Feeding babies

Buoyed by the success of uploading pics in my last post, here's a story and pics about learning to feed a baby bird.

Walking in the park in July, it was dusk, the time I enjoy the most. It's quiet, there's a fragrant breeze, and Im at peace. But today, rounding a corner, I was startled by a little myna hopping in panic across my path and struggling into the undergrowth at the edge, for cover. Clearly a fledgeling fallen from its nest. Where was the nest? I looked at all the trees in the vicinity, could spot nothing. No frantic parents. Just the baby bird, unable to fly; the gathering dark; lots of crows, certainly cats and dogs, perhaps the odd snake - we'd seen one a few weeks earlier. Jai rounded the corner, too, to find me pondering and looking at the undergrowth. Was picking it up - with zero idea of what it wd eat/how to feed it - the right thing to do? BUT, 2 days later, we were scheduled to leave for a week's holiday to Goa. I called my friend, Deepika. Would she look after it while we were away? "I have absolutely no idea how to. But I will." That's her spirit and kind heart for you! We couldn't just leave it. (Note: If you can see the nest and the parents, try putting the bird back in. If you can't see or reach the nest, but can see the parents, try putting the bird into a cloth sling -like a large handkerchief- and hanging it on a branch. The parents, stimulated by the baby's calls, will feed it. As told to us later by Manu of Mysore Amateur Naturalists). We gently picked up the frantic baby and put it in my bunched up sweatshirt. At home, we punched holes in a large cardboard box, lined it with a soft towel and paper (after seeing the poop on the sweatshirt). And put birdy in. It scrabbled into a corner, trying to hide. We tried calling Salim of Banerghatta Rescue Center (BRC) - 080-22947300. "It needs rehydrating. Get a syringe,and put some diluted electral down its throat. But dont get it wrong, or it'll die." "What do you mean, get it wrong?" "If it dies, it's wrong!" We got the syringe, but it sounded too dire. We tried feeding it mashed banana. At the end of 30 mins, it and we were covered with banana, and it refused to open its beak. We gave up and let it rest. The next morning, we called up Manu. To our relief, he agreed (a) to give us a demo of feeding it and (b) to take it in after 2 days, when we had to leave.

Driving to Manu's place at about 8.30 a.m, we were startled to hear a soft chirp from the box. And another! Manu picked it up confidently, picked up a piece of banana, and held it in front of birdy. It immediately gaped wide, screaming, and gulped down the banana. gah! It eats melon, banana, singapore cherries, chikku..we got all of them. Also boiled and mashed some egg yolk and oats, and fed it for protein (If you can find cockroaches or other insects, mash them and feed! I tried asking my long suffering veggie vendor for insects. No, not the vegetable. The worms in the vegetable. No luck). Every 2-3 hours, birdy would start chirping, which meant: feed me!

I'd take it out, place it on paper, clean out the poop from its box - it would poop after (sometimes during) each feed :) by simply throwing the paper away. Then, feed time. It would gape every time I held a morsel to its beak - perhaps 4-5 times. Then it wouldnt open its beak, which meant: 'I'm full".


By end of day two, we were getting quite comfortable with each other! It was quite a pang to hand it over to Manu..when we checked a couple of days later, he said it was doing very well. We couldnt get through to him after that. We hope it flew away and is healthy and happy.

Jai Poopie, Junior - a biography

‘Twas around the 27th of August, 2008, that I saw a small, blackish caterpillar on the leaves of our small potted curry-leaf plant. I’d seen some before; left them alone, and they’d disappeared in a couple of days, eaten possibly by birds or a lizard. Determined to give this one a chance, my twin nieces, Jai and I carefully put it into a wide mouthed, gauze-lidded box, and opened some books to check what species it was.
Different butterfly species lay their eggs on different plants, which serve as food for their larvae. So, if you know the plant, you can find out the species. Our book said, both the Lime and Common Mormon caterpillars can be found on the curry-leaf plant. A closer look at the caterpillar, and a search on the Net confirmed that indeed, the caterpillar was that of the Common Mormon.
We lined the box with tissue paper, put in a dried twig, and fresh curry leaves every day. The caterpillar ate, and pooped, and ate, and pooped. See the mustard-seed-like droppings above – that’s about an hour’s output! I used to shake out the tissue paper everyday.
Given Jai’s name of Jai Poopie (short for Jai Fuffarji, my brother’s daughter’s name for him), and the caterpillar’s propensity for pooping, it was promptly named Jai Poopie Junior, JPJ for short. It was a source of pleasure for both JPJ’s namesake Jai and me to peer often and marvel at JPJ.
Caterpillars moult, or shed their skin, as they grow. The phase between two moultings is called an ‘instar’. In its first instar, the Common Mormon caterpillar looks, as you can see, like a bird dropping or bird poop, to protect it from being eaten by birds.
On the 1st Sep early morning, my sister, the twins and my mother all left. At 12 noon, I took a look at JPJ. Its colour, we noticed, seemed a little dull. I came back at 3 pm, and was stunned!
In the space of those 3 hours, it had turned green! Its second instar!!
For the next two weeks, JPJ ate prodigiously. He grew into a handsome, large, velvety, rich green caterpillar. It was amazing to watch his jaws scything effortlessly thru a leaf, he’d finish one in about 30 seconds. chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-DONE. Jai and I were fascinated.
To save our little curry leaf plant, I tried feeding JPJ leaves from another, insect infested plant. No, thank you. OK, every morning fresh from our veggie vendor (“No, only one sprig, please. yes, to feed a worm. No, I’m not mad”). He’d eat that if there wasn’t anything else. But he showed a clear preference for the leaves from our downstairs plants, esp the tender ones.
JPJ, 10th Sep. Note his size relative to a curry-leaf, the handsome markings, and the rich colouring.
On the 11th, we had to leave for Chennai for two days. We were wondering if he’d be ok. On the 11th morning, Jai showed me a large, brown stain on the tissue paper, and JPJ crouched, shrunken, on the underside of the lid. It looked like he’d had diarrhea. We were concerned – was he ok? The position looked like he was ready to pupate, but why the diarrhea, why had he shrunk?
I later understood from Mrs. Salem, our encyclopedia on anything lepidopteral*, that caterpillars evacuate their bowels in preparation for pupating (*showing off the only entomological term I know. Butterflies and moths belong to the order ‘Lepidoptera’)
1.45 p.m, ready to leave, and no change. He’d stopped eating and pooping, and still clung to the underside of the lid.
13th Sep, 1.30 p.m: We’re back, and the first thing we do is rush to JPJ’s box: tra la! A totally dried looking, small pupa, attached to the underside of the lid with a silken loop.
Salem Aunty told us that the butterfly could take anywhere from 8-15 days to emerge. 21st came, and no change. Jai was disappointed – he left for the US that night, for a week, hoping that JPJ would stay put till he returned. Every day when we spoke, I’d have to give him an update: no change.
And then, today morning: 25th Sep, 7 a.m I saw that the pupa had turned dark, and the walls looked thinner, kind of transparent: as I lifted the lid to take a picture, I could see it shake as the butterfly within kicked! Then it became still, and after a while with no movement, I thought it had kicked because I’d disturbed it, and left it alone. See pic below, see the prominent ‘horns’, not there in the fresh pupa?


8.30 a.m, I walk into the hall – and let out a yell that brings our cook running. There’s a large, handsome butterfly hanging from the lid!! It’s beautiful. It’s amazing. It’s incredible! Our cook and I gaze at it and whisper, fascinated. It’s pooped! A liquid, brown, blob. Amazing, after 2 weeks of no food or drink. It hangs there, slowly folding-unfolding its wings.



I call up Salem Aunty. “It’s a male. The female has crimson spots”, she tells me. Look at it. Isn’t it beautiful? I now understand the term META-morphosis. What an amazing change has taken place – and within such a small pupa! The colour and shape of the body. Those scything jaws have vanished, replaced by a long, slender, coiled proboscis – tube – which it will use to insert into flowers and suck up the nectar. The miniscule, stumpy legs are gone – check out the slender, dainty, ballerina legs. The antennae. And of course, the beautiful wings. See the ‘tail’? That’s why this species of butterfly belongs to the family of butterflies called ‘Swallowtails’.
At 10 a.m, it looked vigorous, moving its wings briskly. It gave me a shot of its wings spread out. I held the lid near the window. Letting out a valedictory poop, it went flutter-flutter, and away it flew, to land on the bushes outside. A minute later, it was gone. Au revoir, JPJ!