Woman Shows Off Her Pet Bird’s Growth 1 Year After She Rescued Him From A Smashed Egg

Sep 19, 2023

A woman, Susan Hickman, has warmed the hearts of many who saw her story on YouTube about her pet bird, Klinger. In June 2015, Hickman shared that on June 16, 2014, she found something on the ground, so she decided to examine it closely. It was a cracked Starling's egg. She picked it up and found that a tiny bird was in it. 

The newborn chick emerged, but he was tiny, weak, and had no feathers. His eyes were also closed. 

"I could not return it to a nest because I did not know from where it had come," she shared and added, "But I could not, would not just leave it there to die. I had to try."

Starlings are social birds, so the chick wouldn't have survived if left on its own. Some species are also commonly found around human dwellings, so it would be against the bird's nature to raise it in a home. Hickman felt a bond with the chick and decided to raise it.

She took the bird home and named him Klinger. She also provided an incubator to keep him warm and cozy. Klinger was a fighter, and Hickman found he was still alive the following day. However, raising him wasn't an easy task. For the first two weeks, she fed Klinger with a medicine dropper every 20 to 30 minutes morning to night to ensure he grew strong and healthy. 

Meanwhile, some professionals thought she was wasting her time.

"Experienced bird rehabbers warned me that he probably would not survive," Hickman revealed. 

Hickman's efforts paid off as Klinger grew stronger as the days passed.

Klinger then started to sprout hair and feathers and grow bigger. Then, one day, he opened his eyes. Soon, Hickman taught him how to bathe, and the bird loved water as he started bathing several times daily. Klinger also learned to feed himself and soon became a big bird. 

Meanwhile, his adoptive mom also taught him to play with toys. In the video Hickman shared of her pet, he showed off his skills with a ball. However, Hickman's most surprising moment came when Klinger learned to talk. 

According to Wikipedia, "Starlings have diverse and complex vocalizations and have been known to embed sounds from their surroundings into their own calls, including car alarms and human speech patterns."

Klinger became a huge part of the family who had grown to love him, but Hickman still wanted him to live how he was meant to. She decided to let him into the wild but quickly realized that it was impossible. Klinger had become domesticated and would not survive in the wild. 

"There are also many skills that are necessary for survival that parent birds teach their young that I was unable to do. Klinger would likely not have survived had he been released into the wild," Hickman disclosed. 

She also revealed that he had become imprinted on her. 

"Imprinting is a special learning process which occurs early in life through which an animal develops a sense of species identification," the bird lover explained. 

Hence, Hickman decided to simply let him live with her. Thankfully, she would not be contravening the state's laws as Starlings were allowed as pets. 

Hickman's story warmed the hearts of several of her fans, and some shared stories of how they rescued birds after that time. 

What do you think of Susan Hickman and Klinger's stories? Do you have a pet? How did you get them? Let us know — and be sure to pass this on to other animal lovers.