larbabe
28th July 2006, 16:48
Hi: I'm new to the forum. Several months ago, we noticed a large flock of cliff swallows enter into our So. California neighborhood (We live in Palmdale). They immediately set about constructing their mud nests, one of which is under the eaves of the roof of our two-story home. About three weeks ago, we discovered a chick in our yard, which had fallen out of the nest. From what I can tell, he (or she) was a week old . He had a broken foot, so we couldn't leave him on the ground or place him in a tree without keeping a close eye on him. We waited to see if his parents would find and care for him, but they didn't. Our only solution was to take him inside the home. We gave him water and tried to care for him as best we could.
I honestly had no hope of him surviving. We even had the animal shelter send an officer over, but the man told us that there was nothing they could do for him. He told us if they took him, he would have to be destroyed...and we couldn't do that! Every day we put him outside, but his parents and colony refused to feed him. We tried our best to provide for him, but he lasted only nine days. I think this was a case of a weakling being kicked out of the nest.
Almost as soon as the 1st chick passed away, two more baby chicks fell into our yard. This time, the colony actively began to feed them, so we kept them outside on a stand, covering them at night for protection. One of the chicks was perfectly healthy; the other is lame like the first. The first quickly developed his flight feathers and flew the coop; the 2nd remained with us for about a week. The colony continued to feed him, but he was unable to fly. I think it was largely due to his leg which stuck straight out to the side. We were fortunate to able to find a local veterinarian who volunteered to fix his leg. The bird has been operated on and he is currently under the vet’s care. When he is ready, they will call us and we will attempt to reintroduce him into the wild. It's wonderful that there are dedicated vets who actually care about these marvelous creatures. My concern is that all of the swallows have now migrated. I hope the bird will pick up on their trail. I have no idea where the swallows have migrated to.
http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/44c8e52b_1186d/bc/My+Documents/Swallows+1.jpg?bfETiyEBS8G2lpet
The injured swallow is on my nephew's left hand
I honestly had no hope of him surviving. We even had the animal shelter send an officer over, but the man told us that there was nothing they could do for him. He told us if they took him, he would have to be destroyed...and we couldn't do that! Every day we put him outside, but his parents and colony refused to feed him. We tried our best to provide for him, but he lasted only nine days. I think this was a case of a weakling being kicked out of the nest.
Almost as soon as the 1st chick passed away, two more baby chicks fell into our yard. This time, the colony actively began to feed them, so we kept them outside on a stand, covering them at night for protection. One of the chicks was perfectly healthy; the other is lame like the first. The first quickly developed his flight feathers and flew the coop; the 2nd remained with us for about a week. The colony continued to feed him, but he was unable to fly. I think it was largely due to his leg which stuck straight out to the side. We were fortunate to able to find a local veterinarian who volunteered to fix his leg. The bird has been operated on and he is currently under the vet’s care. When he is ready, they will call us and we will attempt to reintroduce him into the wild. It's wonderful that there are dedicated vets who actually care about these marvelous creatures. My concern is that all of the swallows have now migrated. I hope the bird will pick up on their trail. I have no idea where the swallows have migrated to.
http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/44c8e52b_1186d/bc/My+Documents/Swallows+1.jpg?bfETiyEBS8G2lpet
The injured swallow is on my nephew's left hand