A tiny wee life in Ken's hands.

While Ken was in our bird aviaries late yesterday afternoon, he noticed a baby Zebra Finch had fallen from a nest. He picked it up and poked it back into the nest, but it was apparent that the reason for its ejection was overcrowding, as 5 young finches flew out cheeping loudly, then went back. The birds will do that, if there are too many for the parents to feed, the last to hatch will be pushed aside by the older chicks, and left to die.

My tender-hearted hubby couldn't bear to see this tiny little creature lying on the ground, knowing it would freeze to death overnight, so he picked it up and brought it inside the house.
He found a small plastic bowl and lined it with a piece of soft material, and then looked for an eye dropper. He mixed some milk and biscuit crumbs on a saucer, and fed it to the baby finch, who opened its beak and cried for more several times. Not the ideal diet for a baby bird, but it survived until we went to bed about midnight.



Topsy was hoping for a small midnight snack...


When we got up at 8 am, we found it had died, which we kind of expected, but we were still sad. At least it died in a warm and safe place, not outside on the ground..