will a mother bird reject its baby if you touch it? sereious answers only!
2006-09-14 12:03:00 · 10 answers · asked by lovebird mania 2 in Pets ➔ Birds
No. This is major urban legend. Wild or captive bred, the Mother will not reject their babies just because you handled it.
Bird breeders handle babies all the time and the Mother doesn't reject the babies.
There is even a concept in parrot breeding called "Co-parenting". This is when both the Human Companion and the Parrot Parents help with the raising of the babies.
Shaun is correct about their sense of smell but not entirely. They do have a sense of smell and taste, but it's not nearly as developed as ours.
They can see and hear far better than us, however.
So no...Bird Mothers will not reject their babies when you handle them.
2006-09-15 00:02:30 · answer #1 · answered by Phoenix 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most birds can't smell at all. However, if a mother sees you messing with a chick, then she may reject it thinking that you're a predator and it's done for. I've touched baby birds before and the mother was quite irate with me, but I do believe she still took care of it.
Now, you should never mess with baby birds that you find at all. If one falls out of the nest, then you may put it back, but if you find a nest, leave them alone, it's for the best.
2006-09-14 20:46:50 · answer #2 · answered by Shaun 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, they will NOT reject the baby, birds have a very poor sense of smell and cannot detect if their baby has been touched. Usually with wild birds you do not want to leave scent on them..not for the mothers benefit, but mammalian predators can smell your scent on them. As far as pet birds...you would not have to worry about the predator aspect of it.
2006-09-14 22:33:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I raise cockatiels, and have handled baby birds from the first day they are born, and have NEVER had a mother reject one..... have also placed many wild baby birds back in nests, and have also never found one rejected by its mother.....Do agree with the people who have said the worse risk to wild bird would be a preditator smelling your scent and being able to track the babies location, I would never handle a wild bird without gloves......
2006-09-15 01:34:44 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
a wild bird yeah, I don;t know about a tame bird that you are around everyday. I would think that she would not though. A wild bird can smell the oils from your skin on the baby, ans will not take it back.. it seems to be a threat to them, they smell like human
2006-09-14 19:12:58 · answer #5 · answered by Just Me 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it depends. all that crap about the mom smelling you is not true. she could care less what you smell like. when touched, the bacteria from your hands gets on the egg. the mother bird knos whether or not the egg will survive. if it wont, shell throw it out
2006-09-14 19:05:51 · answer #6 · answered by Kait 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i really don't think so, i have adopted many birds that have falllen out of their nest, so if it is rejected, buy some dry cat food, mix it with water, microwave it until warm, and feed it to the baby with a suringe.
2006-09-14 20:02:05 · answer #7 · answered by im smart!!! 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the type of bird it is.
2006-09-14 19:05:35 · answer #8 · answered by lil' black rain cloud 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have touched nestlings before. i even hand fed the runt of the next, and their mother still came back and took care of them.
2006-09-14 21:58:02 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends. If the mother trusts humans she won't, but if she doesn't trust humans she might.
2006-09-14 22:36:57 · answer #10 · answered by lifetimebirdowner 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋