I Found a Baby Bird... Now What Do I Do?
By Lisa Hutchins Sarcato
You’re outside working in the yard and find a baby bird all alone, unable to fly. Or your children come in from playing and present you with the nestling they found on the ground. Maybe your cat or dog caught a baby bird and now the bird appears to be injured. What do you do?
It all depends on the situation, but in most cases the very best thing you can do is leave the bird alone.
Is it Old Enough To Be Out of The Nest?
Baby birds with tail feathers are actually old enough to be out of the nest. If the bird has even a few tail feathers and isn’t obviously wounded, leave it alone. Don’t assume the bird is injured simply because it can’t fly. Most “fledglings”—young birds just out of the nest—don’t fly well or at all for the first few days. Robins and Blue Jays, for example, aren’t usually able to fly during their first few days out of the nest. The parent birds will continue to watch over the fledgling and feed it while it is on the ground. If you pick up the bird in a misguided attempt to somehow “protect” it, the parents will be unable to feed the baby bird. In addition, the confinement will shock and stress it. Because birds have a high metabolism, they can become dehydrated and malnourished in just a few hours if separated from their parents. If you’re concerned that some danger is present in the area—a neighbor’s prowling cat, for instance—place the bird in a shrub or on a low tree branch.
The Parent Bird is Nowhere In Sight
One of the most common misconceptions people have about baby birds is that if the parents aren’t right beside it constantly the bird must be abandoned. It is actually normal for baby birds to be by themselves for some period of time after leaving the nest. Parent birds often induce the fledglings to fly by positioning themselves a short distance away—maybe in the next yard—and then calling to the young or tempting them with some tidbit of food. The parents are probably in the general vicinity and will watch for the youngster, but they won’t come back if you are hovering around the baby. Your presence will only cause more alarm for both the fledgling and the adult.
The Baby Bird Has No Feathers
If the bird is a “nestling”—that is, if it has no true feathers and is either completely naked or covered with down—it has probably fallen from a nest. Look around for a nest nearby and place the bird back inside. Don’t worry about touching the bird. Birds have no appreciable sense of smell; it is a fallacy the parent bird won’t accept a nestling that has been handled by humans. If the nest has blown down, try to place the entire nest with the nestling in it as close as possible to the original spot. If you can’t get the bird back in the nest, make a substitute nest out of a strawberry basket, a margarine tub, a hanging planter basket, or some other cup-like structure. Line the basket with soft materials such as coarse paper towels and secure the makeshift nest in a location as close as possible to the original nest. The parent bird should be able to locate the nestling by its hunger cries and will continue to take care of the baby.
What If The Bird Really Does Need Help?
If you are absolutely certain the bird is injured, sick, or orphaned, you have two choices. Your first option is to let nature take its course. Although it may surprise you to learn this, in most cases we actually advocate a policy of non-interference. One of the toughest lessons to learn when dealing with birds and wildlife is leaving these creatures alone to live their lives as nature intended, not as we think they should live. You may feel certain that if you don’t help the bird, it will die—and indeed it might. But remember that nature produces an abundance of young because many will die. The mortality rate of baby birds is extremely high—only one in five baby birds will survive to adulthood. Overall, most birds don’t live to see their second birthday. If you feel bad about not assisting a baby bird or if you witness a natural predator killing one, remember that nature has its balance—predators ensure there won’t be too many of one species, and they also eliminate the sick or weak from the gene pool. Preyed-upon species, on the other hand, exist in part to support predator species.
If you decide to intervene, your other option is taking the bird to a wildlife rehabilitator. Rehabilitators serve as apprentices under an established rehabilitator or in some way gather a great deal of knowledge about how to raise and then release wild species. Rehabilitators are usually unpaid volunteers; they aren’t supported financially by the Division of Wildlife or by any government agency. If you decide to contact a rehabilitator, there are several things to keep in mind. First, be prepared to take the bird to the rehabilitator yourself and also to work with the rehabilitator’s schedule. Rehabilitators can’t automatically come to your location to pick up birds because they’re often unable to leave the other birds and animals in their care. Second, because rehabilitators aren’t financially compensated in any way, you should try to make some donation toward the costs of caring for the bird you’ve turned over to a volunteer. Wildlife rehabilitators absorb all the costs of feeding, housing, and obtaining veterinary care and medicine for their charges. Some birds have to be fed, housed, and medicated for days, weeks, or even months. If you feel strongly enough about the bird you found to want a rehabilitator to save it, donate some money toward what may be an expensive project. Finally, remember that using a rehabilitator isn’t a substitute for responsible action. For instance, if your cat continually injures birds, it’s unfair to keep shuttling the birds to a rehabilitator when the problem could be prevented in the first place by keeping your cat indoors. Try to prevent bird injuries or mortalities by acting responsibly; see the section on preventive actions at the end of this fact sheet for more information.
Why Can’t I Keep a Baby Bird?
Most experts strongly discourage people from taking in and raising a baby bird. For one thing, it is illegal. Virtually all birds (with the exception of non-native species like House Sparrows, European Starlings, and Rock Doves or pigeons) are protected by strict state and federal conservation laws. These laws exist to prevent widespread capture of wild birds; more important, they help ensure wild creatures continue to stay wild. Only trained and licensed rehabilitators may keep baby birds.
If you find a type of bird you may legally keep, realize it’s extremely difficult to take care of baby birds. Young birds have an exact set of nutritional requirements that are difficult to reproduce with commercial food. In addition, baby birds require warmth, quiet, and very frequent feeding (every 20 minutes during daylight hours) or they quickly weaken and die.
Even if your efforts are successful—even if you are able to properly feed the baby and keep it warm—how will you teach it to do the things birds need to know in order to happily live out their lives as adult birds? There are some larger ethical questions to consider beyond your ability to act as a temporary parent to the bird. If you take in a young bird, chances are it will begin to think of you as its parent. This is called “imprinting,” and the younger a bird is when you take it in, the more likely the youngster will see you as its parent. When that baby bird imprints on you, it means the bird will be unable to relate to others of its own kind. It will probably never be able to lead a normal life in the wild or survive on its own. It may not know how to join up with a bird of the opposite sex, nor will it likely know how to raise young of its own. Even more important, it won’t know the things it needs to learn for survival—how to find food, how to stay warm and protected in severe weather, how to elude predators, and if it is a migratory species, how and when to migrate or where to go. If you take in and raise a baby bird, you have made it dependent upon you, probably for its entire lifetime.
How You Can Help Baby Birds
The following actions will go a long way toward reducing human-related bird mortality:
Keep Your Pet Cat Indoors At All Times
Cats kill millions of songbirds every year—in fact, recent estimates based on scientific studies put this death count at a minimum of 55-60 million songbirds every year in the U.S.—more wildlife than any oil spill. There is now serious concern this death toll may be contributing to the decline of some species. Contrary to popular belief, feline predation is not “natural;” cats never existed historically in the western hemisphere (they were brought to the New World by European settlers) and are not part of the natural food chain. Cats that are allowed to go outside are extremely disruptive to the area’s ecological balance. The problem is further compounded by a cat overpopulation in the U.S. This means that massive numbers of both pet cats and feral cats (those that have gone wild, with no known owner) are roaming outdoors on a regular basis, killing repeatedly and efficiently whether or not they are well-fed. Baby birds are extremely vulnerable to prowling cats; if a cat can get to the youngster it will usually kill or mortally wound it. Even if the bird is able to get away, a tiny pinprick from a cat’s claw—usually undetectable to the human eye—can eventually weaken and kill the bird. If you own a cat, make sure it is neutered and keep it indoors—ideally all the time, but particularly during nesting season. Feral cats should be humanely live-trapped and taken to an animal shelter. If you can’t resolve a situation with a neighbor’s free-roaming cat by discussing the issue with the owner, you may have to contact your community’s animal control officer for help. Work with your local humane society, veterinarians, and state wildlife agency to enact and enforce restrictions on free-roaming cats.
Teach Children to Respect Wildlife by Leaving Wild Creatures Undisturbed
Children are naturally curious and fascinated with wildlife. They’re particularly anxious about the welfare of baby birds and often bring them home on the assumption that the bird is in some sort of distress. Once separated from its parents, however, a young bird’s chances of survival drop with each passing hour. Teach your child to ask an adult before intervening on his or her own. If your child has brought home a baby bird that doesn’t need aid, assist the child in quickly taking the bird back to the area where the bird was found. Don’t allow children to chase, catch, or pick up wild birds or other wild creatures. Part of respecting wildlife is learning when to leave birds and animals alone. The most important rule you can impart to children regarding wildlife is “look, enjoy, but don’t touch.” Let children know this is the way to demonstrate they are a true friend to wildlife.
Make Your Backyard Bird-Friendly
Gardening season often brings with it the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides—many of which are harmful or deadly to birds. Substantially reduce or eliminate your use of these poisons. Especially avoid broadcast or large-scale spraying during nesting season. Be careful when using power lawn and garden tools. Plant lots of dense shrubs and thickets so adult and baby birds can hide from predators.
A Final Word
It’s sometimes difficult for a caring person to know the best course of action when confronted with a wildlife situation. People who love animals and wildlife are often uncomfortable with the idea of leaving a baby bird alone when its future appears uncertain. By using the preventive guidelines outlined above, you won’t be faced with the question of intervention very often. And for those times when you do need to make a decision on whether or not to intervene, think carefully before you reach down to pick up that baby bird. A “hands off” policy certainly isn’t an easy choice for a caring person—but it’s usually the best.
Please don’t bring injured, sick, or abandoned birds to the Audubon Society of Greater Denver. For help in finding a wildlife rehabilitator, call ASGD during office hours at 303-973-9530 for referral, or contact the Division of Wildlife Transport Team at 303-291-7227. Your family veterinarian may also be able to suggest a licensed rehabilitator.
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