A Bird Called Ziggy

I have a lot of pets of the avian variety. This blog contains me posting sporadically about my feathered kids. I am also on Instagram @ziggy_starling and YouTube at https://youtube.com/user/Rainbowkittenism

[ziggystarling]

Hey you're the first person I've seen keeping starlings as pets, I think they're beautiful but hadn't considered the possibility of keeping them someday - are Ziggy and Bowie rehab birds, or do you live somewhere where it's more common to keep them, or something? How did you come to care for them? Anyway I just found your blog and really like it, hope you're well!

Hello! I live in the USA. Keeping starlings as pets and companion birds is not a common occurrence, but there is a small community of us.

I have made a few posts answering some of the questions you've asked, so feel free to read these, and please let me know if you have any more questions. :)

How did I get my starlings, is owning them legal, and how can you come to own a starling?

What are starlings like as pets?

[featheredfiendscentral]

Is this a bedbuge?

[featheredfiendscentral]

Hmmm I wonder what could've POSSIBLY left this suspiciously starling beak shaped imprint on my momentarily unnatended ice cream 🤨

[todaysbird]

A newly fledged leucistic starling in my window feeder!

TODAYSBIRD EDIT: WOW!!! what a striking bird, thanks for sharing this sighting!

[ziggystarling]

Happy 9th hatchday to my best bud Ziggy! The special birthday boy gets a dinner of bird safe spaghetti with pesto, cooked chicken, and blackberry. Here's to 9 more!

[crowboy-bebop]

unauthorized fucking thing!!!!!!

(warning: loud chirping throughout)

source: hellgate osprey cam

[curlicuecal]

[ziggystarling]

sorry if this is weird to say, but there's a big flock of wild starlings that roost near our (european) house and seeing pics of cute little pet starling inside the house makes me feel like I'm vicariously living the dream of kidnapping one into my home. thank you

[ziggystarling]

how is Yuki!

She is doing pretty well! Spring hormones have been a bitch though, so I've had to be a bit more hands off with her because she gets hormonal very easily. This time last year she almost died due to egg binding and had to have emergency surgery to save her life, so I really want to avoid another situation like that.

I also haven't been able to dedicate as much time as I usually do to the birds because I've been busy graduating from undergrad. Most of the pics I've been posting were from a while ago. You'll be seeing more of the birds soon though, as I'm moving back home for a bit while I look into grad school and seasonal work. I'll also finally be reunited with Bucky and Barney, who have been under the care of my mother for three years while I completed undergrad in another city. I've missed them so much, and I'm excited to see them again, especially since Barney is getting up there in years (he turns 15 this year).

Enjoy these soggy shower time pics of Yuki I took a few weeks ago :)

[ziggystarling]

I recently found a pair of nestling starlings and thought of you, but I did have a question, one of them seems much weaker and potentially younger than the other and only really wants to sleep and wont beg nearly as much as the other. Should I be worried? Is there anything I can do to help them catch up? Im currently feeding them live mealworms, little one doesnt seem to be cold or shivering, just lethargic, poor beg response and poor feather quality

Have a baby pic of the larger sibling for your troubles

Live mealworms are nutritionally insufficient. You want to make some of this and feed it to them ASAP. There are other recipes out there but my go to resources are no longer on the internet and the basic principle is the same: high animal protein and lots of water content.

Try making kissy noises and rubbing up the length of the bill towards the face with your finger to induce begging. They're likely dehydrated or malnourished if they're not begging (signs of dehydration include reddened skin). You may need to force feed a few meals (be extremely careful when force feeding, look up diagrams of the glottis of a bird and avoid that area). If you need any more urgent advice please message me directly on Tumblr and I can give you my Discord server info. There may still be hope for the sickly one but only if it gets enough water and nutrition quickly.

[ziggystarling]

smoking my zigarette

[ziggystarling]

Yeah okay you can sit there it's not like I was using it

[ziggystarling]

OUR sandwich

[ziggystarling]

*counter strike weapon equip noise*

[ziggystarling]

[ziggystarling]

*counter strike weapon equip noise*

[ziggystarling]

Hii I just wanted to pop in and say that I found your blog not too long after the starling hatchling I rescued earlier in the summer passed away from sickness. Seeing your lil feathered babies always makes me smile and reminds me of him

🫶 give em all the scritchies for meeee

Sorry to hear about your little guy's passing. Wishing you well. 💖

[ziggystarling]

Hiya, massive fan of your blog and your starlings and ive been following ziggy’s foot injury too. My budgie somehow injured his leg and has been able to put any weight on it (been to the vets and was told he’s pulled it and hes got some pain killers for it). Hes been eating and drinking and acting like a budgie but just struggling to move

I was just wondering if you had any advice for setting up a hospital cage and keeping them happy whilst in one? Im just worried about him being stressed as he’s already going to have to be separated from his friend and then restricted movement on top of that

Thank you, keep up the amazing care you have for your birds :)

My best advice is try to keep as many familiar elements as you can at first. I dunno how neophobic your birds are but starlings are extremely neophobic. Changing anything is seen as a potential threat to their life, so I try to introduce new things slowly.

Stress is a concern, so try to keep him close to his friend so he can see them at all times. Keep the perches low to the ground to avoid him needing to climb too much. Offer a few different shapes of perch and let him choose which ones he prefers. Wrap them in vetwrap or hot glue some fleece to them so they're more comfortable. Try to offer opportunities for him to loaf if he desires (flat perches or a wide rounded one). If you can, he might like to have a heating panel he can snuggle up to (I have this one). Try not to overcrowd the cage with too many perches and keep food and water close to whichever perch he uses the most often.

Good luck with your little buddy!

[ziggystarling]

[ziggystarling]

Some sort of thing in my home

[30-second-pets]

Holy shit its a thinh!

[ziggystarling]

you captured her slightly unsettling aura perfectly