My neighbor just brought me a baby bird that had fallen out of his nest. He has no wing feathers and no tail feathers, and appears to be an adolescent. I plan to call a wildlife rescue in the morning, but need to know how to help him through the night. Any help is most appreciated.
Do you know where he fell from? If you can do it in time, put him back (don’t worry about the human smell).
If not, keep the chickie warm with a substitute nest outside. Learn how to make one here:
http://placeforwildbirds.tripod.com/story.html
As for feeding, I’m not sure. bUt prepare for a little heartache, as its chances of survival are quite low.
Your local Petland (or similar store) should have baby bird food. I bought some when I found a baby starling which I couldn’t get back into the nest. It comes with a syringe for feeding.
I used a heating pad set on low, with a towel on top to keep the baby warm. Unfortunately, he did die, but I’m thinking it was probably the initial fall which did him in.
I’ve heard, though can’t swear to it, that you could put him in any nest, and Momma Bird would feed him like he was her own. (Does anyone know the truth of this?)
Dont’ know about that… however I’ve heard that it’s bad to try to return a bird to a nest, mainly because disturbing the other babies can cause them all to jump out of the nest (seen it almost happen with American Robins, at least!)
don’t feed him or give him anything to drink! just keep him warm and turn him over to a wildlife expert. when i happen to find stray birds they always tell me not to feed or give any water as that causes more problems for them in the long run. that said i did once nurse a baby mockingbird to adulthood. ,but it was a pain i had to feed him every fifteen minutes almost all day then he would fall asleep at night and wake up at the crack of dawn wanting food again. lasted for a few weeks good thing i was on a 3 month vacation. it was nice when he would actually come to me from the other side of the room if i called him and stand on my shoulder. he had free reign of my house . i should have released him , but i never did rationlizing that since he had lost an eye to the cat that knocked him from his nest he would have a hard time in the wild. what hubris! :rolleyes: i had him for about three years. and on time he actually got out and came back later that day. sorry for the hijack .
I did a work experiance at our local Wildlife Rescue and they also preferred that any animal not be given food or water. Get him there ASAP!
That said, I’ve raised a young bird myself and I found that mashed boiled egg made a decent first food. Mine was a domestic pigeon and I had her for years.
If it’s crossed your mind to keep the bird, you’d better check the local laws. It’s illegal to keep some, or most, wild birds and it varies from area to area.
Good luck!
Thanks everyone! I have him in a large box with a heating pad on low on one side and he is wrapped in blankets on the other side…he seems happy and the local wildlife rescue will pick him up tomorrow. Thank god Mr. Keturah loves these critters as much as I do. He just got home and will get up to take care of this little guy in the morning until the wildlife rescue gets here.
Thanks again to everyone who responded.
It looks like you’re set, but I want to second the info on not feeding him anything.
The wildlife center will take care of that and the little guy will have no problem lasting the night without food.