Is it possible to feed the swift with bread. All about swift birds: what they look like, where they live and what they eat

***

This weekend, I accidentally ended up at the construction market in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bMamyri near Moscow. While spinning between the malls, poking around in search of an exit, I saw “something” beating right on the pavement. I stopped the car, got out, approached ... The beating lump turned out to be a bird unknown to me with broken (as it seemed to me) wings. She picked it up, took it to the car, took a deep breath and rushed, scoring on her own business, to the veterinarian.

The doctor examined the bird, charging me 500 rubles for a superficial examination. (for this money, get out the balcony!), And gave out three facts of interest to me.

• First, the bird is a swift, that is, almost a swallow.


• Secondly, the swift is already an adult. It’s already good - it’s more difficult with chicks ...


• Thirdly, the bones are all intact, the feathers are simply broken, and at the root. So the swift will not be able to take off soon. According to the doctor, the new plumage will grow back no earlier than six months later. So I'll have to keep the haircut at home until the fall ...

Ooooooooooooo……….:(
It's not a stuck button. It’s just that I don’t have the strength, there are no words.
So I had to carry the chick home. So far, I am mastering the basics of shearing on the basis of timid personal practices.
So, first conclusions:

1. If a downed swift fell on your head as unexpectedly as it did me, and you, of course, were completely unprepared for this, then the first thing to do is to resolve the issue of feeding. In nature, swifts eat only midges covered with chitin, mosquitoes, flies of all different sizes. And swifts do not peck them! They soar in the air, with their mouths wide enough, and, like in a net, they catch air plankton into it. To feed the swift that came to you promptly(that is, until you find the right food and decide on the final menu), you can quickly get by with dried fish food so that you don’t die of hunger. I jumped out of the veterinary clinic and bought daphnia and gammarus at the nearest pet store. But this food is unusual for a swift + he did not understand (and still does not understand) what they want from him, so putting something in his beak, especially small and dried, turned out to be problematic. Then I, wrinkling, rolled up tiny balls of finely chopped eggs mixed with this fish food. These are the spools that I already neatly managed to shove into the haircut. Not much, of course. But on the other hand, I was sure that he was not mortally hungry, and I had time to surf the Internet and read as much as possible about these birds.

2. It is difficult to find midges covered with chitin in urban apartments. I was saved by the fact that the capital is full of lovers of domestic exotic animals, so I quickly found the crickets recommended for haircuts from one lizard breeder. Crickets, frozen, cost me 250 rubles. for 250 gr. And swifts eat a lot! According to a plate found on the thematic site Spastistrizha.ru, my haircut should eat 60 crickets a day. So, if a swift fell on you, consider these costs.

Here is a table of weight and required amount of feed:

3. The web is full of videos in which haircuts themselves swallow the food offered to them. Practically, they eat from the hands. Maybe this skill comes to them with time? I have to force everything in. I do as this video tutorial teaches. With a creak, but for now, if you do everything as shown here, it turns out:

4. Such feeding takes a lot of time! It takes me about an hour and a half to shove 12-15 crickets into a swift. This time, if you wake up to feed yourself, you need to immediately lay in your own schedule. At the very least, you will definitely have to get up an hour and a half earlier.
My haircut, for example, as soon as it turns out to be wrapped in a napkin, immediately "pupates": it tightly closes its eyes and falls into unconsciousness. Like a possum - like "died" :) Like this:

And he refuses to swallow at all. Those. even if I manage to put a piece of cricket in his beak, he just keeps it on his tongue until he has a chance to spit it out ...
So we sit for an hour and a half: the haircut is in diapers, the crickets are in tweezers, I am in nerves ...

5. Another important point: as the doctor said, swifts (like swallows) simply do not understand their sitting position in a box (or on any other horizontal surface). They spend their whole lives on the fly: they eat on the fly, mate on the fly ... Therefore, keeping them in baskets-boxes at home is not an option. I take mine out into the box only in the evening, when I come home and start rummaging around in the kitchen with my ladies' household troubles. I put him in a box so that he moves, shakes, socializes:

And I also put a heating pad in his box in the first days. For some reason it seemed to me that he was freezing from weakness ... The photo shows that the diaper lies in a slide: this is because the heating pad is hidden under the rags. The haircut snuggled up to her and fell asleep:

As a permanent house, the best thing, of course, is a vertical bird cage, along the walls of which the stige can move at least up and down, and at the maximum - climb on sticks. Therefore, the box is only a temporary option. Plastic carriers for cats are not bad as a temporary shelter: they have holes in the walls so that the cats do not suffocate. My haircut climbs through these holes and hangs like this - in an upright position.

***
I am terribly worried that our feathers will not grow back until autumn. Swift is a migratory bird. And with the cold, their flocks will stretch south. If my foundling does not have time to grow wings, he will have to stay with me for the winter ...
These are the wings a swift should have:

And here are such germs now in my miracle in feathers:

***

About what to feed the swift, we will tell in this article. If you find a sick bird on the street, you should immediately contact your veterinarian. He will also advise you on the diet. If the selected individual is healthy, you have a “homeless” chick in your hands - the menu for feeding is given below. But remember that these birds are capricious: care will require patience and time. They are demanding on food, do not tolerate restrictions in freedom, and do not tolerate captivity. Be responsible, because the life of a pet depends only on you.

Dispelling delusions

There is an opinion among people that the nature of the swifts does not allow them to be kept at home. This is the first myth. Care and maintenance of these birds at home is troublesome, but not hopeless. If the chick fell out of the nest, but it is impossible to return it, it is possible to leave it.

Never give the swifts you find to the zoo: they will become food for birds of prey.

If a swift chick has broken its wing, it is useless to nurse it. This is the second myth. It is believed that they cannot live without the sky, they quickly fade. Of course, the inability to fly is a great stress for birds. But they will survive it if they are surrounded by care.

If in doubt whether it is necessary to save swifts and whether it is possible to keep them at home, most likely you are not ready for such a responsibility. Birds are great companions, but taming them is hard work. Never forget about it.

Food in nature and features of its production

The lifestyle of the black swift is such that in a day in search of food it flies up to 800 km. And all due to the fact that in nature the bird feeds on air plankton: flying insects, spiders.

The standard height at which birds forage is 50-100 meters. But, depending on weather conditions, the birds rise higher or descend to the ground. Feathers are finicky - they absorb the largest possible insects.

In the process of hunting, birds do not swallow food immediately. Captured insects enter the crop, where they are treated with saliva. When processed, the food turns into a kind of ball, which they swallow or take to the nest. One lump (bolus) contains several thousand bugs.

Diet for home feeding: what can be given and what will hurt

The black swift is an insectivore. At home, chicks and adults are best fed with crickets. They are sold in pet stores at a low price. Turkmen cockroaches are also suitable, which are distinguished by a high content of nutrients and good digestibility.

Cockroaches are especially useful for chicks that have fallen out of the nest. If you feed them to babies, the feather cover will improve. The main thing is to remove everything hard and poorly digestible before feeding insects: paws, head, assholes.

Ant pupae are also useful for birds. But they are not sold in the store. This delicacy will have to be sought in forests and gardens. Maggots are also suitable - larvae of blowflies. In order not to harm, feed the swift with larvae should be careful: no more than a teaspoon per day. They overload the liver.

You should also feed:

• mosquitoes;
• ordinary flies;
• bloodworm.

Never give your bird earthworms. This will result in the death of the pet. Carefully feed him with zoophobuses and flour worms: no more than 3 pcs. per day. Before serving, the larvae are crushed or their heads are cut off.

Temporary measures in emergency cases

Birds will die due to improper feeding. Porridge, ready-made feed mixture, mash - all this leads to the death of birds. But what you can feed swifts when there are no insects is fat-free cottage cheese or dry fish food (gammarus).

Eggs cause disturbances in the digestive system, so it is forbidden to feed them to the swift. Human food, suitable for many birds, meat, fish, vegetables, is detrimental to these flyers. Even cottage cheese or gammarus should not be abused: 1-2 doses per day, if there are no other options.

Since the swift will die due to the wrong food, it is better to give him insects right away, and not to “be wiser” with the diet. Finding a bird on the street, go to the pet store on the way home and buy suitable food. If this is not possible, it remains to arm yourself with a net and go on a “hunt”.

The nuances of cooking

Despite the fact that wayward birds eat only insects, you still have to cook food for them. If you do not know how to do it correctly, this section is for you. Be sure to wash your hands before you start cooking. Dirt and microbes are dangerous for the body of birds.

Since swifts are fastidious birds, only freshly prepared food is served to them. Make sure it doesn't smell sour or musty.

Using dried insects, clear the mixture of debris:

• fragments;
• stones;
• branches.

Place the bugs in warm water for a fresh look. Discuss before serving. The same cooking scheme is suitable for frozen insects.

Before serving to an adult swift, insects are laid out on a plate. If you are nursing a chick, you should roll balls from the bugs. Crushed or mashed fly larvae are suitable as a binding substrate.

Frequency and method of feeding

Small swifts are fed about 14-16 times a day. The frequency of meals is every 40-60 minutes. The first feeding is at 6 am, the last one is at 10 pm (or later). It is important that the next portion completely fills the goiter of the bird. You can give food with tweezers.

An adult swift is fed every 2-3 hours. If the bird is healthy, she actively asks for food, grabbing food from her hands.

If the bird is sick or weak, it is more difficult to feed it. To care for such individuals, insects are ground into porridge. Use a syringe to give food. Be careful when handling the swift: do not damage the feathers. It's better to wrap it in a napkin. Pry the beak from the side and gently open it. Give your pet some food and see if he swallows. Weakened birds should be given water after feeding.

The first sign that there is a problem with the baby is that he does not open his beak. If the chick refuses to eat, immediately contact your veterinarian for detailed instructions.

Relationship to water

In nature, swifts drink water in flight, such as catching raindrops. Sometimes they use reservoirs to quench their thirst: they glide over the surface with their beak, planning over a pond, river, stream. To repeat this at home, of course, will not work.

At home, especially swift chicks, you can drink by dipping your finger into the water. Give it with food, dipping the bugs so that it does not have time to evaporate. Having decided to leave the bird at home, you can buy an autodrinker - this is convenient.

You can drink swifts from a cup, only very carefully. First, pour water at the bottom so that the bird does not choke out of ignorance. Do not leave the container in the house unattended. Keep fluid fresh and clean.

Birds, getting used to the house and you, will have a different attitude to the water. Over time, you can leave the bowl in the cage: swifts will use it as a bath.

Determine age, gender, type

The easiest way is to confuse a swift with a swallow. The care of these birds will vary, so you should learn to determine who is who. The main distinguishing feature of these birds is the paws.

All fingers on the paws of black swifts are directed forward. This arrangement allows you to freely stay on steep surfaces. What is important in their lifestyle. The paws of swallows are different: one finger looks back. This makes it easier for birds to walk on the ground or sit in trees.

Determining the age of a swift is also not difficult. This is necessary in order to know exactly how and how much to feed the birds. Adults differ from chicks in color: black feathers with a white spot on the neck. They have long wings - 3.5 cm longer than the tail.

The chicks are covered not with feathers, but with tubules that open with age. First, the body is covered with down. Then feathers grow. The older the bird, the more it resembles an adult. You can distinguish a growing swift by pink paws, a light border on feathers and a white muzzle.

But it is impossible to determine the sex of a swift at home. They have no outward signs. The only way to find out if you got a male or a female is to do a DNA test. But such a need will arise only if you decide to buy a pair for a new pet.

In the comments to the article, ask questions and share your experience.

After a long winter, swifts always return home. These birds inhabit almost the entire globe, and not only in the countryside, but also within the city. They are often confused with swallows, as the birds are very similar in appearance. When they arrive, what do swifts look like and what do they eat?

Description of the black swift: photo

Swifts are among the most common birds on earth. They live on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica and some oceanic islands. These are little birds. with a dense and strong body. On a slightly elongated body is a wide and flat head with a short neck. The bird's beak is very short, weak and triangular, and flattened at the end. The jaws of the beak are split very deeply, due to which the beak can open as wide as possible.

The wings of swifts are narrow and curved, resembling sabers in shape. A black or tower swift can have a body size of up to 18 cm with a wingspan of 40 cm. The length of the wing reaches 17 cm, and the tail is 8 cm. The body weight is from 90 to 110 grams. The plumage of the bird is dark brown with a greenish tint. The chin and throat are decorated with a white collar, the beak of the bird is black, the paws are light brown, and the eyes are dark brown. If you look closely at the photo of a black swift, you can see that it has a great resemblance to a swallow. In fact, they are united by external similarity and a similar lifestyle.

Swifts are larger in size than swallows. They have short legs that allow them to comfortably and firmly cling to a sheer surface. Most of their lives they fly because in flight they are practically invulnerable. On the ground, they can become the prey of a predator, so they rarely sink to the surface of the earth.

Habitat and lifestyle

This species of bird makes migratory flights. In the summer, they settle in large numbers on the territory of Western Siberia, China, and so on to Spain. In the northern part of the planet, swifts choose Finland, Norway, and the subarctic zones of Russia as a nesting place. Its offspring are black swifts withdrawn in the southern territories:

• Algeria;
• Israel;
• Lebanon;
• Morocco:
• Near East.

Birds winter in southern Africa, as well as on the equator. There they live most comfortably. Swifts feel best when they are in flight. They always fly fast make a big turn to turn. A distinctive feature of black swifts is the fact that being in flight a bird can:

• There is;
• mate;
• sleep.

There is no other bird in the world that can do this. They can spend 2-4 years in the air without landing on the ground. During the nesting period, they are forced to build nests for breeding. Basically, these birds live in flocks and always nest in colonies.

Swifts have 4 fingers on their paws, pointing to the side, so sitting on the surface of the earth is difficult for them to maintain balance. They cannot move - jump, walk on their paws. For this reason, swifts are always in flight to protect themselves. It is believed that these birds are the fastest, because their flight speed reaches 120 km / h, and swallows can develop up to 60 km / h as much as possible. Swifts are always active from morning until evening. Their life expectancy is about 20 years.

Nutrition

Weather conditions greatly influence the lifestyle of swifts. This also applies to the nutrition of birds. They are dependent on the environment and its temperature. Their activity and body temperature depends on nutrition. If the swifts have nothing to eat, the body temperature can drop to 20 o C. For this reason, the birds often fall into a "stupor". Such hibernation is necessary for birds in order to save their last strength in case of a shortage of food. In such a motionless state, swifts can spend several days. Status will depend on weather conditions. This is especially acute in rainy weather, since there are no insects in the air.

While in flight, birds catch insects like a net under favorable weather conditions. Birds eat small flying insects. When there is no food, adults fly several kilometers to get food. The chicks at this time remain in the nests and hibernate until the parents bring them food. Such flights are called weather migration. Winter flights will be subject to weather conditions. If the weather is unfavorable, then swifts can fly away for the winter in August due to lack of food.

reproduction

Swifts choose tree hollows, caves, rocks and burrows for nesting. The nesting site will depend on the habitat of the birds. They can settle in mountains, forests, cities and deserts. Swifts are distinguished by devotion and create couples for life. To build a nest parents extract building material on the fly. It can be:

• twigs;
• feathers;
• vegetable fibre.

All this birds pick up on the fly. After wintering, they return to their place and settle in old nests for breeding. It takes about 1 week to build one nest. The female incubates the eggs for 16-22 days, all this time the male is engaged in the extraction of food. The female can lay eggs for one laying from 1 to 4 pieces.

The chicks that have appeared are completely helpless and they are constantly in the nest for 33-39 days. The number of days is always related to weather conditions. Caring parents try to feed their offspring several times a day with a mixture of saliva and insects. When the offspring are ready for independent life, then they fly away from the nest forever.

swift birds

Candidate of Biological Sciences K. MIKHAILOV.

You can watch the flight of swifts for hours. But, unfortunately, these amazing birds in the Moscow sky are becoming less and less every year. Please tell us on the pages of the magazine about the life of swifts: what do they build nests from, can they sit on the ground, how do they hatch chicks, what do they eat, where do they drink water in dry weather and where do they winter?

V. Sapozhnikov (Moscow).

By the middle - the end of May, as soon as the really warm "summer" weather sets in, the city blocks are resounded by the shrill cries of long-winged birds flying at high speed over the roofs of houses. These are black swifts that have returned from African wintering. Their appearance marks the beginning of the bird's summer, since most of the birds are already sitting on their nests by this time. They also say that they fly "on the back of a cyclone." True (or false) this statement can be easily verified by everyone in their city. A flock of swifts returns to the places they like for many years in a row. Biologists call this phenomenon philopatry, that is, literally love for the motherland.

The first days of swifts joyfully - you can’t say otherwise - rush over places dear to their hearts, but very soon they start building nests. They arrived late, they need to catch up, and after a couple of weeks two or four oblong-oval white eggs appear in their nests. However, the nests are difficult to see, as they are located in various potholes and narrow crevices under the roofs of tall stone buildings. But in the "low" quarters, swifts can also nest low: under the roofs of five-story buildings and even in potholes in the bases of balconies. It is not difficult to attract them to the birdhouse on the balcony, if, of course, a flock of swifts has already chosen your house. Black swifts do not nest in separate pairs in central Russia.

In villages, swifts often occupy birdhouses (by this time the chicks had flown out of the starlings), expelling field sparrows from them. But there are still places, for example, in Transbaikalia and in the Russian North, where swifts continue to nest in forests, arranging nests in old woodpecker hollows made in tall trees, especially pines.

The nest itself, of course, has one name. Just a tray of a stone niche or hollow is lined with fluffs, feathers and tufts of wool, which birds catch on the fly and then stick together with the secretion of the salivary glands. The eggs develop quite quickly, and after 15-18 days blind and naked chicks appear in the nests, which both parents actively feed for more than a month, appearing at the nest with food up to 30 times a day. The grown chicks, having left the nest, immediately begin to fly an independent life. Approximately in the middle - the end of August, adult and young chicks fly south, so that swifts spend about three months in central Russia.

Many people sometimes confuse swifts with swallows. In some ways they are really similar: both are tireless flyers. But nevertheless, swifts can be distinguished at a glance: their wings are crescent-shaped and narrower, and they fly swiftly and directly, not as nimble as swallows; and usually higher. If you ever manage to hold a swift in your hands, then pay attention to its paws. They are small, not at all adapted for walking. Therefore, one of the first scientific names for the swift, translated from Latin, was "legless swallow." Swallows, on the other hand, can walk on the ground and easily take off from flat ground. The swift's beak is also small, but the mouth is wide. This is understandable. Cutting through warm air currents carrying myriads of midges, the swift picks up a mouthful of food, envelops it with saliva, and then flies to the nest with this food lump. Atmospheric pressure affects the distribution of insects in the air. Therefore, like swallows, on sunny fine days, swifts hunt at high altitudes, and in cloudy weather, it happens that they fly above the ground itself.

Swifts are excellent flyers (the best among birds) and can fly up to 100 kilometers per hour. On the same day, they fly up to 1500 kilometers. In the air, swifts can sleep, flying at a height in large circles, while in the air they mate. They also drink and swim in the summer. Excellent flight abilities allow swifts to feed, if necessary, many kilometers from nesting sites. And sometimes you have to fly away from the nest for tens of kilometers. Such a need arises during periods of long summer bad weather. If it gets colder and it rains, swifts cannot make up for energy costs for active life. Then the flock migrates to places with better food conditions, leaving the chicks "to the mercy of fate." However, the chicks do not die, as they have an amazing feature: they fall into a stupor, a kind of hibernation, in which they can go without food for up to one and a half to two weeks.

To some extent, this ability is developed in the chicks of many birds, which at an early age (when they are not yet feathered) do not have developed warm-bloodedness. At this time they are still like lizards: their body temperature depends on the temperature of the environment. The body temperature drops - and, accordingly, the metabolism drops. All processes in the body are inhibited, and the chick can do without food for some time. It looks like it is already dead, but when it gets warmer it comes to life. However, in chicks of other birds, the period of "cold torpor" is short, they can starve for a very short time. In swifts, it is large, and both small and
grown chicks. Moreover, in severe weather, such as heavy rains, torpor can also cover adult birds - their temperature is still unstable. Such is the strange thermoregulation of these birds, without which, however, they would hardly have survived in northern Russian conditions.

Our black swift is widely distributed. It inhabits all of Europe (except the Far North) and the southern part of northern Asia, in the south - to Palestine and the Himalayas. Black swifts winter in southern Africa and Asia.

It remains to be said that swifts are a special order of birds, which are called long-winged. The closest relatives of swifts are hummingbirds living in America, which are sometimes introduced into the same squad of long-winged ones. There are 70 species of swifts themselves in the world, most of them are similar to our black swift (tail with a weak fork), but there are also so-called spiny-tailed swifts, in which the tail is cut off at the end, and the tail feathers are hard, the tops of the rods protrude beyond edge of the tail in the form of sharp needles.

The black swift is the only species of swift in the European part of Russia, but east of Altai to Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Primorye, the white-banded swift is much more common, which, as the name suggests, has a catchy white stripe on the uppertail. It is this swift that nests in the cities of Siberia and the Far East; the black swift lives in the east only as far as Baikal. In the forests in the south of Siberia and the Far East of Russia, a representative of the needle-tailed swifts also lives. It is called pricklytail or needletail - in different places in different ways.

If you go on vacation to the Crimea or Ciscaucasia, you will surely see a larger (and faster) swift with a white belly. That's what they call him - the white-bellied swift. This is a southerner.

From: David
Tel: 891

Message:
Hello! He picked up a swift with a broken wing - as it turned out, he had an open fracture. The vet said he wouldn't fly again, but I want to believe otherwise. Tell me, does your clinic perform complex wing surgeries?

Good afternoon Yes, we perform operations on the wings of swifts of any complexity. Extramedullary, intermedullary osteosynthesis, tendon fusion, etc.) In order to decide, you should drive up to us, and after the x-ray we will decide what can be done.

Matched swift in a box

Swift does not eat

From: Julia
Tel: 8919

Message:
Good afternoon. A swift flew to our balcony. Does not eat, drinks forcibly when you drip water on the beak. Creeps into hands, looking for a dark corner. Doesn't fly. There are no long feathers in the tail. There are no ornithologists in the city. What can be done to get it out? How to diagnose a health problem?

Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov

swift fell

From: Nikita
Phone: 89854

Message:

I can’t keep an eye on myself all the time, not always at home. Is it possible to give it to you with payment for materials for restoration?

Good afternoon

Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov

Doesn't want to take off his beak

From: Julia
Tel.: +79169

Message:

Good afternoon
A haircut was found near cars not in a forested area. Can't fly. Difficulties with feeding. Doesn't want to open its beak. He drinks water well. What to do?

Good afternoon You can open the beak with your fingers. How? You have to show it clearly. As for food, crickets should be given.
Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov.

Swift was taken away from a cat

Thursday, July 19, 2018, 19:31 +03:00 from Kvit1@yandex.ru:
Hello,
On the street, an adult swift was taken away from a cat.
In appearance, there is no particular damage, very nimble, but frightened.
We don’t have any skills in caring for birds and would like to know if it is possible to attach him to a shelter?

Friday, July 20, 2018 9:59 am +03:00 am from anyabuk@2002gmail.com:
Hello! Today I found a swift in the grass, it does not fly at all, it moves on its paws. Can you take him in and heal him?

Good afternoon Yes, we have all the conditions for this, and a Rehabilitation Center specifically for swifts, and doctors who treat swifts. In order to place a swift in the Rehabilitation Center, you need to pay for food in the form of crickets.

Swallow chick found in the grass

From: Irina
Tel.: 8-921-326

Message:
Hello, today a swallow chick was found in the grass on the territory of the kindergarten. Someone said he fell off the roof. the wing hangs a little. but not much. It stands on one paw, the second is pressing. What to do with him…? There are a lot of crows around, peck. Still in the box. Scared.

Dear day Judging by the photo, this is a swift. Crickets should be fed. Buy them mono at pet stores. You can also transfer it to us at the Rehabilitation Center for Swifts, but then you should also transfer food in the amount of 3000-4000 crickets together with the striom or transfer the amount sufficient for buying crickets - namely 5000 rubles.
Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov

Fleas at the swift in Krasnodar

From: Elena
Phone: +786124

Message:
Good afternoon, Vladimir!
A couple of weeks ago I took a swift from a cat. In Krasnodar. I think it's an adult bird. I do not know the weight, but the dimensions correspond to an adult bird. The cat has an eye injury. But the eye is already open. And the wound near the eye is actively healing. Processed "Tsipromet". And a wound. And inside a couple of days, drop by drop, she gave a couple of days. On another wing, I recently discovered a hole in the bone (or in the feather, I didn’t quite understand. Everything is so fragile there. I’m afraid to touch it especially. And it resists when I examine it). The wing does not fully expand. Again, she began to dig in with tsipromet, the hole is overgrown! And he very actively began to move this wing. Another cat ripped feathers out of his tail, two or three on the left. It seems that these feathers are growing again. Or so it seems to me. And one tail feather is broken in half. I feed crickets. Forcibly. I give water drop by drop from a syringe. eats little. The cricket swallows the first two with greed. Then, with difficulty, I thrust three more into him. Five to 7 times a day. It is not enough? I sometimes try to feed him more often, but categorically refuses. I am afraid to give him vitamins and other supplements. I also saw some small insects on it. Fleas, probably. But I don't dare to do anything. Before picking it up, I wash my hands with soap and dry it dry. Runs very fast! It is said that swifts cannot move on a flat surface. How else can they! He loves to sit in my palm and flap his wings. Do you think he will be able to fly with such damage? Is there any nursery for swifts in Krasnodar? I couldn't find. But if he can't fly, then I don't even know what to do with him. Life has become a nightmare dedicated exclusively to this little one. It is very, very difficult to work and combine feeding a swift. His mouth is pink. The feathers are shining. During this time, nothing has fallen. I keep it clean. Live, I think. he will. I will try to keep him alive. Every year I nurse fledglings of jays and thrushes. But with them it is easier than with a swift. But what to do with him next, if he suddenly cannot fly, I can’t even imagine

Good afternoon1 Here it is necessary to take an x-ray to determine if he has a fracture. Also, it is possible to show the ornithologist +7 964 935 11 57 Inna
If you have nowhere to keep him until the horse flies, then you can give him to us, but here with him you will have to transfer 4000 crickets so that we can feed him with them. Pyrethrum-based sprays work well for fleas. They are sold for both birds and dogs. Suitable for haircuts.

Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov

Swift on the balcony

From: Julia
Phone: 891993

Message:
Good afternoon. A swift flew to our balcony. Does not eat, drinks forcibly when you drip water on the beak. Creeps into hands, looking for a dark corner. Doesn't fly. There is not one long feather in the tail. There are no ornithologists in the city. What can be done to get it out? How to diagnose a health problem?

Here the most important thing is to feed it with insects, for this you should buy crickets and give them directly to the beak. They eat an average of 50-60 crickets a day.

Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov

Saving a Weak Swift

From: Nikita
Tel.: 898545

Message:
Hello! On the street today I noticed a swift, he was sitting on the sidewalk, when he tried to pick it up, he took off, made a circle around the yard and again fell on the sidewalk. It is given in the hands, it can stand on its paws, fly, but crashes into walls, falls. He gave him water, fed him a little through a syringe, put him in a “nest” from a blanket - he lies with his eyes closed, breathes, does not scream, rather weak. When I approach, he opens his eyes, he is a little wary.

I can’t keep an eye on myself all the time, not always at home. Is it possible to give it to you to save the swift?

Good afternoon

Most likely he is malnourished and should be fed crickets. It also looks like it needs to be healed. For all this, you can drive up to us.

Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov

Swift wing problem

From: Margarita
Tel.: 89779

Message:
Good evening. Swift found today. At first glance, he has problems with the wing. Tell me, under what conditions can he be taken to a hospital / shelter for treatment and release?

Good afternoon The main condition is to bring 4,000 crickets along with the swift to feed it.
Sincerely, Vladimir Zyablikov

Naked chick on the ground

From: Marina
Tel.: 891619

Message:
Good afternoon. A week ago I found a naked chick on the ground, I didn’t find nests nearby, I fed it, now it’s almost fledged. It looks like a sparrow. I won't be able to keep him with me from Monday, because I have to feed him often, and I'll be away for a long time. It's too early to release, he still doesn't know how to peck. Can I give it to you for supplementary feeding and release?
Thank you.

Good afternoon Yes you can! To do this, you need to transfer 4000 crickets for food together with the chick. As for the lack of plumage, it does not matter, we have a special brooder for feeding chicks of swifts and other birds ..
Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov

What to feed a swift besides insects

From: Vadim
Tel.: 8-916-182-3

Message:
Good afternoon I picked up a swift, it looks like he was injured (apparently he crashed into a car, there was blood on the bird's wing).
1. Please tell me what you can feed besides insects (dry food, etc.).
2. Is it possible to “attach” him to your clinic and under what conditions.
Thanks in advance. Vadim

Good afternoon You can attach a swift to our hospital. Only for the attachment, the following condition must be met, or you bring crickets to feed the swift in the amount of 4000 pcs.
As you understand, swifts are preferably fed with insects. In your case, crickets. Swift insects are fed in order to return them back to natural life as soon as possible. Life in nature. This is essential for the most successful rehabilitation of swifts. Feed substitutes are used in extreme cases of insect absence and they reduce the success of rehabilitation efforts.

Sincerely, Vladimir Romanov

Bird Hospital "Green Parrot" - treatment of parrots and ornithologists in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
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