I found a baby bird on the ground today and I don't want it to die. What do I do?

Question

It doesn't seem to be hurt and it makes alot of noise. Its eyes are open and it seems to be losing its baby feathers. It has short wings and cannot fly yet. Is there someone I can call that takes care of wildlife in the Connecticut area? What do I do to keep it alive until I can get it to someone qualified to take care of it?

Answer 1

Go back to where you found it, and see if there is a nest nearby. If so, TRY to put it back. The mother will accept it! If it's feathered, it's a fledgeling and the parents will feed it on the ground. If you can't, look through this list and call the appropriate rehab for your area (These are Conn. rehab facilities in blue at the bottom of the post).

In the mean time, you may need to feed it. If you have cats, or know a neighbor who does...borrow some dry cat food and soak it in water until it's mushy. Do NOT feed it bread!!! Bread will kill it no matter what you've heard! Feed a few pieces of soaked cat food to the bird if it will accept them. Don't try to give it water, it will get that from the food and you can easily drip it down the wrong pipe if you try to do it yourself. In an hour, offer it a few more pieces.

Get it to the rehab as soon as you can, but there's no sense in letting it go hungry until then. Birds don't usually feed their babies after dark, so put the baby in a box and put it in a dark place. Don't handle it too much or it can go into shock. Just handle it enough to feed it, and then don't mess with it too much. The rehab folks will be able to teach it how to live as an adult, so do what you can for now, but let them take over as soon as you're able.

http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/wildlife/rehabilitators/connecticut-rehabilitators.html

Answer 2

i would say that you should put it in a portch area or somthing so it has good shelter but still can be in contact with its mom, only during the day tho and keep it in a box and put cloth on the bottom of the box, poke two holes near the bottom of the box and stick a stick through it so it has a small pearch to learn to puch on, avoid contact as much as you can, feed it worms, digg them up and sut them into VERY small pieces, use a tweezer to drop it in its open mouth make shure you also give it water with an eye dropper, keep it warm that means bring it into your house at night, and also i remind you to put it outside when its warm, you should know that you can call the local humane society they would come pick it up,

do this for a few weeks or until the humane society picks it up feed it every couple of hours or so evetually it will have a bigger appitite you will know when its hungry trust me,

feed it asap, please know that these instructions were for a robbin clutch we reared when the nest blew out of a tree if its not a robbin i would still do the warm part and everything but the worms try to feed it worms but it might not take them, if it cant take worm pieces put the worms in a blender or crush them with a rock and feed it with the eye dropper

DO NOT GIVE IT BRED CRUMS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BIRDS DONT EAT HUMAN FOOD SO UNLESS ITS A BABY SEAGULL STAY AWAY FROM HUMAN FOOD I REPETE STAY AWAY, birds dont have teath they use crops or little sacks they fill with small rocks when they flex the mucles around it the rocks in the sack crushes the food, so the thing is the baby has no rocks and the mucles in its crop dont word as well, also bred crums have little or no proteen and or nutrition soaked or not soaked they could get killed by breddy objects wich are hard to digest and have no nutritinal value, i repete no bread, not any of it!

Answer 3

You leave it exactly where you found it! If it has some feathers, it is a fledgling. Baby birds fledge (leave the nest) several days before they can fly. They hop around on the ground and climb low branches until their wings are strong enough for flight. Mom and dad continue feeding the fledglings until they are able to care for themselves.

If you have already taken the bird, return it. Mom and dad will find it and care for it. Do not worry about them rejecting the baby because you handled it. That is a myth. Birds do not have an acute sense of smell, so they son't even know you touched the fledgling.

Answer 4

get some dry cat food,put it in water til soggy then pop a little in the birds mouth til the crop is full.it will need to be fed every 3 hours or so. It will get enough water from the soaked cat food When it is fully feathered ,eating and drinking on its own release it,

i am raising 1 right now,just released two today
PS keep it warm

Answer 5

0k what u need to do is get a shoe box and place in a old towel and ripped up news paper to help keep it warm, if you want to feed it *and it will squak and open its mouth if its hungry* soak cat biscuits in water and make sure there small enough so that the baby can swallow it hole let the baby know u have food and wait for it to open its mouth just drop the food in, it will stop opening its mouth when its full, make sure the water soaked cat biscuists are soaked completly, also contact ur local society for cruelty of animals hope dis helped, also try not to handle the bird too much this may cause distress then death

Answer 6

please don't waist many time call the human society.
here is the phone number for Connecticut head quarter
800-452-0114 they usually tell you to bring it in. just put some soft towel in a small box and take it to them. if you can let it drink some water. it will most likely die if you try to take care of it your self. trust me i have tried before.

Answer 7

Try not to go near it because the mother will not go to it if she thinks you are a threat. Call your local vet or emergency animal care center, and if they can't help they will give you the information you need.

We just found a robin outside tonight, but unfortunately it died within a few minutes.

Answer 8

contact a wildlife center place or something but I'm thinking they wouldn't be open so put it in a box and put some bread crumbs in there and a bowl of water too and just wait till like noon tomarrow and call them up and maybe they can do something

=) good luck!

Answer 9

Don't do anything. Its mother knows where it is and will feed it and get it to shelter at sun-down. Just keep your eyes open for cats, and keep them away.

Answer 10

Call wild life rescue or your local pound (who can put you in touch with bird rescue centers. Until then, keep it in a big box, with some water and bread crumbs. beware, the stress of being caught can sometimes overwhelm a bird and they die quickly.