AboutRoger Lederer Expertise Any and all about wild birds - the science of ornithology. Information about birdwatching, ecology, conservation, migration, behavior, banding, rehabilitation, feeding, songs, binoculars, identification, and careers in ornithology. No questions about pet or caged birds, please.
Experience Have a PhD and thirty eight years as a professional ornithologist - research, teaching, author, speaker, webmaster of Ornithology.com . Have written thirty scientific papers, two bird field guides, a textbook in ecology and two recent books entitled "Amazing Birds" and "Birds of New England". Have traveled to over 80 countries watching birds.
Question We had a nest of baby cardinals. It looked like there may have been two babies, at least that we could see when they raised their heads to be fed. Up through yesterday evening, both mom and dad were feeding. This morning when we went outside, we saw the dad in a bush near the house and one baby was sitting on the edge of a beance.We figured it was leaning to fly. The mom and other baby were no where in sight. The little bird tried to fly back to the bush where the nest was and hit the house..he fell to the ground but was ok.. eventually he fly into a rather "thorny " bush and all the while dad was hovering around.. we thought he was stuck and went to trim some of the branches but both dad and baby then fly to the edge of the woods For awhile dad was flying from branch to branch and baby was kind of hidden in a low lying bush. This all transpired over several hours with us periodically checking on them.. Now I went out and baby is still in the bush making little chirping sounds and I can not find either mom or dad. I am worried about the baby and wonder if Dad abandoned him or if dad was hiding..do we need to take action, ie get the little bird and try and feed him or try and find a wild life place..or do we leave them alone.. I am afraid the dad couldn't find the baby in the bush and just gave up. Any info or help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Answer As is often the case, the best thing is to leave the birds alone. The young birds leave the nest before they can fly and the parents feed them on the ground until they can. If you interfere or disturb them, the parents will make themselves scarce instead of feeding the young. Best thing to do is to let nature take its course. Unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure that the parents have abandoned the babies, please do nothing. IF and ONLY IF they have abandoned them, call a wildlife rehab place. Thanks for your concern.
