Young wild bird

[Happycheese]

So my mother-in-law brought me this baby bird that was (apparently) abandoned and on the hot sidewalk, chirping it's head off and not using one of it's legs. So, being the 'animal lady', it got brought to me.
I called fish & game and they told me since it was injured and a single bird that can't be released, that they would probably put it down and since it is probably a non-endangered bird (I described it over the phone) they were ok with me keeping and raising it.
So at the time (June 24th) it had some feathers coming in, but was mostly bald. I looked up info, fed it every 20min during the day, etc, etc. It's now over a week later and it's amazingly how fast they grow. He (i assume) is flying, though none too skillfully, and playing with toys and grooming himself. He had his first bath yesterday and LOVED it!
He started moving his leg a few days ago, and now actually uses it! He will not grip with his foot though, merely set it on the perch. I am confident it will improve though.
I'm still feeding every hour, as much as he wants, but i'm offering insects, seeds, hanging millet, etc. He has a brand new cage with perches, water and a mirror. I cover it at night and he is really quiet, but let's me know when he's hungry or wants to fly around the house! I'm quickly falling in love

From the pictures online I think he's a starling. What do you guys think? he's all puffed up, usually looks more streamlined.

 

[Imp]

I don't know what kind of bird it is, but it's incredibly nice of you to take it in. Looks so healthy. Are there similar looking birds outside?

Good luck

Imp

 

[Happycheese]

Where it was found is a good mile from me, we have mainly finches, cardinals and sparrows here. the crows and black birds perch across the street and eat out of the Dunkin' donuts trash. So no, no starlings that I've seen. At this age, all baby birds look about the same except for their beak.

 

[justbugged]

Thank you for caring for the baby bird. I can't tell you how much it means to know that there are people who care. Bless you. My son in law is very good at taking care of wild birds. We are still trying to make sure that he doesn't get in trouble with the Wildlife people, when he rescues the wild birds. DSiL is from the Netherlands and so we watch out for him. the last bird he rescued was hurt to badly to save. That was a hard night when he called me to ask how to euthanize it. I wish I lived close to the kids, I would have given him a big hug that night.

 

[Bossroo]

It is never a good idea to rescue any pest species as they cause untold amounts to others' livelyhood.

 

[mydakota]

Don't starlings have yellower beaks?

 

[Preservation Acres]

It looks somewhat like a young mocking bird to me.

 

[jaimslee4u]

That is amazing that he pulled thru!!! Awesome job!

 

[laceynoelle]

I think its a black bird, although ive never seen a starling. We have a tree service and adopt, raise, and set free 'pest species' all the time, and he looks like the little black birds we get sometimes. Are you going to let him go? They never do very good if you intend to keep them. As soon as they arent hoppers its time they go. Good job on raising him though, you'd be suprised how many people are hopeless at it. Chicken people are just better equiped.

 

[bigchicken2]

Aww! Cute lil birdie!