Help! I found a baby bird on the ground. I felt like I had no choice but to take it inside because it surely would have died otherwise (the neighbor’s cat was slinking around the bushes).
I think it’s a robin, and it’s very young. It’s eyes are closed and it only has the beginning of feathers on its wings and tail.
So I put it in a shoebox and it kept squeaking every time it heard my voice. It’s obviously hungry. The first thing I though of was to take some cat food, heat it up with water until it formed a sludge. Then I took a drop in a straw and fed it to the bird. It gulped it down eagerly. I have given it several drops so far. It seems to like it, but it doesn’t stay quiet for long…
My plan is to go out in the morning to the spot I found it (in the bushes in front of my house) and try to find its nest. I hope I can find it, but what do I do if I can’t? I will call the local Humane Society and see if they can help too.
My dad found a baby robin on the farm while mowing hay. I was about 7 years old. We kept the little guy in a laundry basket in the utility room. I dug worms everyday and fed them to him. He gulped them down whole and begged for more. As far as I remember he grew up rapidly and we were able to free him into the wild. I’ve always hoped he was able to survive.
Just an update - I’ve been feeding him small bits of very soggy cat food and he loves it, and he seems much more energetic than when I first found him. He is being very vocal. I am fighting the urge to overfeed him since he keeps chirping and chirping. and when he hears my voice he goes crazy and opens his mouth very wide.
He also did his first poop. So at least I know he is getting some hydration and sustenance to keep him alive through the night.
I have him in a shoe box nestled in a ball of yarn, with a towel over the box and a warm light shining on the towel to keep him warm (but not too warm). I will be going to bed soon, but will set my alarm to feed him in the middle of the night. Hopefully by morning there will be some more advice here.
So I got up around 6:30 and fed him a bit more. I went outside to look for a nest. I can’t find one, but it’s probably higher up in the tree above where I found it. So there’s no chance for me to return it to its nest.
I also didn’t see any robins around, but I saw lots of house sparrows, so I am thinking that maybe it is a sparrow? I’m not sure.
So I took a small container and wedged it into some branches of the tree, filled it with grass and put the bird back out there, hoping that its parents will find it. But it doesn’t seem very hopeful…
I will call some wildlife rehab places in a couple of hours. I really hope someone will come get it. It’s so young, probably only a couple of days. I can’t take care of it - I have to go to work today. I am so worried. What should I do???
Birds will often accept a substitute nest for their babies, and yours may be successful. This is a part of our commonly offered advice, right after “return to the original nest”.
Feeding baby birds is problematic. Some are insectivorous, others eat seeds and grains, while still others eat meat or fish. The exact composition of this food is critically important to growing babies. Replacement food must be digestible and palatable. But it must also contain the proper ratio of protein, carbohydrate, minerals, vitamins, and even the proper amount of water.
Failure to provide a rather exact match can cause nutritional deficits, and thus developmental disorders. Unusual foods can also cause simple digestive upset (belly ache) and/or diarrhea. Cat food is formulated for cats, and may or may not be successful with this bird.
You’ve done well so far, but please contact that wildlife rehabilitator.
Update: I left the bird in the makeshift nest for several hours and I really don’t know if the parents tended to it because I couldn’t watch it the whole time. It was getting pretty hot outside (upper 90s) and the bird looked like it had very labored breathing, so I took it back inside. I have given it a few bits of soggy cat food because I felt that it would die if it didn’t get some hydration.
I called a local wildlife rescue organization and left a message, and am waiting on a call back. In the meantime, it is at home alone because I had to come into work.
I am so worried! How long can it live without being fed? Should I keep feeding it until I can get it to a rehabilitator? If so, what should I feed it? Perhaps some moist cat food? Or egg?
I am soooooo worried. I am at work now, but should I go home and check on it? It’s been alone for about an hour now.
Unfortunately baby birds at that stage are pretty tough to care for. They need almost full time care, and need to be fed often. Definitely feed it as much as possible during the day.
Thank you Colibri. I am going to leave work now to go feed it. I looked at the info on the links you provided and am going to get some canned cat food and eggs. I really hope the rehab people call me soon. This is so heart-wrenching.
Update - so I fed it some more (cat food, egg) and a woman with the local wildlife rehab center I called earlier called back and said that basically, its best chance is to return it to its parents. She suggested that I put it back outside in the makeshift nest in the tree nearby where I think the original nest is. So I fed it a bit more, and he’s back outside.
I really really hope it’s parents take over because he is basically dead if they don’t. She told me to prepare myself, because chances are that he won’t make it.
There is a thunderstorm watch out tonight, so I guess it if rains, I will take him back inside.
Right now, he is outside chirping, so I really hope his parents hear him. I think I can hear his sibling nearby - it sounds like it’s coming from near my roofline, so that is probably where the nest is.
Colbri, if you see this - do you think I am doing the best thing to leave him outside in the makeshift nest? What if his parents don’t tend to him?
Yes, the best bet is if the parents find the chick and start feeding it again. If they don’t, you’ll have to feed it and that could get to be very time-consuming for you. It may take a couple of weeks until fledging, and even after that it would have to be fed frequently.
If it doesn’t make it, you can console yourself with the fact that only a relatively percentage of baby birds survive to fledging anyway, even if they are fed by the parents.
Taking care of baby birds properly is brutal. I used to volunteer in bird rescue and spring, with all those margarine tubs of orphaned baby birds, was hellish. Since I didn’t make the food, I can’t give you any better advice than the local bird rescue person you talked to. But the reality is, you really can’t, realistically (as an inexperienced caregiver, as a human, and as a person who has a job outside the home), give the bird what it needs. You have to hope the parents take over, or chalk it up to a sad but not unusual loss.
Yes I understand. What’s hard is that I will pretty much just have to let it die. I’m leaving him outside and have been fighting the urge to bring him in. But I can’t. I’m hoping that in the morning the parents will hear him and take over.
Update: I followed the wildlife rehabilitator’s advice and put him back outside in the makeshift nest. That night there was a thunderstorm, however, so I brought him back inside. Yesterday I left him out all day. I was agonizing all day. I was sure that when I got home from work he would be dead - but he wasn’t. But he wasn’t in good shape… I decided I just could NOT leave him out to die. It just seemed so cruel. I really don’t think the parents were tending to him. Leaving him there would mean certain death. I figured, he’s survived this long, so he’s really a fighter.
So I brought him last night and he was a bit lethargic, but after a couple of hours of being fed, he started to get energetic again. This morning, he was up bright and early, loudly begging for food. I have finally decided that I am going to keep caring for him for as long as I can. I just can’t let him die! He’s so cute, and just seems to have a strong will to live.
I know that a lot of the advice has been to try to return him to the parents, but that has been unsuccessful. The wildlife rehabilitator said he probably won’t make it, but I kind of doubt that. He’s already made it almost three days. He has a good appetite, is pooping regularly, is very vocal, and his feathers are growing in. He’s definitely a house sparrow, by the way. I will post new pictures later today.
I found a recipe for baby songbirds which consists of high-protein dry kitten food (moistened with water), some moist kitten food (I used Science Diet for both), calcium, vitamin C, and boiled egg whites. I also got a heating pad so I don’t have to use a light anymore to warm him. So I just went home to feed him and set him with with his new heating pad.
One concern though, and maybe Colibri can comment: he seems a little shaky, almost like he is shivering, every so often. Now it may have been because he was cold (but now I have the heating pad), but I am worried that maybe he has an infection such as pneumonia? I made the mistake of giving him water through an eye dropper early on before I knew it was dangerous. And I read that that can cause aspiration pneumonia.
However, he’s been eating well and having bowel movements, and seems to be otherwise OK. So maybe he is just cold, or being twitchy. Anyone have any advice?
