Expert: Julia Booth - 8/2/2008

Question
i found a newborn bird in my yard i don't know how to take care of it. can you help.


kenneth kader

Answer
My first advice to this question will always be: Find the nest and put it back. It has about a 90% less chance of surviving in your care than under that of its parents.

If you absolutely cannot find a nest anywhere, I'd suggest notifying your local wildlife rehabilitation. This is NOT the same as animal control and they are NOT affiliated with the police. Neither of those institutions care about saving birds -just trying to save you the phone call.

If you cannot locate yours -give me your zip and I will try to locate it for you.

If you still want to try and rehab the bird yourself, there are a few things that I need to know.

-is the bird still pink, or does it have some feathers?
-is the bird able to stand on its feet, or is it weak and wobbly?
-is the bird moving around at all, or is it listless?
-is the bird making an attempt to flap its wings?

Most small songbirds are ready to fledge within two weeks of hatching. The closer the bird is to that point, the easier time you will have.

Before you ask, do NOT -I repeat- DO NOT, try to put water down the bird's beak with a medicine dropper. It will drown. Baby birds get all of their moisture from the food they eat. They don't develop the ability to keep water from going down into their lungs instead of their stomach, until they are a few months old.

THIS: http://aviary.owls.com/baby_bird.html
is the best site I have found on hand feeding baby birds.
Understand that even if you do everything right, the bird could still die. This is why I usually recommend this as a last resort.

Good luck!

Julia