Baby bird what to do...

[kasey08]

Thanks you guys. I dont think he could have made it through the night without you

 

[Hens & Hounds]

Hello all, I am new to the forum

I am in Northern Ocean County in NJ I am 47 yrs old, married w/ no children, 1 DH, 2 rescued hound dogs, many birds wild & domestic, many frogs & fish & 10 chickens (2 BR's, 2 Araucana's, 2 BO, 3 Silkies, & 1 Polish) I have read a lot on here & just LOVE this site, I am not much of a talker or that pc literate but found this very near & dear to my heart as I have been raising & releasing wild birds for 15 yrs now...baby birds are found on ground for various reasons, sometimes the parent(s) intentionally push babies out of nests that somehow they know will have problems later on in life, it's actually their way of culling their own. Sometimes it's overcrowded nest & something or someone may frightened it out & also the nosey fledgling that curiosity gets the best of

whenever you find a baby bird it is almost impossible to decipher what caused its fall but in most cases you will be able to locate the nest nearby which can be many feet in air. You can use a plastic strawberry crate from produce dept or even a hanging basket of any kind works in a pinch put near the original nest, as another member said you can also put the baby bird in another birds nest & they will usually care for it as its own sort of like a broody silkie hen

I always use my purple martin house that house finches have taken over as my broodies...funny but they have raised robins, catbirds, northern mockingbirds & such LOL In the meantime as you watch for a parent to come back or a adopted parent to accept it you can go to any pet store & buy Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding Formula or similar ( it's a powder that you mix w/ warm water) mix in bowl & suck up w/ a syringe (usually 1cc will do nicely) make a low whistle sound, tap on beak & slowly dispense to the side of mouth not passing the tongue as you can choke the baby if it goes down the wrong pipe keep doing this till it has a full crop. It will usually defecate shortly after that then go to sleep (just like most babies) in a pinch a ceramic cereal bowl lined w/ tissues & a heating pad under it works well also it will actually lift its butt up to defecate & keep its nest clean

It is a old wives tale started from sheer ignorance that the parent won't touch the baby after it has been handled...wild birds have limited sense of smell & do not have a developed olfactory gland which is why they can handle hot cayenne pepper that a mammal such as a a squirrel or chipmunk can't which is why a lot of people including myself mix up my own seed for the birdfeeders. With Spring here all over the world there will be alot of baby birds found & for all the chicken people out there if & when you find one no matter what works best for you to help it along please remember most babies are covered in mites & lice so wash your hands & up your arms well, I keep a petshop brand of mite/lice spray on hand & use both that & Perma-Guard Human Food Grade DE in all my bird houses before wild birds even start to nest in my birdhouses in the Spring, it is just part of my wild bird husbandry on my property along w/ the cleaning out of all birdfeeders.

now I just wish the falcons & hawks would go somewhere else to dine as my poor chickens could never free range

their run had to be like Fort Knox as we have neighbor who only rescues "Birds Of Prey"

& yes he releases less than a mile from me

Well, I have rambled long enough LOL I want to say Hello to everyone out there & I am very happy to be a member & please bear w/ me as I am just learning how to use a forum

Here is hoping everyone has a wonderful day w/ their feathered friends!

 

[kasey08]

Still no sign of the baby bird on the ground. I didnt want to keep bothering the nest so I'm not going to look in it.