So, Karma...

The teeny swallow I found in the street three days ago is still kicking. For two days it seemed like it was going to suck, although she sang a lot and wasn't visibly ailing.. But she also wasn't eating or, to my knowledge, drinking. I couldn't get her (or his, really) beak to open and she wouldn't pick stuff off the floor of her box. When left alone, she would make a mess of the water and seed I left for her, but I think she was just walking in it. 

Finally, frustrated with failing to crack this one - and almost all forums saying I should seek out someone who knows better (I don't think in this country anyone knows anything about swallows, who was willing to help or pretend to help in exchange of fee) - and I don't like being told there is something I can't do - I saw this really cool very short video about a swallow baby just like mine, eating a maggot almost as big as it was. This made me think the stupid little chicken doesn't recognize food unless it's wiggling. And the way she opens that beak, man! That tiny beak, able to swallow - no pun intended - an insect almost a third it's own size! So, I sent the kid out to dig up some maggots or find some ants or grasshoppers.. The damn chick ate EVERYTHING! No fuss, no having to pry her beak open - it nigh ate the tweezers! ... Rockstar as my sidekick and I thus gathered what coins we had and set off across town to the pet shop to purchase some crickets and some larvae. This, needless to say, is beyond disgusting and it will probably give me nightmares. But now she gets to feed every two hours, as recommended and I have no problem tricking her into opening her beak for water dropper - which also she tries to eat. It is said that when she is full, well, fed, her chest swells oddly - and it actually swells grotesquely, with the insects still alive inside. The crickets were too big, she spat one our after it tickled her on the inside, so we just set them all free. Once she learns to eat on her own, we'll have to supplement her diet with vitamins and something other than protein. Or she'll just get so fat she won't be useful for much else than playing live action Angry Birds. Stupid little tennis ball with a beak.