I found a baby bird and there's a storm coming! What should I do?

Question

I put the nestling robin in a basket with nest stuff in it and I know for certan that it's parents are near, but there's a thunder storm coming! What should I do so it survives? No dumb answers, please.

Answer 1

You must keep it warm then return it to the parents after the storm. Put it in a cardboard box with paper towels on the bottom. Make a nest of rolled paper towels.



Fix a lightbulb over the box, close enought to warm the bird but not so close as to make it open it's mouth because of too much heat. The parents will NOT care that you have touched it. No need to feed it unless you keep it overnight. Then soaked puppy chow or kitten chow, until soft. Make small enough to put into baby bird's throat. This will also provide the hydration it needs. Warmth is most important of all.

Answer 2

Leave the baby bird right where you found it. It is a wild bird. They are outside and survive in storms.



If it is a nestling (still bare/fuzzy), try to get it back in the nest. Don't worry that you have touched it, birds do not have an acute sense of smell, and the parents will not reject it because you touched it.



If it has feathers, it is a fledgling. Baby birds fledge (leave the nest) a few days befroe they can fly. They hop around on the ground and climb low branches until their wings are strengthened enough for flight. The parent birds continue to feed and care for the fledglings until they are self-sufficient. So if it has feathers, leave it alone!



If you must "save" the bird, then take it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, as you do not have the training, or the proper permits, to keep the bird. You can find a licensed rehabilitator here: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm



But the best thing is to leave the bird alone and stop interfering with nature.

Answer 3

Oh no! No bird has ever survived a storm! Because birds lay their eggs underground and die whenever it starts raining. The young are born underground and grow to adults and start singing within minutes.



Why have you fussed? This is not your baby. Its parents know full well that the storm is coming, and they want to make sure it's safe (you do not know how to do this - they do). Stand back, human, and let the pros take care of it. Remove the basket and everything else, just lay the bird back on the ground and don't go into the garden for at least an hour to avoid disturbing the family. What would you do if someone took your baby and hid it, trying to protect it from a storm? You don't give the bird's parents much credit, do you?



Sorry to sound harsh - I know your heart's in the right place. It's just that every human in the world seems to think wildlife depends on them, and that interfering is a good idea.

Answer 4

Keep the baby bird until the violence of the stom passes, and most of the advice I agree with--return it exactly where you found it absolutely as soon as you think it is safe. You should have no fear in having the parents reject the bird. Birds do not have a well-developed sense of smell and will not reject a bird touched by humans (this is not the case with all wild animals, though--birds are special). It still may not be advisable to touch a bird with bare hands, though, because it may or may not have parasites. It is also, as was stated, important to keep the bird warm. In my two experiences with baby birds, I have fed them small amounts of wet dog food if I kept them overnight. When you do return the bird, place it down and get as far away as you possibly can without losing where it is. This will help make the parents comfortable in coming back to feed it. Once you see good interaction between bird and parent, you can rest assured that everything will be fine and if you've done a good deed. If you wait several hours with no interaction, as a last resort, take the bird to a local humane society or wildlife care provider. An untrained person cannot provide adequate care for a baby bird. Best of luck!

Answer 5

you will get meal worms at a puppy keep. If the toddler is basically too youthful, you will desire to combination the worms with a sprint cooked oatmeal and use an eyedropper. try this each and every hour or so. If the toddler is sufficiently old to consume worms, use a tweezer and carry the meal trojan horse for it. in case you are able to not get to a puppy keep and get meal worms, you are able to feed the toddler a mix of cooked oatmeal (cool it off) and canine nutrition, as long because it may pass right into a dropper. once you're desperate, basically liquify any grain cereal by cooking, or soaking in milk, even bread soaked in bread and then mushed up, then feed with eyedropper.

Answer 6

Make sure you haven't touched the bird with your bare hands or make sure you don't any more if you have. The parents will reject the baby if they smell you on it.

Take the nest, bird and all, to your garage. Set on a table there or something similar to a table.

When the storm passes, return the nest to the place/tree that you think it fell from. Again, be careful not to touch it.

If you need to take care of it for more than a few hours or if you see that the parents have rejected it. Feed it worms chopped up with a knife and use tweezers to feed it. Like most babies it will take many small servings of food throughout the day.

If it is wet, try to towel dry it but be very gentle as you do so as to not damage its wings.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Put it back were you found it. The parents will take care of it, storm or no storm.

Answer 8

well you can keep it in side till the storm passes.