Expert: Roger Lederer - 8/28/2008

Question
Hi,
Me and my younger brother recently witnessed a baby robin fall out of its nest and we took care of it for about a month while it grew, feeding it many times a day whenever it chirped and it was nearly full grown.  My younger brother and father had taken the bird out to try to let it go, and it had kept coming back to get fed, so they were in the process trying to teach it to gather food on its own outside when a hawk swooped down and grabbed him.  My brother had grown quite attached to this bird and is extremely upset having watched it be killed.  I was wondering if you know there are places that maybe allow you to adopt, say an injured robin chick or something of this nature. Or places where you can incubate robins eggs yourself, because it was more like a pet than a wild bird after all that time, and I feel very bad.  It was even landing on his arm when he whistled.  Thanks.

Answer
Robins rarely fall out of their nest; they jump when they are ready even though they cannot fly. You should have left it alone as the parents would have taken care of it. As you observed, the bird got so tame it did not learn to avoid predators and got eaten. It is not legal to adopt or keep a wild bird. If you are interested in helping birds, you can contact your local wildlife rehab center to volunteer.