What should you do if you find little abandoned baby birds?

Question

A few years ago there was a big storm where I live and a nest was blown down and destroyed. Next thing, we find 3 fluffy little baby birds all huddled together trying to keep warm. We waited a while and there was no sign of the mother so we gently picked them up and wrapped them in a towel and then brought them inside and put them in an old hamser cage we had. We fed them milk with a syringe and put the cage beside the radiator. They were fine for a few days- we thought they would soon be strong enough to release, but then they died :(
So, what should you do if you find little abandoned baby birds?

P.S. no stupid answers like "eat them" and stuff- it's a serious question

Thanks for all your help so far- much appreciated! And i'll remember about the milk!

Answer 1

The most important thing of all to remember is to keep human contact to a minimum. The reason I say this is because baby birds can easily learn our habits and become accustomed to being lazy, in a sense. They'll rely on someone else to find their food, clean them, etc. They start losing their animal instincts, so most importantly keep your hands off them for as long as possible. Next you're going to need to take them to the nearest nature center or wildlife preserve or even humane society if you get desperate. You need someone that knows how to rehabilitate animals, including orphans. Nearby my house we have a place known as Blandford Nature Center where they can easily treat wild animals and release them once they're strong. Also, your diet is not one that birds are used to. Birds don't produce milk so it's not in their diet and subsequently not able to sustain them. What babies need are worms and protein. If you got to your local pet or garden store you might be able to find feed or fruits/foods specifically for younger birds. If not, go to a bait & tackle store to buy smaller sized worms, if you can't dig them out of your backyard.
Also, instead of keeping them in a cage, which they're not used to, try buying them a bird house that you can easily get them in and out of. If you want to put that in a cage, then fine, but make sure you line it with soft materials in the shape of a nest, so they're being held in an environment as close to their original one as possible.

Hope this helps, we've found several birds before, and these are the steps we've taken. You can also do the same with injured birds as well, although if the bird is suffering take him to an animal shelter so they can put him down or set his wing or whatever action is necessary.

Answer 2

You should leave them for a while to see if mom comes back. If the mom does not come back, you can go get them and keep them warm. I would then call a local wildlife center, and see if they can take the birds. If they can't you can go buy crickets or worms and mash them up with a little water and try to use a big bulb syringe to feed it to them. You want to mash it with water, because most baby birds are fed regurgitated food(mom eats it and then spits it back up to give babies). This is very tedious and you would probably want at least 2 people to do this, since most small birds need to eat at least every hour or two. My grandpa ran an animal rescue and we have done that very thing around the clock for weeks, it is very draining and does not always work. It was nice of you to try and help and next time you should be more prepared.

Answer 3

Seriously,

Leave them. If the babies are old enough, they will survive as the mother may not actually be too far away and may come back. Obviously, if on the ground they are then prey for other animals.

Unfortunately, too many people pick young birds up and take them home thinking they are doing the right thing. This can cause delayed stress and there is little chance of survival.

Best thing to do is gently move them to the nearest cover to where you think they fell from, such as under a hedge. If any remnants of the nest survive, move them in it. Then leave well alone as going back to check on them may scare the parents away if they are still around.

Answer 4

Hi there. There are bird feeding formulas but the feeding can be every two hours around the clock. Lactose is not tolerated by birds. This happened to me. What I did was put the birds in a flower pot and hung it as high as possible on the side of my house. In an hour the mother returned and finished raising them. Sometimes the parent may be silently watching. Either way, we all do the best we can for what we know. Have a tweet year.

Answer 5

I think I can solve your question....if you phone the RSPCA they may not be able to save them so I will tell you what I would done.If a storm blew a nest of chicks down and nest destroyed I would put them in a soft cloth or hanky then make sure no cats are watching then put them in a safe place. I would then walk away and dont wait for there mother to come. There is a possibility that if their mother is safe she would be watching from a branch and if she sees that a human has interfered with her chicks.....She will disown them. There is no substitute for a surrogate mother. Sometimes it;s cruel to be kind.

Answer 6

well i had that happen before when i was living in indiana and i just take care of the the new born birds but i couldint keep them inside so i thought to build a new safer home for them to keep them warm by useing a emplty lamp box and just use the nests that the babbies mother had made for her youngs and care ful put them inside the box and put all them onto behide my back of my house onto the circuit breaker box where i have one outside and wrapped with good sticken tapes to hold them up. but later on the mother and father birds came back and stayed inside the new house i made for them .
But any how if i ever found some babbies birds over again i just sent them to a closer animals vet center where they do take care of unwanted pets and help other wild animals . or i just go to a zoo or just call the wild life center and had they come and take the abandon birds to take care of .

Answer 7

I would say to just leave them be. I also found an abandoned baby bird that was very young. I took it home and fed it, kept it warm and did everything else I possibly could. But it died just the same. It may seem cruel, but to me it was a lesson learned that I need to let nature take it's course, no matter how much I don't like it.

Answer 8

Here is a really good website telling you what to do in the future. Unfortunately you did not feed those babies the right food, birds do not eat milk, they basically starved to death. It was nice that you tried, but here is some good advice for the future so any birds you find can be put into the right hands, such as a rehabber so they will have a chance to survive.
http://www.csub.edu/FACT/baby_bird_care.htm

Answer 9

This is really upsetting when it happens isn't it? However the advice given is that you should never move baby birds but leave them for their mother to find them. The only thing you can do really is to keep a very safe distance and keep cats away. It has happened to me so I know how you feel but I'm afraid you must let nature take its course.

Answer 10

Unfortunately without the mother to provide food they will not survive and usually if they have for whatever reason fallen out of the nest she will try and feed them on the ground and will be watching from nearby. Sadly though they are easy prey for cats dogs etc. Nature does seem cruel sometimes.