How often do you feed a baby owl
How Often Do Owls Eat? – Owl Chatter
Written by aw118144 in Diet
I’d say it’s common to question what owls eat and how exactly they go about catching their food but I think a big question that can often be overlooked is how often do owls eat? Since we don’t really recommend having owls as pets, unless you are a registered handler and it’s in the owl’s best interest to be kept in a sanctuary, it isn’t necessary to know the answer to this question (since we won’t be feeding them). But have you ever wondered how many small mammals a day it takes to fill an owl’s tummy to keep them satisfied? I know I have… so here we are, you’re about to find out too! (if you read on).
To summarize the answer quickly for those of you who just want the answer and don’t want to read on to find out – the answer to the question ‘how often do owls eat’ will of course depend on the age of the owl and the size of the owl but generally speaking an adult owl will eat preferably around three times a day and an owlet will eat one to two times a day.
From what I could find, most of the information available is about Barn Owls which is no surprise really since there is always more information on any topic regarding owls when its related to Barn owls so I guess we can start there. So, it seems that adult Barn Owls will probably eat around 2 meals per day depending on size. If the prey is something small like a mouse or a vole it could potentially be more like 3-4 meals a day but larger prey would be around 2 per day. Going for larger prey is always better as the owl won’t have to hunt as much so catching 2 fat chicks (sorry chicks – and just to clarify I mean the birds) will be a great hearty meal for an owl if that’s all they manage to find that day but a smaller meal is better than nothing. Often Barn Owls have been known to vary how many meals they eat depending on the weather. If it is warm then they will eat less whereas when they are surviving in the cold they will try to eat more. I suppose this would make sense universally for all animals not just owls as cold winters mean we need lots of food to maintain energy to keep warm.
Often owls must take whatever they can find because sometimes food can be scarce, this could mean an owl will eat more than average one day to make up for a lack of food the day prior. Luckily owl’s diets are very varied and versatile so they can live and thrive in many different locations and environments with plenty of prey options. Owls will hunt anything from fish to reptiles to small mammals to amphibians and anything in between. Sometimes owls will even hunt other smaller birds or small measly insects if needs must. Eastern Screech-Owls that live in the South of the US will prey on rodents and lizards mostly whereas Owls living in the North won’t be snacking on lizards.
Generally, it seems that adult owls will aim for anything from 2-4 average sized meals per day. 1 meal a day would be too little unless it had caught a rather large prey whereas 5 meals a day would be a bit of a feast. Apparently Eastern Screech-Owls generally consume around 25% of their body weight daily which sounds about right because an owl that is too full may find flying difficult due to being heavier. Often owls only really fly to hunt anyway so an owl will generally sit in a chosen spot after a meal for the remainder of the day unless disturbed while they digest.
This is a slightly harder question to answer because the answer lies in how often the parents supply food and how much they manage to catch. From this point of view, I will answer the question regarding what would be ideal for an owlet rather than the reality of an owlets feed. This information is based from those who have hand reared owls from birth.
Within the first few weeks, the owlet will eat around 2 chicks a day (chicks for reference size so this would be more if we were talking tiny voles etc.), one in the morning and one in the evening so there’s plenty of time for digestion and regurgitation of a pellet before the next meal. (Always ensure the owlet has regurgitated the pellet before another feed or it can become lodged in the abdomen and lead to death!). When the owlet passes the 3-week mark, each meal can be increased to two chicks so 4 meals per day. The owlet may not eat this much but it can be offered – don’t exceed this amount as you don’t want to overfeed. After 4ish weeks different food types and sizes can be introduced and this can increase the portion size but keep to around 2 meals per day.
I hope this article has been helpful and let you know a little bit more about how often owls feed and how many meals equals a happy bird! 🙂
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How often should you feed a baby owl?
How often should you feed a baby owl?
What do you feed the baby owls? She suggested celery or maybe Brussels sprouts. Owls, however, depend entirely on animal matter for their diet. They eat almost anything that contains meat, including mammals, birds, and reptiles, but they also eat insects, fish, and worms.
How much does a baby owl eat per day? The ideal food is dead mice or poultry chicks, available frozen in pet stores and thoroughly thawed before use. A typical owl should consume 2-3 day old chicks or 4-5 mice per 24 hours.
How often should I feed my owl? In general, it seems adult owls aim for between 2 and 4 medium-sized meals a day. 1 meal a day would be too little if he hadn’t caught a big enough prey while 5 meals a day would be a bit of a feast.
Do baby owls need water?
The chicks will get water and energy from fat. The chicks do not receive water to drink. Adult owls drink water occasionally when bathing.
How long can a baby owl go without eating?
How long can owls go without food? In short-term care (i.e. up to 10 days), many adult birds will need to be force-fed, while others, especially fledglings, may eat voluntarily within 12 hours.
Do owls abandon their babies?
Do owls abandon their babies? Fortunately, it is not true that bird parents reject their babies after they have been picked up by humans. Mom and dad owls will be very happy to have their babies returned to them, although they may not show it at first if you approach their nest.
Do baby owls sleep at night?
Like most owls, the barn owl (Tyto alba) sleeps by day and hunts by night. For example, as newborns, half of our sleep time is spent in REM sleep, whereas last night’s REM sleep probably only encompassed 20-25% of your sleep time.
Can you raise a baby owl?
The United States does not allow individuals to keep native owls as pets – they can only be owned by trained and authorized individuals during their rehabilitation, as adoptive parents in a rehabilitation center, as part of of a breeding program, for educational purposes or certain species can be used for falconry in
How many animals does an owl eat in a week?
The pellet/prey animal ratio was favorable to prey animals. Indeed, an owl can eat more than one animal per meal. In a week, an average of the number of animals an owl can eat would be 2.5 animals.
What food can I save for owls?
It is better to provide small foods to barn owls rather than small parts of larger animals (like chunks of meat). Objects such as slugs, worms and insects are not suitable, but the occasional small bird or frog can be eaten.
Does the owl drink water?
Owls generally get their body water from the prey they eat, which means they don’t often drink from puddles. For every gram of fat the bird ingests, it also receives about one gram of water. That said, an owl will sometimes drink water if it bathes.
Do baby owls sleep face down?
So they sleep face down. Many species of birds are born with heads that are too big or too heavy for their bodies. But in the case of baby owls, their heads are so heavy that they sleep face down. But young owls find it difficult to do this and have to lie down during naps.
Do owls mate for life?
Pairs of male and female barn owls often mate for life. They regularly use the same nesting site each year and have elaborate courtship rituals—such as courtship flights, calls, and food offerings—to reestablish their pair bond each spring.
What does a baby owl look like?
The baby owl has beady eyes, a long beak and a heart-shaped face. The very young are floofy-floofy white, and when their feathers grow out they are creamy buff and light brown. In the middle stage, they may have tufts of fluff with their feathers coming in.
At what age do baby owls fly?
They start venturing outside the nest when they are only two weeks old and make their first flights after 4-5 weeks. Barn owls and great horned owls are among the slowest to develop, remaining in or near the nest for 6 weeks or more, and begin to take their first flights at 7 to 8 weeks of age.
Do owls play dead?
Owls play dead under certain circumstances, such as being handled. Barn owls will lower their beaks almost to the ground, won’t look at you, and shake their heads “no” back and forth. This display is called “toe dusting”. It is an extreme threat and can precede an attack.
How long do baby owls stay with their mother?
Baby owls will stay in the nest for about six weeks after hatching, more or less, depending on the species.
How many babies do owls have at a time?
In general, owls lay between 1 and 13 eggs, depending on the species, although for most species it is 2 to 5 eggs. [60]. Incubation begins with the laying of the first egg.
How long do owls take care of their babies?
In Great Horned Owls it is 9-10 weeks after hatching, Barn Owls take 7-8 weeks and Eastern Screech-Owls 4-5 weeks. The chicks are usually cared for by the parents for a short time before leaving to fend for themselves. This time can vary from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the species of owl.
What do owls do at night?
Owls see better at night. They use darkness to move and hunt quickly like a thief in the night. Most of the time, these owls sleep during the day. Nocturnal owls are best known for their distinct eyes.
Which owls sleep at night?
Some owls are strictly nocturnal owls, including the great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) and the barn owl (Tyto alba). And others hunt day and night, as well as during the twilight periods of dawn and dusk when plenty of prey is active, experts said.
Is the owl a good pet?
Some misguided people buy dogs, fish, birds or other animals after seeing these animals in movies. An illegal trade in owls and other birds still exists for use as pets, to be forced to perform, for sacrifice, or for other reasons.
Are owls friendly to humans?
In general, owls avoid humans and respond by quickly taking flight. Most people who come near owls don’t know it, because they are among nature’s best camouflaged birds. They are only aggressive if they feel threatened or if someone is too close to their nest or their babies.
What if an owl is in your house?
Another long-term option for getting rid of owls is to remove its breeding ground near your property. If the owls do not find a suitable nesting place for their mating, they will go somewhere. Always watch out for holes in tree trunks and the roof. If there are already a few nests nearby, do not approach them on your own.
Feeding little owlets: bjorn_varulv — LiveJournal
Owlets are born covered in white down and blind.Feeding such an owlet is a difficult and responsible task. It is better if specialists do this, but specialists in feeding owls are a very rare thing in the world and in our country in particular. There are almost no correct recommendations on the Internet, and those that are, unfortunately, are most often based on information copied from each other and contain the same errors. Which in the end can lead to the death of the chicks.
It must be understood that owls have a very specific digestion, which is different from the digestion of other birds of prey. And advice on rearing diurnal predators is not good for owlets, if only for the simple reason that owlets, unlike falcons and hawks, do not have goiter. Their digestive system is arranged differently, so it is important to listen to the recommendations of an experienced specialist in owls, and not in birds of prey in general.
The photo shows a Tawny Owl owlet just hatched from an egg.
How to maintain?
Newborn owlets need constant heating: the temperature should be maintained at about 37 degrees Celsius. Owlets can be placed, for example (as the simplest option), in a "nest" made of a box and a terry towel, and heating is carried out using a 40-60 W incandescent lamp, after setting it at such a distance from the nest to provide the desired temperature. It is dangerous to both overheat and overcool the chicks.
How often to feed?
Owls need to be fed very often during the first few days. If these are small species of owls, such as splyushki or owls, you need to feed every half an hour with a break for a night's sleep no longer than four hours. Larger ones, such as Tawny Owls, Long-eared and Short-eared Owls, need to be fed every hour with a break for a night's sleep of no longer than five hours. As you grow older, the frequency of feeding should be reduced. Monthly owls are enough to feed 5-6 times a day.
You should always feed when the owls require food. Until full saturation. Owlets eat a lot and a lot. For example, a week-old eared owl owlet eats five or six quail breast fillets per day, that is, about half of its own weight.
The main rule: it is impossible to overfeed the owlets! But underfeeding - easily.
What to feed?
Owlets grow rapidly and the slightest mistake in the diet and diet instantly affect their health.
Owl food must be nutritious and contain sufficient amounts of essential vitamins, trace elements, minerals and amino acids. An ideally balanced food for owls in this respect is the meat of domestic quails. This meat contains a lot of calcium, which is extremely important for the body of owls, especially in the first days of life.
Almost all advice on feeding owls that can be found on the Internet contains a serious mistake: they recommend feeding owls with meat with bones and hair, regardless of the age of the owlet.
But the fact is that the body of very young owlets is not yet able to get rid of undigested parts of food, that is, newborn owlets are not able to form and shed a pellet.
The mother owl feeds her newborn babies by carefully choosing the meat, pinching off small pieces like with tweezers. The first few days of life, owls need to be fed with muscle fibers alone, and quail breast fillets are best suited for this purpose. When the owls begin to open their eyes, you can gradually start feeding pieces of meat with a small amount of wool, fluff and small, not hard bones. To begin with, you can feed the owlet a quail neck cut into pieces, and then be sure to wait for the owlet to drop the pellet. This should happen within six to eight hours of feeding the first meal with solids. During this period, you need to continue to give only muscle fibers. If there are no pellets during the day, you can give another quail neck or a similar small amount of small, not sharp bones and wool or fluff, and wait again. If the pellet does not appear for the second time, it is necessary for another two or three days not to give food with solid particles, to feed only soft ones. During this time, the owlet will grow up and his body should begin to cope with the removal of undigested particles to the outside.
The same rule applies to weakened owlets who, for some reason, lag behind in development. Recently, there was a case when people who had never fed owls undertook to feed the owls. Newborn owlets were fed too infrequently and insufficiently nutritious food, which soon led to intestinal atony in one of them. Then the weakened owlets began to be fed with chickens cut into pieces - along with bones and fluff. Two of the four owls were severely retarded in development, and one also had characteristic fractures of both legs and wings, which happen when the chicks are clumsily picked up, lifting by the limbs for fear of crushing. The organisms of these babies could not cope with the formation of the pellet, and although the people who fed them saw that there were no pellets, they continued to give pieces of chicken with bones and fluff, believing that maybe the bones were being digested. As a result, weakened babies died, painfully trying to burp the bones accumulated in their bellies - the first at the age of 7 days, the second at 10. The third baby also began to lag behind in development, fell ill with rickets, but still he was larger and stronger and after a while pushed out the accumulated in the stomach a lump of bones and chicken down. And only one of the four developed normally, perhaps because initially he received more food and this allowed his body to cope with the test.
When should one start feeding "normal owl food"? The rule is this: if the owlet does not lie, but sits confidently, actively tries to swallow his fingers when they touch the beak, if his eyes have already begun to open, you can give a quail neck and wait for the first guess. This is like an indicator of whether the owlet's body is ready for coarser food.
Rougher food is newborn mice, minced quail, ground together with bones (tubular bones must first be removed so that sharp fragments do not form!), adult mice cut into pieces. A little later, you can start giving pieces of day-old chickens - there are fewer nutrients in such feed, and there are a lot of bones and fluff.
At the age of one month, the owlet should already receive ordinary owl food, that is, for example, owl owls are able to swallow small mice whole.
(Of course, we are not talking about feeding owls with live animals - as well as adult owls kept in captivity.)
Do I need to drink water?
Owlets need to get enough fluids so that their kidneys can successfully remove harmful substances formed during the life of the body. You need to water the owls carefully so that the owlet does not inhale the liquid. You can give water drop by drop from a pipette on the side of the beak, but the easiest way is to dip pieces of food in water before feeding them.
What about vitamins?
When feeding an owlet with quality food, such as meat of domestic quail, additional vitamin preparations are not required. It must be remembered that synthetic vitamins are easy to overdose, and an overdose of vitamins is more dangerous than their lack.
As a natural source of vitamins, it can be recommended to feed raw chicken liver to owlets once a day. This is quite enough to maintain balance, synthetic vitamins for the prevention of beriberi do not need to be used.
Since a growing body requires a lot of calcium, it is recommended to use the Calcium-Sandoz drink as drinking water. Tablets for the preparation of this drink are sold in a human pharmacy. They must be diluted at the rate of a quarter tablet per 100 ml of water, and of course you need to wait until the gas comes out. You can start giving your owlet this drink in place of regular water from a week old until its plumage is fully formed.
It is very important for a growing owlet to receive a sufficient amount of ultraviolet light every day, because under its influence the body produces vitamin D, which promotes the absorption of calcium. It is best to provide the owlet with a safe stay in sunny penumbra, for example, the “nest” should be covered with two or three layers of cotton tulle and in this form you can sunbathe the owlets for two to three hours a day. Of course, you need to remember that owls should not be left unattended on a balcony or in a personal plot. But I will write a separate article about security.
And remember that foster owlets should not be released into the wild! They cannot be released even if they were "trained to hunt" at home, that is, they were baited on live mice. Anyway, in nature, such owls have no chance to survive and adapt to a normal life.
So please don't feed the owls with live animals, don't teach them to kill, they don't need it, and this is unnecessary cruelty.
I wish good luck to all bird rescuers and health to your pupils!
What to do if you find a chick? — Bel.ru
Biologist Olga Kuvykina warns against the main mistakes that citizens make when picking up chicks that have fallen out of the nest.
Every summer I receive letters asking me to help feed the chicks. They begin the same way: “The chicks have fallen out of the nest! There are cats, people, cars around, so I took them home. But what to do now? Sometimes they literally blackmail me, they press on pity, that if I don’t take the bird, it will die. These unfortunate rescuers write in social networks how kind they are, and how callous everyone around is. But callousness should not be confused with realism and understanding of the situation.
Different countries have different attitudes towards birds. Costa Rica, for example, lives in ecotourism, so drinking bowls with sugar water for hummingbirds hang in the courtyards of hotels, and groups of birdwatchers - bird watchers - roam the forests from morning to night, hugging huge cameras.
In the Netherlands, birds are not offended, and herons sit on the hoods of cars, and songbirds let them at arm's length.
In Cyprus and Italy snacks made from warblers, goldfinches and other small songbirds have become fashionable. Millions of birds fall into the net every year and end up in the stomachs of gourmets. The number of songbirds is falling. Barbarism, the new Middle Ages, senseless cruelty.
In Laos, they eat everything that moves because they are hungry, so not only birds, but also frogs and beetles get it.
Russians fall into two extremes: from complete indifference, when they don't even notice such bright and large beauties in the yard as bullfinches and jays, to strong pity and kindness, and this kindness kills.
The babies of most of our birds leave the nests, not yet able to fly normally. Having scattered around the area, they are more likely to survive than sitting in one nest in front of predators. Such teenage flyers are called fledglings. They sit in the bushes, squeak and wait for their parents. Parents look after them, feed them, teach them to get food and recognize enemies. Adult tits rarely fall into the clutches of predators, but naive fledglings that themselves jump into their mouths easily. Therefore, broods of small birds are numerous and are calculated on the fact that out of six, say, two will survive. The most courageous, smart and maneuverable.
The first few days of departure from the nest are the most dangerous. Thrush chicks sit in the grass, where they are strangled by dogs - both stray and owner. Dogs hunt for ducklings and other waterfowl - just today I had to say something to the owner of a husky and pit bull, who set his pets on the moorhens in the pond.
Moorhens (they are confused with ducks, but they are relatives of cranes), grebes, swans and ducks of various species are our native wild fauna that require protection, while dogs are an invasive species that must be controlled.
If desired, the dog can be trained not to chase birds and cats. The running of dogs after other animals in many countries is fraught with the dogs themselves - in the reserves they have the right to shoot them, otherwise deer and other animals driven by dogs die from wounds and stress.
Jays, crows, geese and some other birds are no more stupid than dogs. They suffer greatly when they eat their babies. When a White Swiss Shepherd came to me, I quickly weaned it from running after hedgehogs and other animals. The dog turned out to be very smart, he understood my every word.
Another problem for waterfowl is the "cultivation" of water areas. Along the banks of the reservoirs, grass is mowed and concrete embankments are made. The ducklings are unable to get out of the water to rest on land and die. In Moscow, mass death of ducklings was noted after the transformation of parks into a concrete jungle. People who care save the birds - they make floating wooden rafts for them. A lot of rafts are needed, as more aggressive swans and shelducks take them away from mallards. An ideal place for ducks, as well as for nightingales and bluethroats nesting on the ground, in the bushes near the water, is a pond near which they never mow and set fire to the grass, do not mow the bushes and, of course, leave the banks as nature created them ! By the way, in several parks of the capital nightingales almost disappeared after "cultivation".
Titmouses, robins and blackbirds jumping in the bushes, and even such exotic things as corncrake chicks that look like black chickens, of course, attract the attention of compassionate citizens. They take the "orphans" home. And in vain! The only possible help for fledglings is to put them higher in dense bushes and leave, taking cats and dogs with them. No need to stomp around the chicks for a long time, attracting the attention of crows. The rest is what I would call the “feed your conscience” metaphor.
Fledglings are brought home and fed with bread, meat, cat food, and milk. Fledglings of insectivorous birds with the most delicate intestines! Of course, they die from poisoning. It happens that people go to the necessary forums and publics in VK, for example, maybirds.ru, determine the type of bird and find out that you can only feed fledglings with insects. They buy crickets at the pet store and still feed the birds. But the question arises - why? Fosterlings will not survive in the forest without rehabilitation. They will die. Fed up, released from the balcony and rejoice? The next day there will be nothing left of the chicks. If you take them to the forest and launch them into a flock of nomadic songbirds, then there is a chance.
To increase the survival rate from 10 to 90, you need to leave the birds at home for life or organize rehabilitation for them - build a large aviary in the country with grass, bushes and insects, and teach your feathered friends to get food on their own. It is advisable to feed a flock of tits and other wild birds nearby so that the fledglings can communicate with them. You can contact the wildlife centers. There are few of them in Russia, and mostly they are private - people save animals with their own money and on their own. It's hard. That is, it is unlikely that you will be happy to accept a thrush chick, but the chicks of birds of prey are usually welcome. Predators are listed in the Red Book. They are large and easier to handle.
When in front of you is not a fledgling, but a chick, that is, a half-naked creature, then the question is why did it fall? Usually the weak, sick fall out, they are not residents anyway. But healthy ones can also fall into a hurricane. You can try to find a nest, bring a ladder and put the chicks back. It's a myth that their parents won't accept them. Birds have a weak sense of smell.
The chick is wounded, the wing hangs, the leg is broken, but you stubbornly take it out of the dog's mouth? Surgery of small birds in the Russian Federation is not developed. Such a chick is a suicide bomber in most cases.
In Europe, wild animals are often euthanized if they realize that they cannot be helped - for example, woodpeckers with broken beaks, chicks with numerous fractures, foxes that have been hit by cars. You can not watch how a living being slowly dies in agony. The state veterinary police arrives and does everything necessary. The decision is made by specialists: ordinary citizens are freed from this ethical torment. Minor fractures in owls and other birds of prey are treatable, but long-term rehabilitation in an aviary is needed.
You are not ready to feed and treat the chick? Do you want to give it to someone as soon as possible, relieve yourself of the burden of responsibility, although you found the bird? It will be more honest to pass by if it is a common species like a thrush. Rare birds, of course, are better to pick up. An owl can always be attached to some living corner, but not a thrush - a noisy and grumpy bird.
Robins, redstarts, great tits, titmouse, crows, gray flycatchers, pied flycatchers, green woodpeckers nest in my yard every year. This year, a couple of black woodpeckers came - outlandish, huge birds. And all this under the noses of the cats that were thrown to me, and I cured them, sterilized and vaccinated them. Wagtail parents rush at cats when they pass by chicks.
Living nearby cats and birds is quite possible under certain conditions. You can't mow all the grass. You can not cut all the bushes. Goldfinches and bullfinches eat the seeds of dandelions, burdocks and vesicles. Fledglings hide in tall grass. Insects live in dense forbs, with which birds feed their babies.
Burning and mowing kill caterpillars and other insects. Including, by the way, rare and beautiful butterflies. So, the caterpillar of the wine hawk moth - it is pink in color - feeds on willow-tea, and they also like to mow it. Caterpillars of bright butterflies-urticaria and peacock's eye eat mainly nettles. We mowed all the nettles - goodbye, cute butterflies.
Cats must wear bright, wide collars that are visible to birds. On the trunks of trees where the birds made a nest, you can attach a plastic "collar", then no one will climb the tree.
By the way, crows and jays willingly eat ducklings and songbird chicks, but these feathered bandits are so smart and interesting that I can't call them "harmful". Once I made friends with a fledgling of a crow - I treated him to a little pieces of meat, and he saw me off, flew after me. His parents all summer scolded the chick for such trust in a person, and in the fall they flew away with him somewhere far away. I treat the jay with walnuts, acorns, slices of white bread. Bullfinches, tits and squirrels - nuts and seeds. Anything salty, fried, and moldy is poison to birds.
Orioles and titmouse sing in the yard in the mornings, nightingales and redstarts sing at night. I don't like listening to the radio, I prefer silence and birdsong.
A characteristic sign of the onset of a warm, stable spring is the return of swifts from Africa home. They are often confused with swallows, although, unlike swallows, these birds fly at the speed of fighters, almost do not get sick and emit a loud, shrill “Vzii-iiii!”.
Swifts, oddly enough, do not have fledglings. Chicks fly out of the nest when they are already adapted to adulthood. Hitting the walls of houses, sometimes swifts fall to the ground and lie there for some time, stunned. The paws are short, the wings are long - you can’t take off from the ground. You need to take the swift in your hands, climb the hill, lift the bird up, and it will fly away by itself.
Very curious chicks often fall out of their nests under the roofs and lie on the pavement. If it is not possible to plant the birds back, then you can become their foster parents for a month or two. Swifts do everything in flight, even drink on the fly. Parents do not need to teach them any special skills. So manual swifts can and should be released immediately. They will join the flock and fly to Africa in August.
Feeding a haircut is not so easy - every two hours you have to stuff him with the abdomens of frozen banana crickets and drink water from a pipette. Crickets with delivery are easily ordered via the Internet. I recommend reading about all the intricacies of feeding a shear on the portal “Give the sky to a bird!”.
It's funny that one day it was a predator - a cat - who helped save a swift. I often walked with a brilliant black cat who understood me as a person. He followed me around everywhere. He did not offend birds, but sometimes he caught mice. The cat led me to the house where the chick fell out - the cat knew about it, but I didn’t. He sat down next to me and meowed. Around the haircut were people who tried to feed him bread. I took a naked swift home. When he grew up and took off from my palm clearly upwards, like a rocket, it was a little sad - I became attached to him .