SOS Bird ID needed

**AmberLee** · 08-03-2002, 10:00 PM

My 8 year old niece bought a bird at a flea market today and none of us know what it is/what it needs to be healthy ... It's being kept at her father's home, so none of us (but her) have even seen it. We are trying to help, but starting from ground zero.

Consider us bird ignorant and starting from scratch. You won't be far wrong.

She says it is small. She says it has orange eyes, a blue head, and is brownish silver all over.

Does this sound like anything anyone here recognizes??
Help, please!

**zippy-kat** · 08-03-2002, 11:33 PM

I was going to suggest a masked lovebird but they're the opposite of your description---black head/silvery blue body... kinda like this (*crosses fingers that the image works) :

there's this guy--but he looks to be bigger and more blue/green than blue/brown/silver:

(blue crowned conure)

Here's a pretty neat "First timers" site to bird care:

http://www.petstation.com/drbob-hand...bird-care.html

**AdoreMyDogs** · 08-03-2002, 11:58 PM

Any way you can take a pic of it? I am good at bird ID, and I used to work at an aquarium shop that sold and specialized in birds and proper bird keeping.

My guess is that if the little 8 year old girl bought the bird with allowence money, then it is some sort of finch, as the parrots can be quite a bit more pricey. It may also be some sort of dove or quail, as they are sometimes very inexpensive also.

Parrot species eat different seed then non parrot species but all birds benefit from fresh fruits, veggies, rice, grain mixtures. People often overlook the true need for fresh foods offered daily in addition to their seed or pellet diet. If the bird is really small, then chop up fresh fruit and veggies accordingly. Some veggies that are great and often the birds like them are: green peppers, carrots, parsley, green beans, kidney and lental beans, peas, broccoli, cooked quaker oats, and steamed brown rice is wonderful for them and they often will very much enjoy it. Never give them iceburg lettuce. Any type of fruit is great, but my birds always had a preference for berries, with their favorites being raspberries, with strawberries and mangos in close second. What I always did was steam the rice and while it was steaming, cut up the veggies and fruit and then mix everything together once the rice was done steaming. That mix would last several days in the fridge, but change the birds dish daily.

If the little bird is a finch species, they can't even eat most of the conure/parrot seeds because they are too big and/or the shells are too hard to crack open. The first step is finding out what type of bird, so you can determine what type of seed or pellet to buy.

To insure the bird does not go hungry, your nieces parents should offer a nice variety of a fruit/veggie/rice mixture in one dish with seed in another dish until they can get an ID on the species of bird it is. If the bird is not able to eat many of the seeds, at least it will have the rice/veggie/fruit mixture to fill it up and keep it healthy.

Sorry to be so long winded. I hope this helps. If you can, snap a shot of the little featherhead and I may be able to ID it. It should be really easy to take care of once they know what it is

By they way, when I was about that same age, with my allowence money I bought an anole and I hid him in my toychest until my mom discovered him and bought him an aquarium

**zippy-kat** · 08-04-2002, 12:18 AM

One question that might help narrow the choices--is s/he a hook bill? soft bill?

after searching, this is the one I came up with that best resembles your description:

http://www.planet-pets.com/crdbleu.htm

**zippy-kat** · 08-04-2002, 12:24 AM

Originally posted by AdoreMyDogs
By they way, when I was about that same age, with my allowence money I bought an anole and I hid him in my toychest until my mom discovered him and bought him an aquarium

When I was a HS senior, I *cough, cough* stole *cough, cough* the gerbils we were suppose to do experiments on...they lived in my closet for a couple of days with no problem (they were in a cage). On the third night, they made a horrendous noise and I was *busted*! (I did get to keep them though!)

**AmberLee** · 08-04-2002, 12:49 AM

Blessings on you all.

My niece and the bird live at rather a distance and no one there has a digital camera so photos could take a while. I'm forwarding your info to them and we'll see what happens.

Really appreciate your help/concern.

{{{hugs}}}

**AmberLee** · 08-04-2002, 04:16 AM

No, I live near San Jose, she lives ~ 100 miles away and I'm assuming she bought it at her local flea market. I'll try to get a picture of it, but as it's living in her father's house this will not be quickly done. I'll try to get more details.

**NoahsMommy** · 08-04-2002, 09:00 PM

You can also tell a finch by it's song...we had two types when I was younger...I forgot to add them in my "how many pets have you had" poll...

...anyway, we had zebra and another type...the other type we had had orangish eye feathers and silvery gray bodies...finches tend to make a lot of noise...does this bird do this? I just realized you may not know because he/she is alone...

Here's a link of bird care...hopefully this can help in what to do as far as food, etc. Bird Care

**AmberLee** · 08-05-2002, 04:51 AM

Thank you. I've sent an email requesting more details, but haven't heard anything yet...

**NoahsMommy** · 08-05-2002, 03:08 PM

Originally posted by zippy-kat

When I was a HS senior, I *cough, cough* stole *cough, cough* the gerbils we were suppose to do experiments on...they lived in my closet for a couple of days with no problem (they were in a cage). On the third night, they made a horrendous noise and I was *busted*! (I did get to keep them though!)

You are so funny Tonya!!! That is so sweet!!