I'll take care of it for you
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There’ not very much you can do in a situation like this, just let nature take its course.
Call a veterinarian or pet store and they will probably know of a wildlife rehab person in the area. If it has its feathers and can hop, the bird might be ready to fledge. If not, it will need help, but the parents might just be waiting for the coast to be totally clear. It’s a tough call, and I’m sure someone will have better ideas.
You might want to go to a live cam of any kind of bird and the moderators or viewers might be able to help—also, there are bird forums.
The best thing to do,right now is find a bird sanctuary, if you can. Your local humane society should be able to give you enough information.
Or you could adopt it and try to keep it alive. It will only,live 3-5 years, so it could be a worthwhile thing.
We raised a baby starling that had fallen from it’s nest. We used a night light to provide warmth and a cardboard box lined with old towel material (anything to block a draft and give him a warm corner. If you use a night light, be sure he can’t burn himself by leaning against the bulb.(the kind we had was a dome and he liked to sleep like snoopy on top of it but we thought it would heat him up too much and with dehydration - he’d just sorta cook on top of it so we made sure the light was close enough to provide heat but not cooking capacity. Caterpillars were small and plentiful at the time (and juicy...ugh) so we fed him that. You can probably feed him grubs etc. because that’s probably what mom/dad were feeding him. The baby bird ate around the clock or so it seemed/felt. But after a few weeks he was getting bigger and so were the caterpillars and my mother, who fed him while we were at school, could not stand the sight of him noshing down those big fuzzy things so he was switched to chicken mash (feed mixed with water to an oatmeal consistency). That was spooned into his trap about every four hours by day (ok and probably sometimes at night- we probably overdid that because I doubt parental fowl were acquiring grubs at night) Chicken mash/slurry can dry/harden to his chest to form a chicken mash beard- you gotta be careful. He graduated to time outside although he’d still land on you for some chicken mash/slurry and then he adapted to life in the wild and flew away.
Whatever you feed him should supply him with water (for example, you couldn’t feed him dry seed or dry chick pellets). If you were to feel that he was eating dry roughage or seed, you’d need to supply him with water by mixing or later via a little dish (shallow - even a bottle cap full)
For what it’s worth, to my knowledge, it’s illegal to keep as pets or even rehabilitate wild animals (including small birds) without proper licensing.
You know, you do need to be careful if you decide to give him straight water - I’d give him juicy food at first. Baby birds can sway drunkenly and fall beak first into water when trying to learn how to drink and aspirating water can cause a fragile bird to sicken and die. So juicy food (insects, grubs) and then if water, maybe drops of water on a plate that he can tap with his beak or some other shallow dish.
I had a sick adult cockateil that was not strong enough to stand on the side of a water dish and balance himself safely so I dangled the dripping tip of a wet wash cloth near him and just pecking at it angrily dropped enough water into his beak to refresh him. A sick/listless bird can become too weak to drink the water they need so the washcloth or for a bird that is really too weak to strike at the cloth, I just dipped my finger in water and touched the side of the beak (again - a cockatiel) and that was enough to pull him through (tiny amounts of water overcome dehydration in a tiny little body).
Hi djf,
We have saved many baby birds and have found that soaked Purina dog chow mixed with squashed bird seeds is very nourishing and successful. You can feed them by putting the food on a pair of toothpicks and holding it above its head and he will reach and swallow it, You can be sure that its parents have not left. You did right by putting him back in his nest. If you see that the parents are back, just stay out of their way, but if they don’t show up keep up what you are doing and when he starts flapping his wings, make sure that if you see he didn’t quite fly yet, pick him up and put him back in his nest. You will always feel good whether you are successful or not, and remember - if you save a baby bird and let it go free - it sends prayers back to you for the rest of its life!!!! Good luck !!!
The notion that parents won’t touch a baby touched by humans is a fallacy. If you know it was fed recently, wait it out a bit. Otherwise, I’ve not got advice for feeding it. Others here might.
I have saved several starling chicks by feeding them dry cat food soaked in warm water.
I’m thinkin’ this threads’ for the birds.
Parents won’t come back is myth
You can get some Kaytee handfeeding formula to carry it through. Remember that baby birds grow up quick, if it’s already falling out of its nest it’s only a week or two away from flying away for good.
The Grub, Bug and Fishworm Preservation Society (GBFPS) opposes all efforts to rescue any birds unless they are entirely seed eating.
The GBFPS’s official position is that international peace is impossible as long as huge vicious birds are allowed to prey on little critters. So “Kick the Chick!”
The parents will take care of it if you leave the area in peace.
I found out last year that most birds go through a stage where they leave the nest and are pretty helpless on the ground. It can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks before they’re really flying.
During this time, the parents take care of the baby.
It is VITAL that humans not interfere in this process. The baby needs this time on the ground to learn, strengthen it’s wings and get stronger. It’s a natural part of their development and if we interfere, they will die.
Many fledglings are lost during this time, but that’s part of nature. (We’ve got a hawk around here who’s getting great dinners off our fledglings.) The ones who make it are doing great within a week or two.
I had heard that, too. But last year I put one back in the nest and the parents kept feeding it. They didn’t abandon or avoid it.
Don’t even start feeding the bird, It’s more work then you can deal with... Sounds like the baby jumped out of the nest.. I have taken care of 2 of them that did that.. WOW, Talk about a ton of work... Stick it back in the next and keep an eye on it... The thing about touching a baby bird is not true according to my VET... You have to feed a baby bird every 20 mins while the sun is up.. You don’t want to even start that job!
I have successfully raised young birds feeding them canned catfood. I used a popsicle stick split in half lengthwise and blunted as a spoon to shovel it into their mouths.
It was awesome watching Woodrow learn to fly. He perched on a stick and hurled himself into space in my general direction, and bounced. But about the third try he made it all the way to me—maybe 5 feet.
A couple of days later I turned him loose. I guess I have maybe a 50% success rate.
I'll take care of it for you
You have done about all you can do.