Help! Baby bird fell with nest.

[threehorses]

Please put the nest and the bird back. You can use a basket or, even better, strawberry basket to return the nset and baby to a high spot in the tree. The parents will return to feed it. This bird can be returned. And no, the parents won't reject it for "smelling human" on it.

As for food, you ***have*** to know the type of bird. Please don't try to rehab this baby unless you have extensive experience doing so. The bird will bond to you and be unable to be re turned to the wild. As cute as that sounds, it's unfair as the bird will be depressed without others of its own kind.

And no - never ever feed mealyworms mashed to babies. Ask a rehabber, period.

I've unfortunately had to raise many babies that should have been left to their parents, including a sparrow this year that someone took to Petsmart and left in a box with no warmth upside down on its back. They 'forgot" where the nest was, poor dear.

If you absolutely insist on raising this bird (again I highly recommend it and beg that you don't) please PM me. Don't take the advice of feeding mealy worms, etc. Don't tube - even pigeons. They can be fed with a paintbrush.

 

[crystalchik]

I agree with Threehorses. You should try to find a rehab asap or try to reintroduce it to the parents, but you should keep it at least hydrated, if not fed a little, in the meantime. Baby birds, like I said before, dehydrate very quickly!
Listen to Threehorses, they sound like they talk of experience!!
Crystalchik

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Yes, there's nothing wrong with a little hydration and warmth in the mean time.

I was raised raising baby birds that kids found and 'couldn't remember' how to take back. lol And again this year, more babies. I used to (at work) be the Crazy Bird lady to whom babies were taken. I always found ways to rig something to put nests back. It was very very often successful, much to my skeptical co-workers.

I love baby birds - would love to have more, but.... they really do deserve to be out in the wild.

 

[hensonly]

Is putting the nest back really an option?? Our songbirds are quite territorial. I'm not sure how large each territory is, but if the nest is put back in the wrong place, would the parents invade another territory to feed the baby? I agree raising a tiny bird is not for the faint of heart nor the busy employee, as they need to be fed so frequently...also don't neglect the other end of the bird - be sure to keep the "nest" clean so he doesn't get sores.

Some years ago, my young stepsons were driving their remote control truck around the yard when they saw something move. It was a baby bird, and the truck must have hit it as one wing was injured. We called our local conservation department office and they gave us the name of a wildlife rehab person. She agreed with all of y'all that the best course is to put the baby back where it belongs, but due to the injury that was not an option in this case...

Anyway, until I could get the baby to her, she said to hard boil an egg and mash up the yolk with a little warm water until it was a paste, and then use the flat end of a toothpick to scoop it up and drop it back in the baby's throat when he opened his mouth.

Good luck to the baby!

 

[threehorses]

Yes, because the nest shouldn't have fallen far from where it was in the tree. Especially weighed down with a baby bird.

In any case, if the bird is kept, please email me. Different birds require different types of feeding methods and foods. IF you can't find a rehabber.

 

[Lolliegee]

How's the baby bird? Were you able to put it back?