what should i do with this baby bird i found? (pic and vid)

[chickypoo]

Okay, I work at a wildlife bird rehab center.

You have what appears to be a juvenile Say's Phoebe. This is not a sparrow, finch, or mocking bird. Don't feed cat food, sometimes that can result in calcium toxicity. Phoebes love bugs so meal worms and wax worms are great. Forget the dog and cat food they do best on bugs. Never Never feed any bird milk or a milk substitute this will kill them!!!! The one thing you can do to ensure a bird's survival is to get it to a rehabber in your area. I cannot stress this enough, the bird needs to be warm and fed. At that age the bird needs to be fed every hour, preferably more. At a rehab center they will have the ability to give specific attention to the bird and be able to ensure it won't imprint on humans and release it successfully. Unless you 100% know what you are doing it WILL NOT make it. The majority of the birds we get in at our center came from people who tried to care for it on their own, the bird didn't do well and now they bring it to us expecting miracles when it will most likely die. Not only does this not work it is ILLEGAL for anyone but a licensed rehabber to to be caring for federally protected birds. For transport a plain box will do but add a towel for warmth and support and do not include water. The bird is too young to be drinking water anyways and getting wet could induce hypothermia.
Here is a list I found after doing a google search for bird rehabbers in VA. I'm sorry if I am coming off as a little short with you but we have very few Phoebes where I live and too often they come in too close to death. I just really want the bird to make it. Please Please Please get the bird to a professional!

Virginia, Central region, Chesterfield County..... 804-743-9702
Eve Wilson, licensed home wildlife rehabilitator
[email protected]

Virginia, Central region (Elk Creek)..... 276-655-4822 (office/home/fax/ans) or 276-233-2848 (cell)
William Roberts, licensed home wildlife rehabilitator
Wildlife Species: opossum and raptor rehabilitation

Virginia, Central region (Waynesboro)..... 540-942-9453
The Wildlife Center of Virginia
[email protected]
Wildlife Species: all native Virginia species
Comments: large professionally staffed hospital for native wildlife

 

[Ducklove334]

how the little one doing today?

I am not being mean, but I CANNOT stress enough, do NOT feed mealworms, one or two, ok, but not as a constant, the SHELL of the mealworm is UNDIGESTABLE and just sits in the gut, I've had MANY birds I've tryed raising die from being fed one mealworm because the shell soaks up all the nutrients.bird rehabbers, MOST of them just say to feed mealworms because they are fat, thats all, nothing more, they're good for putting wieght on, but not for protien, it's not really a good idea to use the baby bird hook-bill formula either, not enough nutriention for birds like insect eaters, again, MOST rehabbers feed this because they have so many birds at a time, they don't take the time to care for each one indivdiually

the best think possible is crickets, and cat or dog food, wet cat food will work, usually beef, thats also a good thing to get them to start eating.

we raised a european starling this past year who had stomache issues, he couldn't eat mealworms because they made him sick, he was fed a diet of crickets, and cat/kitten food, it was terrible keeping wieght on Kenya, he ended up passing at just over 7 months old

he was a sweety, we found him as a pink blob, so he was out baby

this is the day we found him

shows just how tame he was, this is at the beginning of his adult molt.

(the rehabs around here KILL Starlings that are brought in, because they're pest!, most rehabs do)

I wish we had more pics of him

I want everyone to Note, and I quote, I am NOT a rehabber, nor a bird expert, I did do rescues for a while a few years back, people brought me baby birds, i raised, then released them.

I've learned alot doing that, alot of people come to me when they have a baby that they need advice from, but take advice from whoever you wish, my word is not god, nothing is ever set in stone, what works for one person, may not work for the next.

t won't imprint on humans

PS, most birds imprint between the first and 2nd weeks of life, when their eyes open, this little one had had it's eyes open for a while, it already knows it's a bird, what it will become is "tame" not imprinted, "tame" birds can learn to be wild,find food ect. from other birds, "imprinted" birds who think they are human, cannot, releasing an "imprinted" bird always means death.

I had three "tame" robins i raised several years ago, had them for about 4 months, they wer fairly good size when i finally said goodbye, one of those robins for YEARS afterwards would come and sit on the exact same spot on the fence, and just stare into my bedroom window.​

 

[phishinchicken]

we took it outside to try and see if it's crys would attract the parents. we have a large yard and we put it in the middle of it, in the shade, in view from the kitchen. we noticed other small birds flying around and i hope it was the parents because within 30 minutes the baby was gone. it hopped away out of sight hopefully being led away by feeding parents.

 

[TheFreundFlock]

LEAVE IT ALONE!!

The parents are not going to come out if you go outside! They will take care of their baby on the ground as the do in the nest.

You don't see them because they are trying to hide the location of the baby!

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Yes, I certainly agree. Birds are not mammals and lack the ability to digest milk. And yet chickens are birds, too, but many people continue to believe that feeding milk to chickens is a good thing.

Of course, yogurt and cheese are different, containing little indigestible lactose. But milk? No, milk will just give your birds the runs.

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
Completely unnecessary statements.







I cannot remember the name of that bird but it is an insect/bug eater. It is not a sparrow or mockingbird. Feed it the meal worms but feed it every hour, keep it warm and make sure it has fresh water available. You can also feed wax worms. They are cheap and easy to get at pet stores, I know petsmart carries them.

Good luck with the little one.

 

[foweler]

I went out to shoo the cat away from a baby crow it was chasing in the front yard. As the cat ran off a parent crow came out of the sky and actually grabbed her butt with its talons in a fly-by. That'll teach her.

I spent the morning keeping cats away from the baby even though I was getting dive bombed by both loudly squawking parents. These birds were not hiding their presence at all. The baby eventually went under the neighbors fence and I don't know if it made it.