Killdeer Chick Thrives With Care

The following story about a killdeer was shared with us by Bird Center of Michigan in Michigan.

This young killdeer has officially graduated from his cottonball-like body and into the tall, lanky look of an adult!

On intake, he weighed a mere 20 grams (about 0.7 ounces), but has now surpassed 80 grams (about 2.8 ounces) and continues to grow every day.

For the first three to five days after intake, the killdeer was not eating enough on his own. Staff intermittently tube-fed EmerAid IC Carnivore. With the supplemental feeding, he grew stronger and was able to eat on his own.

Even though killdeer chicks in the wild spend around 40 days with their parents, this killdeer stayed with us for about 8 weeks before being released back into his natural habitat.