I know I posted about her already but I don’t think I shared how much she’s changed! And I just want to talk about it because I still can’t believe I did this!

This is jimmy, (I thought she was a boy at first) and she was found by my bfs step dad in his driveway after a storm wiped out her nest.

I didn’t plan on keeping her, I kept her in an incubator at first because I didn’t know what to do with her lol. it’s often during the summer that I will go pick up a baby animal from someone and take it to this wildlife rescue about an hour away, I love those people and would work there if it wasn’t so dang far. She however, is a starling and considered an invasive species and if I had taken her, they would have euthanized her. Sooo I kept her, and she lives with me as a pet so she’s no threat to anyone but my wallet 😂

She needed to be fed every 45 minutes, during the night too. I thought my eyeballs were dry out and fall out of my head. I had to read and read so much stuff so that I knew she was getting enough nutrients, got a flight cage for her and the appropriate toys and just things she needed.

And she just kept growing

I found out that people often keep European starlings as pets! Since they are considered invasive, they are legal to keep in most states. They live 2-4 years in the wild, but can live up to 20 years in captivity.

She can talk, she gives kisses! She’s trained with commands and is literally the sweetest, and most curious little thing.

She flies freely through the house and I’m really trying to work on building an aviary. She cannot be released #1 because she’s an invasive species,

#2 I am not a skilled rehabber and can’t teach her how to survive outside and she would immediately fall prey to something.

So we just hang out everyday, and everyday I’m more impressed with how smart she is. I’m on an adoption list for another baby next summer! Or if by chance someone finds a baby starling and calls me, so she might have herself a companion soon. I have 2 parakeets but I only allow them outside the cages with each other, it just doesn’t seem a good idea to coop up starlings and parakeets together 😂 but I would love to do this again. I feel like I missed out on her being a baby, because I was so freaked out trying to keep her alive. Now that I know I’m capable, I’ll probably enjoy it so much more a second time!