Expert: Roger Lederer - 12/23/2011

Question
Hello Roger,

This morning when i was feeding my chickens and ducks i heard heaps of birds fighting and i didn't realize what about until i saw this little bird that had fallen out of the nest. i think the baby is a willy wag tail? not sure, but i had NO choice but to pick it up because it was getting eaten alive by ants, i tried to climb the tree but there was no hope on getting him back in the nest it was just to high i have parrots,budgies,lovebirds,ducks & chickens, but none of them were hand raised from babies do you have any idea what i can do with him i am not killing him of course, i am not exactly sure what age he is he has down feathers and some adult feathers on his wings about 3 or 4 but i do not think he was  fledging, i have him in an old fish aquarium (cleaned# with about 15 sheets of paper towel stacked up i have been feeding him weetbix with warm water #not too hot, not too cold)and not to watery, but not to dry am i doing things right?, am i putting the right bedding in?,
please do you have any tips?.

Answer
Hi. First, with those kinds of feathers on his body, he jumped from the nest, not fell. So you should not put him back in the nest. Best thing to do is find a bird rehab center or wildlife official to help you. Weetabix is not a good food for him as it does not have enough protein or vitamins. Try ground up hard boiled eggs. The bedding is fine.
As I said, try to find someone with experience raising birds; in the meantime, go to www.ornithology.com/rehab.html for information on raising baby birds. And thanks for your concern.