When we brought him home we set him up in a 40 gallon critter keeper with wood chips as substrate, a water bowl, a cardboard box with dry spanish moss for a nest to sleep in at night and branches so he could practice perching and taking little flights. It was a lot of work with feeding. From dawn to dusk he would let us know every hour or two that he was hungry. As soon as it got dark he would huddle up in his nestbox and sleep the night away. As time went on we would take him out in the yard and sit with him and let him poke around at whatever kind of bugs he thought looked yummy to him. We were also trying to acclimate him to being outside. After a while he started spending all of his time outside, day and night. This was his choice. The first night he spent outside was harder on us than him. We were sitting outside with him when it started to get dark. We went in the house for something and came out and he was GONE. We went around the house and the woods that surround the house calling him and heard nothing. I know that sounds a little strange but he actually squawked repeatedly when we would call him. Either he was far away and couldn't hear us or he was in a tree planning on nesting for the night and was keeping quiet so predators couldn't find him. Well that turned out to be the case. The next morning we went outside and he flew out of a tree and onto the deck. He seemed pretty happy to see us too. That may sound odd too but for a wild bird to sit on your shoulder and rub his head on the side of your face and neck, preen your hair instead of his own feathers, nibble on your ears and come to you when you call him has got to be a sign of affection.
He's started to fly to trees further away and spending a lot of time away from the house. We started limiting our contact with him (as hard as that was going to be) and not supplying the extra goodies for him to eat. He actively found food on his own so that wasn't going to be a problem. The wound on his wing was almost fully healed and feathered. He should meet up with a flock of crows and eventually leave for good. Who knows, he may come back and visit from time to time and he is completely welcome to. If anyone who reads this ever gets the chance to do something like this DO IT! Birds, especially crows can be very charming. This has been an experience that we'll never ever forget!
UPDATE: In July, Flip took off for the trees at night as he normally would. The next morning we called for him but he wasn't anywhere to be found. It's our hope that he met up with some bird friends and he's having a nice life. We can truly say we think about him everyday and miss him dearly. That little bird left a never ending impression on us. GOOD BYE FLIP !!!!!! |
