Expert: Roger Lederer - 5/31/2007

Question
Dear Roger,
Yesterday morning a baby Jackdaw fell/jumped? from our chimney pot. It landed in our neighbours garden where it was chased and wacked by their dog. They put it on the roof to fly away. In the evening I heard alot of noise outside(from the parents) and found it looking very ill on a pile of rubble in my neighbours garden. There are 6 cats between me and neighbours and so I brought it inside, fed it some soaked puppy food and this morning it looks much better. It is very young, cannot fly, very short tail feathers and still looks quite weak, dog has obviously hit it around its head, but it is alot brighter than yesterday and has began calling to its mum.

I noticed it has a pink and black beak, seems odd for a jackdaw, not the regular colour? also seems alot smaller that the other baby that was with the parents. We have jackdaws in our chimney every year and never had a problem before.

If I leave it on the ground one of the cats will catch it. Or could I attempt to put it back in the chimney pot if I can find a roofer to help me? I can access the chimney from the top inside of my house, but am scared the nest will fall through. Have you any suggestions?

Many Thanks

Laurel  

Answer
The very best thing to do is leave it where you found it and hope the parents will feed it. Do not put it back in the nest. Young birds leave the nest before they can fly and are fed on the ground by the parents until they can fly. If that is not possible,try to find a wildlife rehabilitator if you can find one, or your local wildlife official. Failing that, go to www.ornithology.com/rehab.html for advice on raising young birds. Thanks for your condern. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com