Baby bird cautionary tale and questions

[Calliandra]

Yesterday we found a young robin on the sidewalk-- it was able to sit upright and gape but it wasn't quite a fledgling yet. We found his sibling a few yards away, unfortunately dead from a broken neck. Their nest was directly overhead but was far too high for us to return the chick to the nest.

We moved the chick to a safer sheltered location (it had no fear of humans) and watched over it throughout the day. The parents visited and continued feeding it.

After a midday thundershower we found him lying on his side on the cold wet ground, unresponsive, not in good shape. As per the local rescue center's instructions, we placed him in an enclosed box, and put it on a heating pad set to "low" for twenty minutes. The warmth did wonders and he revived nicely although he seemed less vigorous than before.

By this time it was getting dark. We have house cats, coyotes, a rat snake, etc. in the area, and everything outside was soaking wet; the rescue center told us to place him in a dry, shallow basket and secure it to a tree. This way he would keep relatively warm, survive the night, and be fed by its parents in the morning. They warned us not to keep the bird indoors for long, and cautioned not to feed the bird (even earthworms are verboten since they are too dry).

At 8:30PM the bird was in the basket, the parents were nearby, and all was well.

I went out for one last check at 10:30PM, and found an empty nest. And some of the nest material about ten feet away although it was a calm night. Hmmmm. And... the final clue... a feather caught on the rim of the basket. An adult feather. With bars at the end. And soft, very soft. Fluffy..... An owl's feather.

By setting up the basket in the tree, I saved him from a near-certain death on the ground, but I had also created the perfect early-evening snack counter for a barred owl.
^%&*^^%%$@

The little guy never had a chance to survive the night, either on the ground or in the tree. Next time I find a downed native chick that I can't return to the nest... I'm bringing it inside from twilight until an hour before dawn. I'm setting it in a lined basket inside a covered aquarium (we have cats) in a warm location. And I'm setting my alarm for 4:00AM, and at that time I will move the warm safe chick to a safe location outdoors so its parents can resume feeding in the predawn hours.

Has anyone tried this?
Will the parents abandon if they can't locate their chick in the night?

I also would have brought him inside for the thunderstorm even if it did upset his parents. He moved away from his protected location, and the chill and wet really weakened him. I think (?) that if I had brought him back right after the shower, the parents would still have accepted him, since they accepted him after the heating pad revival.

Anyone know how long the chick can be away from the parents? Is it a half-hour? one hour? two? Has anyone ever tried overnight?

[bridget1964]

Calliandra,
I am going to try and give you some information here. I volunteer for a local bird rescue group and I am by no means an expert.

I believe you were given some great advice and some not so great advice. The person who gave you the information is probably a volunteer like me and doesn't have all the answers to all the questions. I have instructed people to replace the baby bird in a basket nearby the original nest, but never at night. I am sorry that the bird was eaten by an owl. You worked so hard in trying to keep it alive and I feel for you.

Next time, listen to your gut. Take the bird in before dusk and return it just after dawn. The mom and dad will be anxiously looking for their child. They will not stay awake all night wondering where their baby is...

I have kept baby birds over night in a box before, but most of the time they were headed to rehab the next morning. We feed them a mixture of six or seven different baby foods (three meats, three or four veggies and fruits) and a powdered vitamin supplement with a syringe. I try to feed every 2 hours and feed right before bedtime and then first thing in the morning. The parents do not feed their babies at night, so we don't feed them at night. They were correct that you should not feed them worms or whole insects.

It is a tough call when dealing with wild animals. You should be commended for working so hard in helping the little one!

[Equilibrium]

Do either of you have window wells or any of those old plastic laundry baskets that came in white green yellow brown and pink, Milo in a basket on Flickr - Photo Sharing!?

[Calliandra]

Bridget, thanks so much for your knowledgeable post. I should have tried WG for advice!

Originally Posted by bridget1964

I am sorry that the bird was eaten by an owl. You worked so hard in trying to keep it alive and I feel for you.

I feel so sorry for the parents. The were working so hard, but still lost both chicks.

Originally Posted by bridget1964

Next time, listen to your gut.

Always good advice. It just felt wrong to leave him out there.


Equil, why did you ask about the laundry basket? Would an owl not go down into one?

[hazelnut]

Bird Rescue.

Im just getting home from errands downtown, but most of my time was spent trying to figure out what to do with two birds in the CVS parking lot. They actually seemed big enough to fly, but were too damaged somehow to actually do it.

On inquiring inside the store I found that one of the birds had already been stepped on. One of the stock girls thought the mother was in the eaves of the store and the birds had fallen out of the nest. I nearly stepped on one myself and decided I would take it down the road to the vet and ask them what to do. When trying to rescue that bird, I saw another one -- also stunned. Later I learned the manager had put him on a ledge at the front of the store. He didn't seem to be able to fly either.

So finally I got to the vets. She suggested taking the birds to the woods behind the store and hope the mother would find them. So that's where they are. There were lots of other birds and the two seemed to be happier to be hopping around in a shaded area. Maybe they will recover from being stunned and figure out how to feed themselves? There were lots of other birds in the woods--it seemed a good bird place.

I gave one a potato chip. He pecked away, but didn't seem able to get any off to eat.

Have I done all I should do? Should I take them some water? Rain is expected within an hour or two. What would they eat?

[Calliandra]

Originally Posted by hazelnut

Bird Rescue.

Im just getting home from errands downtown, but most of my time was spent trying to figure out what to do with two birds in the CVS parking lot. They actually seemed big enough to fly, but were too damaged somehow to actually do it.

On inquiring inside the store I found that one of the birds had already been stepped on. One of the stock girls thought the mother was in the eaves of the store and the birds had fallen out of the nest. I nearly stepped on one myself and decided I would take it down the road to the vet and ask them what to do. When trying to rescue that bird, I saw another one -- also stunned. Later I learned the manager had put him on a ledge at the front of the store. He didn't seem to be able to fly either.

So finally I got to the vets. She suggested taking the birds to the woods behind the store and hope the mother would find them. So that's where they are. There were lots of other birds and the two seemed to be happier to be hopping around in a shaded area. Maybe they will recover from being stunned and figure out how to feed themselves? There were lots of other birds in the woods--it seemed a good bird place.

I gave one a potato chip. He pecked away, but didn't seem able to get any off to eat.

Have I done all I should do? Should I take them some water? Rain is expected within an hour or two. What would they eat?

Could you create a new thread for this? I'm worried that your post might be overlooked and it seems like time is of the essence here.

This must be the week for fledgling birds... I'm sure everyone could use some help in knowing what to do for them.

[bridget1964]

Can you tell what kind of birds they are? What is the extent of their injuries? You say they are too damaged to fly, but I don't know what that means. If they've been stepped on, they can have a spinal cord injury, broken leg, wing or worse.

I am thinking they are probably sparrows or house finches. I would not leave them in the woods behind the store. Do you have a bird rescue or animal rescue group in your area? We only have a mammal rescue group that is nearby. She gets all the calls on birds and passes them on to us and then we drive the birds an hour north to Medford, NJ.

Check in your phone book to see if there is any kind of rescue group. Even the Humane Society may be able to connect you with someone who does this kind of thing. The more I do this, the more individuals I meet like myself.

I did not get on the computer until now, 7pm, so I don't know what has happened since you last posted. You can PM me if you want to ask me more questions. Or drop me an email with your phone number and I will give you a call.

[Equilibrium]

"Equil, why did you ask about the laundry basket? Would an owl not go down into one?" I've got owls and too darn many stray cats hanging around. If your window wells are deep you can put the baby robin down in the window well for the night then put it back out where the parents can find it the next morning. Cats won't jump down unless they can see a way out and owls can't get out of the deep window wells without help. I know.... I had one end up in my 6' deep window well and we had to get it removed and released. We had to install grates over our window wells to stop critters and kids from ending up down them. The grates won't stop frogs and small birds from ending up down them but they keep the bigger critters out. Tent stakes will hold down an overturned laundry basket for a night. The parents won't stray far when their baby is under the laundry basket. Robins go flying out of nests all the time. Sometimes it's like it's raining robins so I've got to be on my toes or one of these battle ax ferals running around will eat any nestlings they find.

[hazelnut]

The veternarian advised leaving them behind the store which is a shady woods with no traffic and a lot of other birds were in that area. I found them in front of the store so its not too far. I left a marker so I can get back to that spot.

I am in rural Alabama. There is no animal rescue here. The nearest one would be 80 some miles away. I don't know what kind of birds -- they really looked old enough to fly but they just didn't. The stock girl thought they had fallen from their nest in the eaves over the store to the concrete walkway/parking lot in front of the drug store.

They didn't seem to have any injuries other than acting stunned and couldn't fly. When I reached for them they did make sounds and backed away using their legs and wings so they didn't seem to be obviously injured. They just didn't fly. The one that had been placed on the ledge to keep people from stepping on him, just stayed there for about 1/2 hour or so, so I don't think he was able to fly either.

My guess is that they just didn't know how--but then they did not appear to be babies either. They were fully feathered--not like newborn birds.

Ill check tomorrow and see if they are still where I left them.

[Calliandra]

Good luck Hazelnut.