A bluejay that Bill has raised will eventually swoop down periodically demanding a beakful of food. If you find yourself in a position where you have two baby birds who need to be raised. Since I don't know how old they are, I will assume that they need to be handfed. If they are VERY small, feathers not developed, etc., it is best to keep them in a warm place like an incubator and feed them a bird hand-rearing formula available in most reputable pet stores. The dosages and frequencies are indicated. Since the parents feed them very often, they have to be fed VERY frequently (read the box and use a dropper if they are tiny). If they have their feathers and are close to weaning, but still want to be fed, I would prepare a mixture of high protein cat food (you can use canned), add some baby food, (carrot, spinach, beans even turkey or chicken) and I added some water soluble bird vitamin (thick oatmeal consistency). And now comes the trick--they have to be fed. They want the food delivered down their gullet. You'll need some kind of a tool that resembles the parent's beak--there is no limit to your imagination... I went to a drug store and got one of those plastic teeth flossing handles. One side is kind of flat. You can cut it, sand it and shape it. It worked great for me.

Finally, it is absolutely essential that the birds are kept warm and--watch for diarrhea. If you see any, it's a very bad sign and must be dealt with immediately. That will kill them very quickly.

Our little "girl" bird, the smaller of our two had a twisted foot. With binoculars we can still see her at the feeder. Our "boy" was always kind of an "eat and run" kind of a kid--but the girl was the one who lingered over dinner... One Saturday when Bill was in Malaysia, she sat next to me on a nearby limb for 3 hours.

I think that Bill was feeding them three-four times a day: in the morning, at lunch time (he went home to do it), when he got home, and again before bed. He was at that time leaving a bowl of the soaked cat food/baby food mixture in their cage and they were picking at it on their own in between. You don't need to feed them water, but when they are able, they will be interested in a little bowl of water, the size you would give a cocketiel. Don't worry about the one who has eyes smaller than the other. One thing we learned is that they all look different. We just assume they all look alike, until we get to know them!

They should do fine without here as long as you are feeding them regularly. You may need to feed them more if they demand it. When they are hungry, they will tell you by cheeping with their little beaks up in the air. After they are fed, they will lower their beaks and sleep, until they are older and more active. We had an incubator with a lid that we kept them in until they were older and perching. To get them to perch, we put a little perch about two inches from the bottom of the incubator until they could sit on it, then when they were comfortable with that, we moved them into a cage and kept the perches close to the bottom of the cage until they were climbing.

When they were older, we began leaving them out for the night in bushes and trees close to the house, and then checking on them periodically. Even though they spent time hopping through branches eating and pecking at things that looked interesting, they were always happy to see us for a morsel. They began to disappear overnight, though they would call to us if they got in trouble. One thunderstorm put the new babies flat on their backs in the driveway and the garden as they had not been taught to stay out of the rain by the older birds yet. Soon, though, they caught on to the ways of the wild birds.

Once flying on their own, they were quickly assimilated into the "flock" that lived around our house and garden. They often came swooping down on our heads as we worked in the garden, demanding one more bite of food. We could see them follow us around the garden when we drove up in our cars and walked into the house. If we had visitors, the jays would swoop down to crash land in the middle of the table on the terrace to see what everyone was eating and who they were. Guests would have the nosey jays sitting on their shoulders listening to conversations. They soon began to disappear with the flock for several days at a time, then appear again for a quick visit and a snack. The visits eventually stopped after about three seasons when they bowed to pressure from the older jays in the flock to stay away from humans. We could hear the older jays scolding them when they were still visiting. Soon, we could only hear their calls from atop the tallest trees. Though the do not come down to us anymore, We know that they were watching our every move. They can see what we are eating, where we are walking and when we come and go. It's amazing to realize that they are always watching--not only the birds we raised, but ALL of them!