URGENT rescued baby bird from garden what to do next?

i_wanna_save_money!

We have just found a tiny bird in the garden , and it can't fly. I am assuming it has fell from its nest on my roof. My OH has picked it up and put it in a box (with airholes), as there are alot of cats that come in our garden they would probably kill it. My question is what do we do now with it? Me and the kids just felt so sorry for it, and we didn't want it to get eaten - should we have left it where it was or not and what should my next step be?

Raksha

Yes it probably should have been left where it was. The parents will feed it and I'm afraid there is a kind of built in loss factor with baby birds

If it hasn't been handled too much by humans, you could try putting it back out in the box without the lid and watching for a while to see if the parents do come back.

Do you know what sort of bird it is? A baby blackbird will need different food from a baby sparrow for example.

lemontart

where are you in the country - you could try doing a interweb search for animal rescues in your area or the rspb

jonathon_hart

I found a baby bird one time in our garden similar to what you did. When we phoned the RSPB to ask what to do about it they just said to leave it alone.

i_wanna_save_money!

I think it is a baby sparrow. When I looked out of the window and saw it there were 4 birds sort of nudging it along but then they flew away after about 5 mins. I kept an eye on it and the other birds didn't come back. My OH came in from work and put it in the box about half an hour after i first saw it. I feel really guilty now that I should have left it there...

Lemontart - I am in Oldham.

i_wanna_save_money!

Just thought I would update those who were kind enough to reply to my thread. We opened the box up near where we picked the bird up from, and the birdie looked quite happy just sitting in the box. After about 10 minutes it came out of the box and kept trying to fly away but it could not get more than 6 inches in the air. Then what must have been it's mum/dad came and it was so sweet they were both really happy to see each other, but the bird still had to stay in my garden as it couldn't fly.

Then, my OH came home from the shop and told me that he had just seen one of the local cats running off with the baby bird in it's mouth

I am not a huge animal lover but this has upset me a bit and I feel guilty for not keeping it in the box until it was bigger. I have told the kids that it must have grown strong enough to fly, although my youngest DD age 3 says that its mum gave it a ride on its back back to the nest

pollyanna24

Aww, how sad. But I guess that's the way nature is.

When I was younger, we had a few baby birds that we reared ourselves. One was a song thrush and one was a pigeon. We let them both go when they were big enough (and fat enough on cat food!), but I don't think it is something I will let my own kids do.

If I see my cat with a bird or a mouse, I'm never quite sure what to do, but most of the time leave her to get on with it, as it's what they do, isn't it? And we shouldn't interrupt with nature? Or am I an old meanie?

Savvy_Sue

i_wanna_save_money! wrote: »

I am not a huge animal lover but this has upset me a bit and I feel guilty for not keeping it in the box until it was bigger. I have told the kids that it must have grown strong enough to fly, although my youngest DD age 3 says that its mum gave it a ride on its back back to the nest

I'm going to say "get a grip" in the nicest possible way ...

It was a wild bird. You would have struggled to keep it alive, and struggled more to teach it to fly. Would you have felt any less guilty if it had died in the box while under your care?

aliasojo

I just wanted to say I sympathise. There's been a baby seagull in our square for the last 2 days. It's squawking it's wee heart out and there's 2 seagulls that I presume are the parents, sitting on the house roof not doing hellish much to help it.

Some of the neighnours have shooed it out their gardens and the last one kicked it out, literally. It's managed to get high enough to get onto the car roofs but that's it and the cats are circling it.

I feel so sorry for the wee thing but dont see what I can do to help it. I tried to get it into our garden by leaving crumbs out for it and a cardboard box in the corner but so far it hasn't come near. I dont want to handle it but I would have offered food and shelter.

Nature sucks sometimes.

Savvy_Sue

:rotfl: you want to be nice to a baby seagull? Have you seen the size of their beaks when they're adults? Have you ever received one of their enormous 'gifts' from the sky? They are SO not cute! :rotfl:

aliasojo

Lol, I know what you mean SS, but the young of any animal is by definition weak and pretty much defenceless.

My base instincts are to help someone or something which is vulnerable.....no matter who or what and I find it hard to stand back, be hard heated about it and do nothing.....even if it is a flipping seagull who will likely grow into a big squawker who sits on my roof and wakes me up at 4.30am every morning!