Si Bird

June 1, 2010 - my first morning in Al Khobar, just came back from Jubail after working for almost 7 months there as a QC inspector for NCP-South Plot Project. Now I will be staying in our head office waiting for another project. I don't like it staying there. Why? It's another story. =)

I woke up at around 7 am, prepared my breakfast and watched UKG on TFC. My housemates are cleaning the other room and preparing to install the window type AC unit we bought last night in HyperPanda. As they removed the cover on the open wall they saw a nest with two small white eggs. The hen wasn't there. The nest is made up of twigs properly arranged. It was nice. So with my cellphone, i took some pictures. I'm not an egg expert, neither have any background in oology, but just because there are a bunch of Rock Dove (domesticated or homing pigeons) and Collared Pigeons here, i can say that those eggs might be from any of the two. I'd say it's from the Collared Pigeon because the eggs are much smaller than a Rock Dove's egg. I've seen a domesticated pigeon's egg before.

Obviously, there is no way we can install the AC without removing the nest and the eggs. I took the eggs. I switched on my lampshade and examined the egg. I wasn't sure but i think the eggs have already been incubated and that there are already chicks inside.

I searched for a hot and dry place where i can put the eggs. Found out that the comfort room is the best place because there is an electric water heater & cooler inside. As i was preparing the eggs and the things i might be using to put or attach the eggs near the heater, 1 egg fell and crashed! I was right that the eggs have already been incubated and that there's already chick inside. I opened the egg and examined the poor pigeon embryo. I don't know how many days before a pigeon's egg hatch but i think a day or two that embryo will come out from its egg if i haven't crashed it. But i still got one egg. I wrapped it with a tissue paper and attached it on the heater and left it.

June 2, 2010 - woke up at 7 am again, rest day is over. I need to go to the office. I really doesn't like being there. Why? It's another story. =) I spent much of my time surfing the net in the office, because i've got nothing to do and they're not giving anything for me to work on or just to keep me busy. The good thing is, surfing the net is legal. So i spent almost ten hours in front of the computer. Facebook, Sulit.com.ph, Yahoo, Google, etc.

After office, we went to HyperPanda again to buy some stuff and groceries. When we got back some of my housemates prepared our dinner. I just unload the groceries we bought and went to my room to change my clothes. As I passed by the cr where i put the egg, i noticed the tissue and checked it. The egg hatched! I immediately change my clothes and returned back to the egg. I removed the tissue from where it was attached. Yes, the egg hatched and there was a tiny long beaked yellow chick. I put it on my table a took some pictures. I put tissues inside an empty ice cream cup and put the chick inside. I decided to name it 'Bird'. I immediately feed Bird grapes. He's not opening his beak and i think it's not common for bird chicks or i guess he's not yet learning it or Bird is not yet hungry, i really don't know. But I noticed that Bird is quite responding to the food I was putting inside its beak. Bird is swallowing it gradually. So I think it was a healthy tiny chick. I returned Bird on its artificial nest and attached it again now under the heater. Just exactly after i feed Bird, the dinner is ready.

June 3, 2010 - woke up at 6:30 am because I need to feed bird. This time i feed him bananas, still Bird is responding to it. After I feed him i had my breakfast and took a bath. In the bathroom there are newly hatched cockroaches. So tiny but still caught my attention because i was thinking of what will i feed Bird for the next days. Because a dove's diet includes fruits, grains and insects. So it's not healthy to feed Bird fruits only. I put some of those cockroaches inside a specimen cup. I will give it when the chick already knows how to open its beak.

I arrived from the office at around 1:20 pm because today is only half day. After I changed my clothes I took Bird and feed him. I gave Bird grapes again. Still, he is not yet learning how to open its beak or maybe he's not yet hungry. After I feed him, I took a rest. I will feed him again when i wake up.

I woke up at around 4:30 pm, prepared Bird's food and feed him. I noticed that Bird is weak. He's not responding to my taps and touches. But i still continue to feed him and returned him to the heater. I will feed him again after 2 hours. I went to my laptop and tried to create an account here. My friend told me about this site but I cannot do it in the office because whenever I open the site it's always in arabic, i can't understand arabic. Then I started to create this post about Bird, this is my first post actually. While doing this I am constanly checking on Bird. I put him outside because the temperature there is warmer. I also cooked rice for our dinner while creating this post. I returned Bird inside and will feed him again in a few minutes. I will just finish this post and continue again tomorrow for the updates. I left my laptop open, went to the kitchen and wash the plates. I returned after 10 minutes. I checked my facebook and sulit.com.ph account and returned again to the kitchen to get Bird's food. I removed the ice cream cup from where it has been attached. Bird was not moving. I put it on my table and examined. Bird is dead.

It was my first time to feed or to take care of a one-day old bird. This bird is an altricial bird meaning they rely entirely from their parents for food(regurgitated) and warmth. They cannot maintain their body temperature that's why they need their parents. Unlike the precocial birds that after they hatch they can immediately walk with their parents and search for food. I felt sad but I wasn't surprised for what happened. I know i can't keep him and continue hand feeding him for a month before he can eat on his own. I did my best but It's really difficult to keep a day old bird.