Expert: Roger Lederer - 6/27/2007

Question
in my neighbors yard, there is a tree with a nest in it, low enough to the ground that a 10 year old could probably see almost into it. there are baby birds, 2 or 3, in it. Well, once i looked into it. One of the birds stumbled out of it-it couldn't fly yet. It fell to the ground, unharmed i think. I was worried that it would never be able to get back to its nest, so with the help of a box i gently picked it up and brought it to its nest. i was worried because I thought maybe because i touched it, its mom would never feed it and it would die. The next day, I checked on them. The 2 that were in there both fell out... i was like oh man. There was no box. I got one back in but then the parents got back and were mad. I had to leave the other one on the ground and I'm so worried it will never get back to its nest and also their parent wouldn't feed them or something... help me please!

Answer
Baby birds at about two weeks of age, have feathers but are unable to fly. At that time, they jump out of the nest. It is very rare for birds to fall out of a nest; they just leave on their own. So the best thing you can/should do is leave them alone - their parents will take care of them. Also, it is not true that if you touch the eggs or young the parents will abandon them. I have handled thousands of young birds with no problem at all. Just let nature take its course. Thanks for your concern.