So how do you feed a baby bird?

[Clark2008]

I know they eat worms, so is feeding them the tinest little sliver of raw turkey bacon (yeah, yeah... cannibalism) going to hurt them?

See... the storm knocked a baby bird out of a tree. Momma's been watching with pluckiness, but she can't do a thing for the little tyke. I nearly killed him, stepping on him.

I haven't touched him. I just had him hop into a box, grabbed an old bird's nest out of one of my bushes and then fed him a moth and a little sliver of bacon (and a drop or two of water from a medicine dropper).

I'm hoping he'll get well and just fly off someday.

Oh, dear. I'm too kind-hearted.

BUT, I haven't touched him. Maybe Momma birdie will come by and still take care of him until he's old enough to fly.

Any suggestions?

[XemaSab]

1. Is there a wildlife rescue place nearby?

What kind of bird?

Will the humane society take him?

[mzteris]

2. web link to what to do

"LOOK, A BABY BIRD. NOW WHAT?

Tips on what to do when you find a bird in the wild.



http://www.prettybirds.net/Wildbirdfoundtips.htm

[Clark2008]

3. Oh, thank you!

I just really fell sorry for the little guy. He seems perfectly healthy, just not able to fly, yet.

[XemaSab]

5. Figure out what he is

before you feed him.

[AlienGirl]

9. KayTee Exact Handfeeding Formula is good for almost all species. nt

[blue sky at night]

4. do a little research on the internet.......

you will find exactly what to do. You are ok by not touching him, but he must eat. If you know what he is, that will help also. There is a chance if you leave him alone the mom will get him back in the nest, but the problem is other birds will kill and eat him. This is a touchy situation, but look on the web. Here is a site to start out:
http://www.rivernet.net/~nbiggs/

good luck, and thanks for caring.

[Clark2008]

10. Hadn't thought about other birds.

I was just trying to get him up off the driveway and out of a brewing storm.

The link above told me to feed him some soaked dry dog food (got that) and set him back near the tree where I think he came from.

I've got him on my porch (near the tree, actually) and will just move him in the morning. Momma's been hanging about. She knows where her baby is and was actually quiet when I was feeding him (she'd been squaking at us - my 6-year-old son and me - until I fed him and then she cocked her little head and shut up - like she knew I was being kind).

We live in a neighborhood. I'm sure the birds are used to the folks around here feeding them and such - they're wild, but not so wild they don't know what people are.

[Zuni]

6. barf in it's mouth

;)

[nytemare]

7. Zuni, I was thinking the same thing!

LOL. Then I figured it was a tad too gross to say.

[Clark2008]

12. LOL! My dog just killed a moth and gnawed on it

Um... guess what little Robin's next meal is going to be?

:)

[AlienGirl]

8. If you can see the nest, put him back in it.

The idea that birds will abandon their babies if touched by humans is a myth. My family even once built a substitute nest for a nest of robins whose nest was knocked down by a storm--the nest was an old Easter basket lined with soft stuff, and we scooped the babies off the ground and put them in the new "nest" as close to the original nest-site as we could. The parents, who anxiously watched this whole process, raised their babies in this human-made nest just fine.

If you can't find the nest, or it's unreachable, and the baby bird is not close to fledging (is not fully feathered), your best bet is to take him to a wildlife rehab center. Baby birds are a PAIN to raise, even if they are cute.

Baby birds need to be kept warm. I have used a heating pad on its lowest setting and covered in a towel under an acrylic aquarium as a brooder.

Don't try giving baby birds water--the opening to their trachea is on the back of their tongues, and they can easily aspirate water and die. :-( Infant bird formula is available at pet stores; it's designed for raising baby parrots, but almost any species will do okay on it. You prepare the formula by mixing a powder with warm water to the consistency of a thick slurry, then feed the bird with an oral syringe (eyedropper in an emergency). This slurry provides complete nutrition and adquate water. Again, you have to be careful to angle the syring toward the back and side of the baby's throat to avoud the tracheal opening. Baby birds (except swallows) need to be fed every thirty minutes from 5:30 am until 11:00 pm. Swallows need to be fed every fifteen minutes.

Good luck. I hope you have a wildlife rehabber nearby.

Tucker

[Clark2008]

11. It's a robin red-breast.

I couldn't tell that by IT, because it has markings almost Blue Jay-like, but the Momma is a robin.

[uppityperson]

13. Baby Robins have interesting behavior

When they grow to a certain stage they get shoved off the nest so mama can hatch a second batch. Since they can't fly, except down, papa follows them around on the ground for a week, regurgitating into their mouths. After a wk or so they can fly and follow papabird around. So, if you find a baby robin on the ground, sit quietly nearby and listen, see if you can hear baby and papa calling back and forth. Put the baby into a bush and let it be overnight. Usually papabird is nearby.

This is one of those evolutionarily questionable chicken/egg things. They hatch 2 batches because survival rate is so low due to predation from their 2 main predators, cats and dogs. (I'd add small children to the list) However, if they didn't kick the first batch out so young, they might survive longer. Round and round.

Good luck,

[Clark2008]

14. So it was Papa squaking at me, not Momma!

OK.. well... I've got this licked, then.

I've got it up in an old abandoned mud nest in my carport. I offered it some more soaked dog food and it was sleepy, sleepy. I'll leave it sit tomorrow and see if it's OK.

Papa can come get the little one!

[uppityperson]

15. I had this happen a few yrs back so did some research

Robins always seemed like basic birds to me, became much more interesting after reading about them. Not just pretty but interesting. I did the same call, come and get him papabird.

[hickman1937]

16. I have a question.

What do you do when you find a Kildeer? Mom was caught and killed by a dog, and we couldn't catch the babies. The farmer who owned the field said that sometimes you can do nothing. This was after he spent hours disking around the nests that my then boyfriend marked with sticks with flags. It still bugs me almost 30 years later.

[AlienGirl]

17. Kildeers are precocial (the chicks are up and moving from hatching)

In most precocial birds, like chickens and ducks, the babies are pretty self-sufficient from birth, and can feed themselves. So as long as no predators came along, there's a decent chance the babies made it anyway.

If you find (and can catch--those babies are fast, and they run from their first day) an orphaned baby kildeer, the best bet is to take it to a wildlife rehab center. If that is not at all possible, the baby needs warmth and food--moistened chick mash and finely-chopped earthworms placed on the ground for it to peck at (like a chicken chick) and a very shallow source of water.

Tucker

[hickman1937]

18. Thank you. I watched some of them thru binaculars around

hatching time. They move fast. They also seemed to have feathers at birth. Like I said, it was a long time ago.

[AlienGirl]

19. They come out covered with down

It takes about three weeks or so for them to start flying, but from hatching they're fuzzy, able to walk around, with the instinct to peck at stuff for food, and with open eyes. So they're way ahead of the many species of altricial birds, whose babies are featherless and look almost embryonic.

Tucker

[hickman1937]

20. They have a beautiful call too.

Haven't heard it in years. I don't live near any open fields, or water. I miss their sound.