Rock-A-Bye Baby (Orphaned Birds Page 2)
What's for dinner? Optimum diet for the first three days of life should consist of ground muscle, liver, heart, and brains of birds and small mammals.  From the fourth day on, whole ground birds and mammals should be used but do not include skin or large intestine. Please note that some of these ingredients may not be readily available at your local grocery. Feed each little bird until it no longer shows an interest in that particular feeding session. Repeat feedings whenever the little beggar acts hungry (usually becomes very vocal).
Two common questions we get are, "Is it a boy or girl?" and "how long before it gets its feathers?" Since boys and girls look alike (sounds like some humans), the main indicator or sex is size. Nope, guess again; female raptors are almost always larger than males. The point where nestlings replace their downy coat with juvenile feathers is called fledging. When these feathers are completely in, the bird can fly. Owls take about two months, redtail hawks take about forty-two days, and sparrow hawks take less than thirty days to reach this momentous occasion.
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