Don't mess with wild bird nestlings!

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Hello everyone,

I've seen a couple of threads on here about "rescuing" and feeding chicks that have fallen or been knocked out of birds' nests. The best thing to do is to try to get the chick back into the nest, if the nest is still okay, or get the chick into some kind of basket or container as close to the nest as possible. Mother birds always know where their chicks are, and zero in on their peeping very accurately. Given the chance they will go to the baby right away and continue to care for it.

A lot of fledglings are mistakenly thought to be abandoned, but quite often when the chicks first leave the nest and are trying to learn to fly, Mama is trying to keep track of 3 or 4 that are dispersed around a large area. She will NOT come to the chick if there is a human or cat or dog in sight, for their instinct is not to lead what she perceives as a predator to her youngster. Best to put the chick up in a "safe" place, then get well out of sight...and I mean WELL out of sight. Mama bird can see you a mile away.

Chicks need to be fed continuously, and can imprint on humans at that impressionable age. They need their own parents to teach them the survival skills in order to survive. I know it's tempting to try to take on those cute little helpless creatures, but the reality is, their own mothers can do far more to help them than we can, and we just take the risk of mortal interferance when we start to meddle with nature.

-Chelsea

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), June 20, 2001

Answers

I know, I know. The things just kept hoping back out, though. And these darn cats! When these cats are gone, no more! A crow knocked these robin babies, and when I would put them back in, they'd just jump right out. Luckily they weren't too far off from fledging so they'll only need a few days of care. After feeding them, I gave them to a wildlife rehabilitator to finish the job. I know most people would say "just let the cats have 'em", and I know it probably would have made more sense just to let things take their natural course, but i really couldn't stand to see these little guys get eaten by my cats after their sibling was eaten by a crow! You are absolutely right, of course, I just wanted to explain myself.

-- Elizabeth (Lividia66@aol.com), June 21, 2001.

Well, in GENERAL, I'd agree with you Chelsea. But I just had an incident myself that caused me to "rescue" a nestling. My dog found it on the sidewalk. I prevented her from mauling the poor thing, but something else had already been "at" it. I know birds well enough to tell you that it was NOT ready to fledge, and it had big areas where it was missing feathers and some skin, I think.

I could not find a nest, and I didn't know about the basket thing, but I still would not have put it back, since it appeared to be injured. I took it to a wildlife vet and gave them a donation. I feared that it would need euthanasia, or at least more intensive care than I could give (especially with a dog and cats around). My point is that there ARE exceptions. I also think anyone would do well to read all these threads, so that they are prepared to deal with a nestling that they find.

Here's another suggestion for babies out of the nest. We had many barn swallows around when I was a kid, but their nest tended to disintegrate, apparently because the parents couldn't find enough clay (sandy soil area) to make them hold together right. No adult humans would build them ledges to make their nests upon, because they didn't want to encourage them. But then, down would come a nest, and here would come the little kids (us) with the baby birds, crying over them. I remember my dad putting babies into a shallow box, climbing up a ladder at least 12 feet high, and tacking that box to the building where the nest had been. The parents returned and mudded up the sides and top, and finished raising the babies. I still remember that nest of mud and "O-Fish-Al" tackle box and how funny it looked. But it worked!

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), June 21, 2001.


My point is that there ARE exceptions. I also think anyone would do well to read all these threads, so that they are prepared to deal with a nestling that they find.

Yes, there certainly are, and bravo to the folks that do try to help the chicks that need it. I'm just trying to encourage people to give the parent birds first crack at doing their own rescue. And thankyou for giving the rehab people a donation, too many rehab centers get animals dropped off on their doorstep, and are hard put to find funding to care for all the critters that need it.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), June 21, 2001.


My son found a baby bird and brought it into the house until I assured him that the mother is caring for it. (he believed me after looking it up on the net) But he did not wash his hands before playing with his parakeet and the poor thing picked something up and within a few months died. I still blame myself for that one and really miss him.

On another line. A customer came to the pet store to see what to do with baby bunnies. I said to just leave them alone that the mother goes over the hole to feed and that you don't realize she is doing it, that is why the hole is shallow, and you would have never have found it unless you mowed. Well, they had already taken the bunnies out and fed them Pheblem(sp)and milk. We didn't know. Where can we take them? and so on....

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), June 21, 2001.


Welcome to the bird world! It is amazing to see that is not that much information out there on what do if or when a animal seems abandoned. For those who have read some of my other awnsers I am was born and raised with animals and birds all my life! I own my own bird and berry farm in canada! With many varities of wild life and animals!

When you see an bird fall from a tree the best thing to do is not to touch it, the human touch is sensed by the mother is in most cases are abandoned. If it found in the area of danger and you feel absolutly your mission is to help this bird then the best thing to do is take a some cloth and gently pick it up and call your nearest fish and wild life for futher instructions. But 10 times out of 10 the best thing to do is leave it be. I know is hard and seems heartless and I hope you dont think of that with me, but it is mother nature that we take into our hands and mess with it when we cross the line. It's hard but is the best thing to do... if you happen to decided to take into your home and nurse it and would like some information on how you help it.... I would be more that happy to lend you some valuable information. Just email me! Thanks

-- Sheri Landgraf (sheriann@telusplanet.net), June 22, 2001.



Ok, I understand, we humans want to nurture all things small and helpless. But we need to think rationally about helping out every bird that falls from the nest. Nature has a balance which she has maintained for many many years without our help. If we help pitiful helpless animals very much, we can mess up the balance of populations of species. Admittedly, helping one baby bird wont make much of a difference one way or the other, in the grand scheme of things. But we really need to respect NATURE, in all its aspects. And that includes the not-so-sweet side of nature. Baby birds fall every day where there are no humans to pity the poor things, and they will either survive, or else they will go to helping another animal survive. It is the way the world IS. Get a grip. Dont let a baby birdie lying on the sidewalk or getting caught by a cat mess you up emotionally. Its time to grow up.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), June 22, 2001.

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