Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 3/7/2008

Question
hello im deynisha davis and i have a question for myself i have a baby finch bird. its name is Roo, i raise it myself because its parents abanded it and i was wondering when the bird keeps opening its mouth do it means its hungry? , cause if it do im scared to feed it because that huge bubble hanging from his throut might pop! how do i know if its full? what do i do?

Answer
Hi, Deynisha,

How old is this baby finch and what type of finch is it?  If this baby is very young, I'd say yes, when it opens its mouth like you describe, the baby is hungry, particularly if the parents have abandoned it.  

The "huge bubble hanging from his throat" is called a crop.  When a bird is fed, the food goes into the crop to be processed through the bird's body.  It's similar to our stomachs.  

To know if the bird is full enough, you feed the baby bird baby parrot handfeeding formula to the point where the food reaches the top of the crop.  You should be able to see through the bird's skin in order to see how full the crop is.  If you see food going up into the bird's neck/throat, you've fed too much.  Just feed the bird a little at a time until you see the food reach the top of the crop.  Just to be sure, you may have to handfeed the baby a little at a time many times per day versus handfeeding a lot 4-5 times per day.  How much you feed depends on the size/age of the baby bird.  You can also feel/touch the crop to see how tight it is.  If the crop is very tight, the bird is full.  If the crop feels loose, the crop isn't full enough.

Chrys