Nest fell down cavity in wall, 1 Starling chick survived.... ??

[felldowncavity]

Hi, So this afternoon 2 Starling chicks fell down the cavity in our wall. We knew this because the mother was bravely flying low at the back of our house. We could hear the chicks crying through the air hole brick they were behind. We decided to chissel away at the brick and try to rescue them. I managed to pull 2 out and couldn't see or hear anymore. 1 looked in bad shape, it couldn't stand and was looking very weak. It died a couple of hours later.

One is ok though and we put it in a shoe box on a hanging basket. The mother came back and fed him berries. (She tried to help the dying one but couldn't.) After a while we put the chick in an old birdcage we had. The mother was bravely entering the cage to feed it before flying off for the night.

We have now brought the chick in doors because I think its too cold for it to survive overnight. We've put a sheet over the cage.

Some questions we have because we have no experience of this.

Will the mother keep coming back to feed it in the day. If so shall we not bother to feed it or give it water? and will it be warm enough to leave it in the cage, out in the day under an umbrella?

Some other questions about the photo's below, how old do you estimate it to be? How long before he will be ready to leave and fly away? and does the mother usually spend the night with her young?

Any more info you can send our way is really appreciated.
Thank you
FDC

sleeping in cage - http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5452/dsc00074or.jpg
sleeping in cage (w/o zoom) - http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/121/dsc00078.jpg

[rossy]

best advice i would give is put the cage back out as soon as possible tomorrow as it begins to get light just after 4 and the mother will hopefully return, no guarantees, place the cage high enough , from cats to enter, id say the chicks approx 2 weeks old, lets hope all your efforts will be rewarded, rossy,

[Littlesparrow]

Any updates, how is the chick doing?

[felldowncavity]

Originally Posted by Littlesparrow

Any updates, how is the chick doing?

Hi, yes she's doing ok (photo below). Put the chick out first thing this morning 05:20 and the mother appeared out of nowhere with a berry after a few mins. I will keep you all up to date!

Day 2 photo - http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9396/dsc00079k.jpg

[felldowncavity]

Update: It didn't survive last night, it maybe because we accidentally left a small window slightly open and died from the cold but cant be sure, it was still quite warm, we put a cover over the cage. The mother was outside the house waiting with a small worm.

Thanks to those that did respond to this thread!

[rossy]

sorry to hear the little one didnt make it , after all the hard work you put in, hope you return to the forum, and enjoy the topics on it, regards rossy.

[Littlesparrow]

Ah sad, but you did your best, can't win them all x