help, I have 2 baby robins I have been feeding and caring for, they are about ready to fledge what do I do now

Question

I have placed them outside but all they do is sit where I place them how can I get them to feed on their own and fly?

Answer 1

do they have all of their feathers??
ok sit on the floor,put one in the palms of your hands and raise your hands to about ear level- gently lower your hands, but make it fast enough where it will surprise the robin, it should stick it's wings out as you lower your hands, I'm not saying to DROP it
let it sit in your cupped palms. repeat this until your robin sticks his wings out, almost involuntarily, it's a reflex.
then stand on your knees and repeat it until you feel confident it is doing it well.
then move to standing position.
this should take place over several days so it can build it's little wing muscles a bit
start dropping your hands beneath it faster it should beat it's wings to keep from falling
let it practice
it should be able to start flying once it has the wing beating thing down good. you would still want to protect it for a while because there is a cat out there for sure looking for an easy meal.
offer your birds fresh worms, get them from a bait store if you don't want to dig them up, chop them into bite sized chunks
they should be able to take the food alright, it's hunting for the worms that's the hard part!!
put one in your yard and see if your robin goes after it, they will learn that food comes from the ground...
good luck! it sounds like you've done a great job so far!!

Answer 2

You sound like you've been doing an excellent job so far! These sites explain all about what to do for orphan baby birds - hope they give you the info you're looking for too -
http://www.crowsystems.com/rehab/babybird.html - this is an excellent article - be sure to read down the entire page!
http://www.stokesbirdsathome.com/q&a/archive/qa108.html
http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-happened-when-nestling-fell-out.html
http://www.projectwildlife.org/find-babysongbirds.htm
And this Yahoo Best Answer too -
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=1006050608886

I've got a lot of links to wildlife carers from a lot of countries on my site, at
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/links under "Wildlife Assistance" - just click on them all, click on your country and state, have a browse, 'phone them and ask their advice.

Very very best of luck.

Answer 3

If the parents are not around, they still need you to feed them. My concern is that that will not know how to get their own food regardless. Call a wildlife rehabilitator and ask them for advise.

Answer 4

You have to feed them until they think they are ready to fly, which I don't think will be soon, keep caring for them until the spring as they are migrating birds and is too cold for them to survive on their own. Carry on doing what you have been doing for as long as they will allow, they will give you indication as to when they are ready, but please don't put them outside keep them cosy, like they are used, otherwise you just might lose them if you force them to leave tooooo early

Answer 5

you need to contact the rspca as robins are difficult to look after once they fledge then thats it the parents will not find them i only know as i found one in the middle of the road and i got advised to put it back were i got it from i sat there hours waiting for the mother to return she never did!!! i took it to our local rspca and they was going to take it to someone who specialises in wild birds but unfortunately it didnt make it ..as the lady said they are difficult to bring up
good luck i hope they make it