Evening star., 1949-08-18
This and That
By Charles E. TraceweH
''TAKOMA PARK

"TAKOMA PARK.
Dear Sir:
What shall do for baby cardinal that
has one bad foot?
He does not seem to be able to grasp any,
thing with the toes.
"Otherwise he is in good shape He eats
well and is in good feather
Il would like to know If there is anything
can do. to help him, and how long it
might take.
II like the cardinals. They seem to be
among our better birds. Not all the feathered
folk are tops, any more than all humans are
The redbirdS seem to me first rate In
every particular This young bird is not
as wild as some specimens have seen.
I recall that once you said the cardinal
is truly wildbird
Sincerely. T. M. L."
Massaging the toes with a little olive oil
twice a day may help.
This should be done carefully and easily,
without undue pressure, and especially with
out too long continuation at time
Very little oil should be used at time,
not more than drop or two
Without such massage the toes probably
will regain their grip in time.
Two or three weeks may be necessary. In
the meantime the bird should be kept in a
cannot get too much motion and nothing
else can get at it.
The young cardinal often is hard to man.
age, having more sheer pep" than many
other species.
Baby cardinals are not as easy to man.
age. as a rule, as young robins or even jay
babies.
OF all the wildbirds the baby robin is the
incest.
TIE yoofioos ava x,or. s.s.I. s "a
to have better understanding of human
beings than most. After all, that means
lot to the person. bringing up the bird 'by
hand" The young robin is more affection
ate. and enters into the sport of eating with
more gusto.
Many baby birds, and this particularly
applies to cardinals, need a great deal of
coaxing, really prodding, to get them to eat
This should not deter the human being who
is determined to help.
Here is case In which real determination
at times Is necessary. Think back to the
parent birds you have seen feeding their
young. How do thy do it? They ram the
food down. far down, the gaping bill.
The human substitute for the parent bird
must try to do the same. The food may be
offered, and if taken easily, we'll and good
but If it Is not the small bit of ground meat,
liver, yolk of hard boiled egg, bread and
milk or cookie, etc., is placed on the end
OF a stout toothpick and suddenly pushed
back and down as far as possible. A little
discretion must be used, of course A baby
bird Is not made of leather, but of new
flesh. Too much force and too far q thrust
will result only in injury, but there is
point where the throat accepts the food.
This is the point to be tried for.
But there is another point which must be
kept in mind. It is that after few bites
the baby bird throat closes, and no more
can be forced down. In nature the bird
father or mother is so busy with a number
OF birds that no one gets more than few
bites at time. Then flight must be made
to bring more.
This is what the human bird bringer-
upper must try to emulate. He or she-she
is best-must feed the young baby bird at
least once an hour, or oftener if possible.
1t is not always possible. Young birds have
their whirns, just as people do and some
times. will not eat. Well, do not worry too
much about it, Lilly Belle, the baby robin,
once went for "a hours without bite, and
was none the worse for it. Birds have right
to their food idiosyncracies, the same as
people.
Young birds brought up by hand should
be taught to peck at food on the floor If
the food is alive, bug or very small worm,
so much the better and the surer they are
to peck. Once they have learned their an
cestral motion, all is well for life. It lis the
most important motion the bird will ever
learn.
Care to handle young birds gently is Of first
importance. Few persons realize how tender
young bird Is. Even in hot weather 1t
must be protected from cold nights. and in
the daytime no sunshine whatever should
be allowed to fallson It.