# Noisy miner



## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

About half an hour ago I just found a baby noisy miner on the ground out at our paddocks. The nest was too high up so I took him home. I have rescued these birds before but have only had luck with 1. Its fledging size and is starting to fly....Does anyone know how to look after these birds?

Thanks!


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## Shamus (Nov 16, 2003)

UR 1 big softy BB. Is it the Indian minor bird? If so I would have left it where you found it. They are killers and do more damage to fauna then you can imagine. Perhaps I am being too hard but definity isolate it as they are lice carrying as well. As for your initial question......mashed up weet bix with water. NOT MILK...........Bugger I guess I am a big softy as well


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## wattso (Nov 16, 2003)

you could dig some worms and feed with tweezers, [alot]and often, also dropper some water down its throat occasionally. keep it warm, thats all i can think of belle. good luck.


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Thanks wattso. Shamus, noisy miners are native australian birds. They feed on nectar mainly. Would mealworms be ok wattso? Thanks for the weet bix info shamus, I was thinking that might work..i'll have to buy some tommoz.


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## ReptileRascals (Nov 16, 2003)

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## wattso (Nov 16, 2003)

RR, if we lived all our lives never doing ANYTHING illegal, we'd all be vegetables! Think for yourself belle!  ................no offence meant RR :wink:


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Lol...I have contacted WIRES about this before and they said they wont take it as it's not a threatened species :S And these people are supposed to care for animals? So i am doing the best I can. I'll borrow my beardies heat pad for the time being and get some of honey eater mix you were talking about. do you know where do get it from RR?


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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

Belinda, mash up some banana with a fork and try and feed to the bird using a biro pen case thingy, paddle pop stick or dropper if you have one.
Put it in a warm dark and quiet place.

Is it perching?

I would advise you to go out tomorrow to where you found it and see if the parents are around. You will have to go early when all the birds are most active, this will give you more chance of seeing the parents. Noisy miner parents are quite attentive birds and they most likely will not have forgotten about their baby.


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## ReptileRascals (Nov 16, 2003)

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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

Belinda whoever is manning the phones for Wires when you previously called has no idea, lol. With baby birds, particularly noisy miners we usually advise that the person that found it keep it overnight in a warm dark and quiet place, then take it back in the morning to the tree you found it under and look for the parents.
If they aren't around, then call back as the bird is considered orphaned, then we can send a foster carer around to take it off your hands and take care of it with all the proper requirements.


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Thanks pinkie, the bird I had luck with was feed bannanas, he loved it. I am wanting to keep the bird until it can fly to a reasonable hieght so It can get of the ground and onto a branch if it needs to. I have a nice soft towels shape like a bird nest and he has gone to sleep. I am not sure wether I should feed him tonight or wait till tommorrow.....I dont want to stress him out.


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## ReptileRascals (Nov 16, 2003)

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## wattso (Nov 16, 2003)

I undrestand what your saying RR, but given, belle has already contacted wires and without help, I applaud her trying! If shes learns how to successfully rescue and release birds all by herself, all the more power to her i reckon. remember RR the godlike services of wires and the like did not always exist, what do you suppose people did before that? just what Belle is doing!


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Do you work for wires Pinkie?
RR, I am very familiar with the place I found the baby. I am a soft when it comes to birds and feed the ducks, parrots and miners every second day. I also know that foxes come out at night and that cats stalk around the paddocks. I was concerned for the birds safety so took it.


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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

Sometimes we are short of phone volunteers, and the person manning the phones may be new to the system, or not know themselves what to do or how to go about it. It can be very confusing on your first go.
I dont think you need to respond so drastically as reporting them.
Remember they are giving up their own time, so try to be patient as the person doing the phones can have over 100 phone calls to respond to in one night, so mistakes can often be made...


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Would a vet take it RR? My dads friend lives up the road and he works at a vet that does WIRE work, there is also a vet about 2 mins away from our house...I dont know if the vets would take it though....


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## ReptileRascals (Nov 16, 2003)

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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

Yes Belinda I was a volunteer for two years and was permantly employed by Wires to do the after hours co-ordinating 
I'm not an active member now because I'm up here in Nth Qld, but I'm going to get back into it when I go home in December.


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Its ok RR....I am open for all advice


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## ReptileRascals (Nov 16, 2003)

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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

Belinda dont take it to the vet UNLESS it has an injury.
Some vets dont respond well to native wildlife... Wires has a list of vets that are okay with taking natives, so call them to find out the closest native-friendly vet to you.
From memory, theres one in Dural or the next suburb along.


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Cool, I am 5 minutes or so from dural. It;s about 2 minutes from our paddocks. My brother has just finished his HSC, so he's home all day and has helped out with the birds before. I'll get him to look after it tommorrow, and when I get back from school I'll contact WIRES.


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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

It would be preferable if you could go back to where you found it in the morning and check for its parents. They will be wondering where their baby went.
As it is fledgling it was obviously trying to fly.

If they aren't there, then contact Wires in the morning. That way they can get someone out to you during the day. If you call them in the afternoon it might not be possible to get someone there in time... get what I mean?

The office closes at 4pm anyway so try and get it sorted out before then. Leaving the bird for that long without proper care can be very detrimental!


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Ok Pinkie...What time does office open? The bird seems alot more active with the heat pad now....I feed my horses in the morning so I'll check if the parents are there. If not if the office opens early i ring before school and get my brother to give it to them when they arrive....

What number do i contact them on?


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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

Sound good to me Belinda, good on you.
The office opens at 10am, so you might have to get your brother to give them a ring then and keep an eye on the miner until someone gets there.
In the meantime the heat pad sounds great, leave him alone if you dont want to stress him out, he doesn't really need to eat until tomorrow morning. But if he is active and chirpy, you can try to give him some of the mashed banana using a paddle popp stick, dropper or biro cover.
If you hold it above his head when he's chirpy he should gape for it, then just pop it in while he's gaping 
Dont have to worry about water for now.
Hope it all works out for you


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Thankyou pinky...What number can I ring?


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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

8977 3333

If its before 10am or after 4pm it will go to our message service so leave your name and number and one of our friendly volunteers will return the call when they get a chance 

Just bear in mind that little noisy miners are fragile birds and they often die in care, even with specialist carers... If it does happen to die its not your fault, and its better than your brought it inside so it was peaceful rather than lying out in the cold, or attacked by another animal.


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Thanks for all Your help Pinkie... You have taken alot of stress off my shoulders


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## Pinkie (Nov 16, 2003)

No probs 
I've answered many a call about baby noisy miners over the years lol. Its good to talk to people who care about our natives!


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Even if its not native, I love it! When did you become a WIRE worker pinkie? I am intersted in volunteering when i am older.


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

I just feed him and he ate really well. He's settled down for bed so hopefully it all goes well.


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## Fuscus (Nov 16, 2003)

If it is the Noisy Miner _ Manorina melancephala _ then it is a honey eater. Dispite the honey eater tag it feeds mainly on insects but also nectar and some fruits (apparently including banana).
Now here comes the hard part. They have small nest and the young fledge early (at 16 days), in fact they can barely fly. At this (very dangerous) stage of life the animal is call a branchling and is still looked after the colony. On the Gold Coast the colonies were only about a dozen but winter colonies here in Adelaide can number over 100 birds. The branchling stage only lasts a few days.
When you picked up the bird did other birds come flying up to the area and start complaining loudly, (real loud, they ain't called noisy miners for nothing). They would have sat in branchs about 3 meters of the ground and told you off. They may have even dive bombed you, but the dive bombing is strictly non-contact. If that is what happened then the best thing you can do is try and re-introduce it, first thing in the morning preferbly 1/2 hour after first light. Take it back and place it back where you found it. Then back up about 10 meters and watch. On sighting other members of the colony it should start making a near constant "mip,mip" sound. You'll reconize the sound if you have Noisy Miners in the area. The sound should induce the adults to feed it. If you see it feed then the you can let the colony take over.


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Ok...And what happens if the birds dont feed it..?

You are really knowledgeable Fuscus! Good on ya!


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## Fuscus (Nov 16, 2003)

I have falling for branchings before, they look so helpless. So I know where you are coming from. Did the adult birds behave as I described? 
One of the major problems with hand rearing Noisy Miners is that when they are released they are not a member of a group. This dramatically reduces the birds chances as the established groups will proberly mob the new release.


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## Belinda (Nov 16, 2003)

Hmmm....Yea that did act like that. But the bub looked weak a dreary and I couldnt resist.


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## Fuscus (Nov 16, 2003)

That is the bubs family. Try and reunite them ASAP.


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## Pinkie (Nov 17, 2003)

Hi Belinda, the main prerequisite for joining Wires is that you have to be over 18.
Cheers.


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## Already_Gone (Nov 17, 2003)

I have a friend who cares for sick/injured/orphaned birds. She feeds all her miners on very lean mince with insectivore mixed through and some calcium. Meal worms. Egg and biscuit with a syringe. Mashed banana.


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2003)

buy some handrearing mixture from a shop and add apple sauce chicken and sweetcorn baby food and smooth peanut butter and warm water so it is runny then feed with a suringe thats how i handrear my whiteface cockatiels and indian ringneck mutations and my uncle rears macaws and conures and red tailed black coacatoos and stuff on it


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## Belinda (Nov 17, 2003)

Macaws? Did you say MACAWS? They sell for like 10 grand! i'd kill for one of those in my bird collection!!!!!


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## ackie (Nov 17, 2003)

belinda.. better watch out wen feeding small birds weetbix...it can clog the intestines which results in death. Just go fot the fruits and insects and like AG sed lean mince is good.
good luk


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## Fuscus (Nov 17, 2003)

Did u attempt a re-introduction?


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2003)

yeah he sells macaws there pretty cool exept get real savage when breedeing


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## Belinda (Nov 21, 2003)

How much does he sell them for? Hi Fuscus, No, the poor thing died overnight...I think it was kicked out of the nest because there was something wrong with him...Thanks for all your help guys.


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## Fuscus (Nov 21, 2003)

Pity about the baby noisy miner.

But at the Adelaide zoo, they have a pair of blue and gold macaws which they free fly every afternoon.
they have three feeding stations and the birds are fed a little at one station then they fly over to the next station for their next morsel. It a magnifcent sight.


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## Robert (Nov 22, 2003)

What size enclosure do you need for macaws?
They are an awesome looking bird.Love to own a pair.
Bit out of my price range though.


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2003)

they cost like 7 grand each and it takes 25 pounds of hand rearing mix to handrear one


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## mystic_herps (Nov 22, 2003)

Belle~Belinda said:


> How much does he sell them for? Hi Fuscus, No, the poor thing died overnight...I think it was kicked out of the nest because there was something wrong with him...Thanks for all your help guys.



Like I said they wont last one night without heat.
You really should have rang WIRES back and demanded that they take the animal...


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## Pinkie (Nov 22, 2003)

You can't "demand" Wires take an animal. 

Volunteer for the phones for one day in the actual office John and you will see how it works.
Rescuing of animals doesn't happen automatically...It depends on volunteers availability, etc. 
We would usually recommend she keep the bird herself overnight anyway because there was no apparent injuries. It is very hard to get volunteers to go out rescuing animals on the weekday evenings, as most of us work full time as well.
I'm sure Belinda did everything she could. Some animals just don't make it, its nature.


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## wattso (Nov 23, 2003)

Well done for trying belinda, you did all you could, sometimes nature seems to have inbuilt population control. be proud of yourself ! :wink:


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