What do you feed a waxeye bird?

Answer 1

Mixture and feeding for Wax-eyes and other small nectar eating birds:

If you get fledglings at very early stage - use a basic Bird Rescue mixture to start with Basic bird rescue mixture:

• 1/2 drop/pinch calcium powder or Bonegrow

• 1 tsp raw egg yolk

• 1 tsp of glucose or sugar water;

• 4-6 tsp of Farex (dry human baby food). If have to use dropper to feed - the mixture needs to be thin enough to be taken up dropper and squeezed with dropper end right into back of beak like a mother bird would. After 24 hrs add 1/4 tsp jellimeat, and gradually more jellimeat - up to 1/2 teas to tablespoon over the above mixture.

When feeding very small fledglings with dropper raw egg yolk mixture can get on beak.

You will need to wipe beak gently with warm damp tissue if this happens, as bird's nostrils are in beak area and the yolk will set hard.

After a couple of days of successful feeding with thinner mixture (using raw yolk) move to mashed hard-boiled yolk in the feed mixture.

Initially feed with small dropper and wash dropper after each feed as gets sticky.

After 2-3 days can start adding pulverized fruit e.g. kiwifruit, plum, cherries, banana etc. to above mixture - starting with about 1/2 dessertspoon of blended fruit to 1 tbls of mixture.

Then get some mince and using a blunted toothpick or 'thinned match' get minute amount of mince and dip in above mixture and feed in same way to dropper feeding.

As days go by and bird is bigger the tiny pieces of mince can get bigger and the birds take these more readily. This mince is equivalent to the small insects nectar-eating birds bring back to their young.

After more feathering e.g. tail feather starting to develop - leave small pieces of fruit in the cage and eventually the birds will start pecking at these.

When they are fully feathered, flying and able to eat for themselves they are ready for release.