And I am at home, most of my bird books are at work.
In general, do not worry about getting ‘human scent’ on the birds. Momma and daddy bird generally are not going to ‘abandon the babies’ because of human scent. More likely, excessive handling could injure the birds or at the least, get them too comfortable with human contact.
[For the most part, the sense of smell is not well-developed in most species of birds, at least with the common garden birds you’re going to find in your backyard. The olfactory lobes are pretty underdeveloped in most species. Kiwis, petrels and shearwaters have better senses of smell.]
Should this happen again:
If the bird is still kind of naked (or just getting feathers) and you can reach the nest, place the bird back gently. CAVEAT: mom and/or dad may not understand you are trying to help the baby and may start attacking you (imagine a 600-foot humanoid coming after one of your kids - not knowing its intentions, you’d be pretty panicked or belligerant); glasses and a hat are a good thing, just in case. Usually the parents are hiding for their own safety; they can usually have another brood if the first brood doesn’t not survive to fledging. However, some species such as Mockingbirds and Blue Jays are well-known for attacking what they perceive as a threat, even if it is many, many times larger than themselves.
If the nest has fallen, you can replace the nest, or if it has been damaged or destroyed, make a substitute nest from a berry box (the plastic kind with lots of drainage, not the cardboard ones that will disintigrate in the next rainshower). Add some new sticks or grasses if needed. You can then place the substitute nest box securely in the fork of a tree branch, or hang the substitute nest box with some wire from a branch.
If the bird seems to be uninjured, active and alert (hopping around, screaming and chirping) and has a lot of feathers, you can also leave it alone. Just because it is on the ground does not necessarily mean it is abandoned. The parents will usually be nearby to swoop down, shove a bug down the throat and take off again for the next feeding. (Imagine heating 30-40 bottles of formula per day, per baby.) Keep an eye on the baby from a safe distance [so the parents do not feel threatened] for the next several hours, or until you are sure the parents have returned, or they are absolutely gone.
If the bird is sick, contact your State Wildlife Agency for the phone number of a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. You probably have a doctor’s phone number near the phone - keep the number of a rehabilitator there for such emergencies. Foresight and planning is a good thing. Other agencies such as the local Animal Control or Humane Society or your local veterinarian, may have the phone numbers of rehabilitaors who specialize in wildlife. Take the animal to them as soon as possible, for the animal’s best chance of survival. A day or two with a broken wing or leg can mean the difference of a life flying free in the wild, or being permanently grounded
(Keep one thing in mind: the non-veterinarian** rehabilitators are usually animal lovers like yourself, doing this as a labor of love and dedication. The rehabilitators in my area do not charge for services, but they do not get reimbursement for the services they render, and must pay yearly for their license. They pay out of their own pocket for animal feed, cleaning supplies, rubber gloves, medications, and syringes, or rely on donations to purchase these items, as well as volunteers to assist with dozens of mouths to feed and clean. They do not get reimbursed for hours of feedings, cleaning cages, gasoline to pick up an injured animal, or in some cases, going on a ‘wild goose chase’ trying to capture an injured animal to bring it in for treatment. Meanwhile, in the time they are away from their current patients, there is one less person available to feed them. If you cared enough about the animal to try to get it some help, take some extra time to drive the animal in for treatment: put it in a covered box with airholes and a towel on the box bottom (so the bird is not scrabbling and slipping).
CAVEAT: Special training is needed if you are dealing with a bird of prey. Contact the rehabilitator before attempting any rescue: a Great Horned Owl can rip the flesh from your hands and face without a second thought (ever wonder why they are also called ‘Flying Tigers’?), and the other species (even my namesake) can do significant damage.
Please make sure the person has the proper federal (and in some cases, state licenses) to care for wildlife - I can tell you horror stories of ‘self-proclaimed rehabbers’ [“I’ve taken care of baby birds since I was a kid!”] who really didn’t know jack about the animals they were trying to ‘help’: feeding the birds milk, shrimp, oatmeal, chicken livers, hamburger, tuna, dog food, you name it. Baby birds have special nutritional needs, especially with bone, feather and sensory development. Birds of prey, for example, get their calcium from the bones of mice, other small mammals and other birds the parents bring them for food. Milk is not easily digested (it’s not a normal part of a bird’s diet) and they may end up aspirating the milk into the airway passage (both the food tube and the airway connect at the back of the mouth). Lack of calcium can inhibit good bone growth, leaving bones soft and malformed or brittle and prone to breakage. Make sure the person knows what they are doing - licensed rehabbers are inspected, better ensuring good treatment facilities.
In my opinion, you did the right thing: you cared. My suggestions are to make it a little easier, should this happen again.
** No slight on veterinarians, but
- they can legally (and rightly so) charge for services rendered (vet school is expensive, and most vets do not have specialized wildlife training) - vet bills can be expensive (x-rays, antibiotics) and the good samaritan is usually reluctant to pay;
- most are very busy with their own practices (regular patients as well as emergencies); and
- introducing a wild bird may introduce new diseases or parasites that can infect animals currently in their care.
As such, most of the vets I have spoken with are understandably reluctant to take in wild bird and other animals (squirrels, raccoons, etc.).
Ya know, when I started typing this, there were 0 replies. And you thought YOU type slowly, Tenar!
