Today I received a baby Russet Crowned Momotidae (Mot Mot) at 6pm. A neighbor found him on the ground, in a friend's garden. I am challenged to attempt to raise him and release him back into the wild.
This baby has some pinfeathers and some bare skin--the head is reddish brown, the body is teal green, darker green wings and bluish tail feathers. Since his eyes are not open yet I estimate he is about 13 days old. We created a container to represent his nesting chamber from a large coffee can lined with a paper bag, to approximate his "nesting tunnel" and to facilitate cleaning. The container is placed in a small dog carrier for safety. Mot Mots dig a long tunnel, sometimes as deep as 14 ft. into cliff sides, with a larger chamber at the back here 4-5 eggs are laid. The tunnels are dug during the months of August-October, with the parents returning in April-May to lay their eggs. The birds fledge at 3-5 weeks.
I learned that the babe's begging instinct is activated by a low trilling coo from the parent (parents share equally in creating the nest as well as feeding the young). When I imitated that sound (to the best of my ability) Yes! he began to beg with mouth wide open. This became my signal that it was feeding time.
The birds are insectivores, so, of course, one challenge will be finding food as well as teaching him (later) to find his own. Luckily the friend who found him has a compost heap that breeds lots of meal worms, so we will start with those. At 7:30pm, I sounded the trill and he opened his mouth wide to receive 2 meal worms.
He loves to be loosely wrapped in a soft blanket and held against my chest-staying warm and contented.
9pm he ate 4 meal worms and slept in his container right next to my bed.
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