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European starling needs home - Buffalo, NY

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European starling needs home - Buffalo, NY

Postby starlingdude101 » Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:17 am

I am from western NY, near Buffalo. In June I rescued a hatchling European Starling (Sturnus vulgarus), and raised him. His name is Rocky. He still has his baby feathers, but he is in the middle of his first molt and will be covered in handsome adult feathers soon... probably by next week. He eats a powdered mixture of dog/cat kibble, chicken pellets, and egg powder. He also needs fruit, and he likes it in the form of a few blueberries, strawberries, and apples.

Unfortunately, I cannot keep him as I am moving and can't take him with me.

Any prospective owner must be willing and able to give him free flight time (indoors, of course!) for at least 2 hours a day, and must interact with him regularly. Otherwise he will become bored and depressed. He loves people and especially loves it when I give him crinkled paper strips to play with. He has begun to imitate sounds such as bubbles and wistles, squeaks, chirps, and even sounds that resemble human speach! I heard of one person once, who said that her starling started talking before her african grey parrot!

If you would like him but don't know how to take care of him (European starlings' care is much different from that of other domestic birds), please let me know! I would be very happy to help. If you do take him, please be aware that I will ask you how he's doing every now and then, as I really want to see how he turns out.

I am asking $550 for the bird, the cage, the accessories, the toys, a bag of food, a mostly-full 10-lb bag of chicken pellets, and a mostly-full 11-oz bag of egg powder. The price may seem kind of high, but he is a very healthy, young bird, with established health. Also, all of the things he comes with add up quickly, as well as the time I spent interacting with him, imprinting him, etc.

I will not ship him, so it will have to be pickup or local delivery. Either way, I'd like to talk in person to Rocky's new owner.

Thank you!
Josiah
starlingdude101
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: European starling
Flight: Yes

Re: European starling needs home - Buffalo, NY

Postby Pajarita » Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:43 am

Hi and welcome to the forum. First of all, thank you so much for rescuing the baby and raising it with such care. Rehoming is, unfortunately, usually a way of life for pet birds and I have nothing against it. I, myself, have rehomed animals that I considered would do better in a different home and, although I've never charged a single cent for any animal I adopted out (I rescue dogs, cats and birds), I understand the concept of asking for a nominal fee for them. But $550 is not a nominal rehoming fee, especially considering that these birds are free for anybody who wants to have one (they are not protected by US laws because they are not indigenous). If you really want to find a good home for him, ask a million questions, get references and, if you have the opportunity, do a hoe inspection. That and not money will assure a good home. But, the best home for him would be with a wildlife rehabber who can teach him to forage on its own and introduce it to other starlings and not a home where he will be kept alone all his life and in a cage for most of the day.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: European starling needs home - Buffalo, NY

Postby starlingdude101 » Sat Aug 14, 2021 1:07 pm

Pajarita wrote:Hi and welcome to the forum. First of all, thank you so much for rescuing the baby and raising it with such care. Rehoming is, unfortunately, usually a way of life for pet birds and I have nothing against it. I, myself, have rehomed animals that I considered would do better in a different home and, although I've never charged a single cent for any animal I adopted out (I rescue dogs, cats and birds), I understand the concept of asking for a nominal fee for them. But $550 is not a nominal rehoming fee, especially considering that these birds are free for anybody who wants to have one (they are not protected by US laws because they are not indigenous). If you really want to find a good home for him, ask a million questions, get references and, if you have the opportunity, do a hoe inspection. That and not money will assure a good home. But, the best home for him would be with a wildlife rehabber who can teach him to forage on its own and introduce it to other starlings and not a home where he will be kept alone all his life and in a cage for most of the day.


He comes with all of his supplies (cage, toys, food, etc.), which adds up. I am not in this to make money, but I don't want to walk out broke. I also do want him to go to a good home, and although money alone will not assure that, it will help (there are a lot of creeps who have nice houses and are generally okay people who just want a bird to feed something exotic to their snakes), and I did say that I want to talk to the potential owner in person.

Also, rehabbing him to be released back into the wild isn't an option, as he's a human-imprinted bird.

That said, I guess $550 is kind of steep, so I guess that I can lower the fee to $350, but keep in mind that does include all of his accessories.

If you know anyone who may want to take him, please pass the info to them.

Thanks
starlingdude101
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: European starling
Flight: Yes

Re: European starling needs home - Buffalo, NY

Postby Pajarita » Sun Aug 15, 2021 9:35 am

Yes, I know that he is now human-imprinted but, if he hasn't grown his adult plumage, he is still young enough to learn to live in the wild. And that is what Nature ordained for him and the best life he could possibly have. I have raised baby robins, blue jays, pigeons and squirrels and they have all been successfully released into the wild - there are rehabbers that have HUGE cages with trees inside and who not only put them with other babies of their own species but also very slowly get them used to eating local flora and fauna. There is such a center in South Jersey, about two hours from me and I know because that's where I took the squirrels - and one in Pa because that's where I took a female Northern Cardinal that could not be released back into the wild because she had been fed wrong for years and her liver was no longer able to metabolize protein properly so she needed a special diet for the rest of her life so she lived in a giant 'wintering' cage where the animals that could not be released back lived... I don't know about NY but I am sure there must be one, too.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: European starling needs home - Buffalo, NY

Postby starlingdude101 » Sun Aug 15, 2021 3:32 pm

Yes, but most rehabbers (at least in my area) will not take starlings since they are invasive.
starlingdude101
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: European starling
Flight: Yes

Re: European starling needs home - Buffalo, NY

Postby Pajarita » Mon Aug 16, 2021 10:02 am

Yes, and most rehabbers would not take a bird that cannot be released back into the wild, they would, instead, euthanize it BUT, if you look hard enough, you will find one that actually specializes and loves birds and does keep the ones that most would not take. I had to look high and low for a rehabber that would take the cardinal because all the ones that I contacted first wanted to put her down but I persevered and found a 'good one'.

Or maybe somebody who already has a starling living cage-free and would be willing to take in another one... You might have to travel or, if it the one you find is too far for that, you could contact rescues along the way and they might be willing to do a 'train' (this is when the animal starts by being driven to a spot where another volunteer picks it up and transports it to another spot where still another volunteer picks it and so on and so forth until the animal arrives at its final destination) - we used to do that all the time when we had to transport (rescues network and know and talk to each other all the time).
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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