Further to the question from Annie at Atriplex, about feeding figbirds, and
my reply about the missing enzymes, I received an email from Lainie Berry
suggesting the possibility of actually chewing the food before giving it to
the bird. Neither of us is certain whether the enzymes which are contained
in the partly digested fruit fed to a baby figbird, would be the same as
those in the mouth of a human, which Lainie informs me is amylase.
Is there anyone out there, who could answer this, as I feel there would be a
lot of Wildlife carers who would welcome confirmation (or otherwise) that
they could increase the chances of survival of certain baby birds, by the
addition of their own saliva. However, I suspect this could have the
reverse effect, because of the increased chance of infection being passed to
the bird too.
Jenny Bradford, Pomona, Qld
Jenny B's Flower & Crystal Essences
http://www.spiderweb.com.au/~jennyb/
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