happy, wherever he went.

I have to confess to having a little tear in my eye!

[Muppet194]

Me too but didn't want to be the first to say it! I will miss the updates of his progress still, hugely better to be back where he really belongs...