I came home tonight from a 3 hour long written exam/interview to find this little fledgling hopping around in my backyard.

Momma and Poppa bird were dive bombing the 3 dogs and shrieking something awful and the cat was eying him from the relative safety of the bushes...readying himself to pounce, I imagine.

He's now in a cage for now, and I will try to either find the nest to put him back tomorrow, or feed him berries and meal worms until he gets his flight feathers in. He still has some downy fuzz on his head, like bushy little eyebrows!

impromptu easter basket grab:
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safe in the cage:
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Bless you for saving his/her life. Thank you for sharing.

Hope it makes it!

I have replaced baby mockingbirds to their nest twice, and everything seemed to turn out OK-

I volunteer at a Wildlife Rescue organization in the area. It has been awhile but I have helped in the bird rooms with feeding and I know that we gave fluid of some sort to the birds that age. You may want to contact a similar organization for information on what to give the little fellow. You can Google Wildlife Rescue and Rehab in Kendalia Texas for their contact information. They have a 24 hr hotline and might be able to advise you.

You are a good person for saving him.

That is a good idea - I will check them out, since it's been a bit warm and I doubt he'll figure out the water dish quite yet.

No, at his age I think he will definately need dropper or syringe fluids and maybe even food. I believe that the food was dry cat food mixed with water to make a gruel that could be syringe fed. Warmth and quiet are also important. Panting indicates stress. Don't try to feed when panting. About all I can remember at this time.

What a wonderful thing you did for that little cutie.

So how is the little guy this morning?

He is alert and hopping around. :) I gave him a few dribbles of the cat chow/gruel, and put some chopped plantain on the fence for the parents (DH said in Mexico that's what they feed them).
The cage door is open just in case they want to hop in or come up to it.

DH is home today and the cat is still in, so he will be keeping an eye out.

And then there were 2!

*sighs* DH was cleaning out the bougainvillea in the front yard yesterday afternoon and found the sibling, who made a mad dash into the garage.

Both are doing fine this morning and are very active (peeping, hopping around, stretching their wings).

Glad they are doing well!!!

My old calico got a baby mockingbird once and the Mom gave her trouble for over a month. She would be at one of the sliders screeching and hollering for Shelly to come out. We said she was saying "come on out you baby killer" LOL When she did go out the Mom would dive bomb her. It was pretty funny to watch even tho I felt bad for her (the Mom, not the naughty cat).

Do you have a plan? Are the parents still around? If so, is there any way you can sit the cage outside with the door open (keeping cats away) and see if the parents will continue the flying lessons before the parents give up and go away? Sounds like since you found two of them out of the nest they probably were learning how to fly instead of a case of falling out of nest.

They sure are cute. When I helped in the bird room at WRR I remember the Mockingbirds were the biggest beggars and were unrelenting in trying to get us to give them more food! Next biggest/loudest were the blue jays. They were halarious!

Between the grackles and the mockingbirds, there is a 'neighborhood watch' - they will let you know if our cat is around and corner him if need be.

The plan is to bring them to the quiet area behind the fence tomorrow morning - there are bushes and tree's behind it, bordering on a public park. It's secluded and quiet enough, I think. Mom/Dad are still feeing them through the bars/open door. Jays sure are characters, but I love listening to the mockingbirds (and the thrasher that's taken up residence, too).

Wow! That's really cool that the parents are still feeding them. I didn't realize that the cage was outside at times.
I'm with you--love to listen to Mockingbirds. They are without a doubt my favorite bird. State bird of Texas, also.
Good luck tomorrow and let us know how it goes.

Hi there! Just curious, what ever happened to the baby Mockingbirds?

DH and I set them in the bushes behind the fence on the 28th, we watched the parents fly up and down the next few days from our yard to the back, but have been seeing them less and less each day.

The cat has been cooped up since and am not sure who is worse for wear on that front -him or dh. :)

Thanks for the update. Poor kitty/lucky birds!