Expert: Julia Booth - 7/15/2008

Question
QUESTION: This past weekend I noticed a small bird nest secured in a fairly high bush right near our deck, high enough that our deck is about 7 feet off the ground and when you go out on it the bush with the nest is right there. There were two newborns in it and they looked fine, the mother was tending to them (feeding the babies and sitting on the nest every so often). They have been getting slightly bigger over the last few days but were still bare for the most part with just a tiny bit of fur growing on them. I noticed today (Tues) when i got home that the nest was empty so I looked down on the ground near the deck and found the two birds laying there. One was dead (prob from the fall) the other was still breathing. I took a paper towel and put the living one back in the nest hoping the mother would come back, I kept an eye for 1/2 hr hour but had to leave, it's very hot out about 90 degrees and I'm worried about the bird. Is there anything I can do to ensure that the one baby will survive? How could they have ended up on the ground?????

ANSWER: Putting the baby back in the nest and was its BEST shot at survival, believe it or not. If possible, notify your local wildlife rehab. If you don't know what it is, give me your zip and I'll find it for you.

Birds do sometimes fall from the nest before they are ready. Sometimes a predator causes it -although that doesn't sound like the case or he'd have been eaten shortly after.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Do you think the mother bird will come back to help it? I mean once I get home from work if the bird still happens to be alive and the mother isn't there should I give it anything? Do you think the mother bird pushed them out? I mean they were only like 1 week old at most not even!!!!
I did call all the numbers in my area, SPCA, Humaine Society and the local police and they all said that there is absolutely nothing they can do. The police dept said that animal control in the area wont do anything either so he didn't even bother giving me their number.

Answer
No, the mother didn't push them out. Hugely unlikely. The police and animal control are the wrong people to call -they probably laughed at you for your concern. Animal control is only helpful if you want something killed, not the other way around. Wildlife rehabilitation is the person to call and often people don't have that resource or even know of its existence.

The mom will probably come back, but if she doesn't, it's not your fault. There's nothing you can do about it. Putting the baby back in the nest was the way to go. Your responsibility ends there. It's sad, I know. But there's nothing you can do about it other than what you've done.

One week seems young to you, I know. But most songbirds only require 2-3 weeks to fledge and be independent of their parents. Mallards can swim immediately after hatching and Quail can feed themselves as soon as their born. Birds function differently than we do.

Sorry to hear about this and sorry I couldn't help you more,

Julia