Expert: Roger Lederer - 6/19/2006

Question
About 3-4 weeks ago a neighborhood kid brought a baby bird, eyes closed and no feathers, to my house and left it with my husband. When I got home the chick was ice cold. I warmed him up and went online to learn how to take care of him. He is now a full grown healthy bird. I still hand feed him at night when I get home from work because he does not eat alot on his own. He does drink water and flies around his cage. He likes to be held and comes right to me when I sit by his cage to talk to him. He always talks back. I tried to release him yesterday but he didnt fly that far away and when I went under the tree that he was sitting in he flew right back to me. It took him almost a half hour just to leave the cage after I opened to door too. Hes not a strong flier but I guess thats due to him being in the cage at home. I am afraid to let him go if he wont be able to take care of himself but I also think it may be cruel to keep him as a pet even though I would love to. Could you give me some advice? Thanks so much!!  

Answer
Well, it is a wild bird but you inadvertently made it less wild. My suggestion is to put his cage outside and leave the door open - let him get used to the outside and other birds and hopefully he will join them eventually. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com