[valleyforge]

Hi emmylou22,

I agree with Kayleigh that the greenfinch in your care should not be kept as a pet, and except in exceptional circumstances it is actually illegal to do so!!!

Perhaps your neighbour's birds are 'captive bred' in which case they will have closed rings on their legs, and be registered as such.

You really should hand the bird over to a wildlife rescue organisation that has the necessary experience to foster the bird. 'Weaning' BTW is a term that is rightly applied to mammals, not to birds whose parents don't provide them milk.

In the meantime, you must provide a properly balanced diet. I suggest you get some tinned or sachet cat meat (not fish-based cat food), and mash some of that with water and a little crushed weetabix or oatibix ... this forms a gloopy mixture that you can then add further foodstuff to, to provide some variety and a balance of nutrients.

This food should be fed from the handle of a teaspoon, or something similar, if the bird is gaping to be fed. If the bird can already pick up food for itself, then make the mix a little drier and provide a few sunflower kernals (the seed without the outer husks) or some budgie/canary seed.

Adding the soaked dried mealworms to this basic food is fine, but try adding the yolk of a hard-boiled egg (not the white), some mashed banana, or some mashed boiled potato on successive feeds to see what it likes best.

Also try feeding thin slices of apple, pear, grape, banana, strawberry or a couple of small leaves of lettuce or raw spinach.

Let it have a shallow container of water (jar-lid or bottle top) and ensure whatever you keep it in has a couple of suitable perches.

Please let us know how you get on and don't hesitate to ask for further help.

I forgot to add ... if the bird is not able to pick up food and feed itself, you will need to feed it by hand every hour during daylight (say between 0530hrs and 2100hrs) ... that won't give you much chance to do anything else probably. :-(