Expert: Julia Booth - 6/22/2010

Question
I found a young chimney sweep in our fireplace. I le it be for a while to see if the mother would help it (about 20 minutes) but no such luck so i picked it up and placed it in a box. I REALLLY dont want it to die and id be prepared o raise it as a tame bird if it comes to that but, im not sure what o do. The bird cannot fly (no tail feathers) its eyes are open and its small about 3-4 inches. ive read a bit about handling an feeding but, i neeed to know what . It makes twittering noises every now and then. Ca you PLEASE telll me what i should do???? im going o petsmart (or Petco) today and seeing if i can find bird formula and some syringes an get an opinion. but ive gotten help from this site about animals before so im hoping it will help again.

Answer
Forgive me. I had a family emergency and was unable to access internet.

Caring for a baby bird is a full time job. Typically they need to eat every 75-90 minutes. That particular bird survives mostly on insects, like gnats, flies and mosquitoes, which it catches with its mouth while in flight.

If you're prepared to meet its dietary needs, great. I commend you in advance. But if not, I can help you locate someone who can.

Just know that even though you may be raising it by hand, you're not compromising its potential for survival in the wild. It probably seems like the opposite is true. But being released is actually its best chance for survival.

Here is a great site. Probably the best I've seen, in regards to caring for swifts and swallows: http://britishwildlifehelpline.com/swift_rearing.html

Let me know if you need more help or if you want me to locate someone in your area who can help you with this,

Julia