Baby bird found in garden - advice please!

[CharleyG]

Hi there. Last night, about 9pm, my dad found a baby bird sitting in the back garden. My cat was heading for it so he chased the cat away before she got to it then stood guard and called us down. It was a fledgling baby blackbird and the parents were nearby as we had heard them making a lot of noise and didn't know why (they do this often as their nest is nearby and a lot of cats in our area). Anyway, we could not leave it there as it was very exposed and would definitely be caught by one of the many cats - ours already was aware of it. It started moving across the garden although couldn't fly and was chirping, we assumed for its parents. My dad put on rubber gloves (I know they say its a myth that human touch puts off the parents, but we didn't risk it) and lifted it onto something on a nearby tree. The parents went crazy and flew at my dad, the baby chick was distressed too and jumped out of the tree and fell straight to the ground. That was quite upsetting as I'm not sure if it hurt itself, it was about an 8 foot drop, is that normal for a bird or would that have injured it?? It just sat huddling after that and we left it alone while we thought of something else to do. My mum got a cardboard box (no lid, just sides so it wouldn't jump out again) and lined it with news paper, my dad lodged it into a nearby tree with good cover and again lifted the chick and put it into this. There was no sign of the parents this time when we lifted it which concerned me. We went indoors and left it alone then. I could hear the chick (at least I think it was) chirping or calling for a while...can't be sure if parents came back as theres lots of trees around us. I am just wanting to ask was this the right thing to do and do you think the parents will come back to it in our box? Also, is it ok to leave it in that box, will it be able to get out? I don't want to go back and disturb it again but can't stop thinking about the wee thing..

[seamusagleann]

hi charley and welcome to wab. i think you have done all you can for it ,it's up to the parents now. i'd keep an eye on it ,from a reasonable distance and see what happens. how is it this morning ?

[CharleyG]

I don't know as the box is high up so can't peek in without climbing a ladder and hoking through the branches and I don't wanna disturb it. I've got my dad on watch though in case he sees anything and watching out for cats. I'm just worried about the fall it had the first time we lifted it and whether it can get out of the box or stuck there on its own!!

[mystic meg]

Hi Charley you need to take the box away, although the fledgling is calling the box will appear alien to the parent birds, and they won't come near it. the best thing you can do is let the bird out of the box, place him not too far away from where you first saw him, and observe him from a distance to see if the parents are still about. If they arn't then he will need some help, but give it a good hour or so.

[CharleyG]

But I can't let it out near to where I found it as a cat will surely catch it? There are so many round us... I read on a website that putting it in a makeshift nest near the original if you can't find the original nest is a good idea and the parents will still feed it? Dad says he has seen the parents in the garden this morning looking for food and can hear them all....he thinks that they are feeding it? But its hard to know...

[mystic meg]

Hi Charley, There are cats everywhere! You can't save every bird from the threat of a cat, what you can do is keep an eye open for cats coming into your garden and if they get too close to the fledgeling squirt them with some water say from a squeezy bottle ( sorry cat lovers) the bird deserves a chance to be free and with its natural parents. When birds fledge the nest they want to be on the ground until they develop their flight feathers it usually takes from between 1-2 wks, but as the feathers grow they will be able to get a little higher each day ... so you need to be patient and let nature take its course

[CharleyG]

Hopefully a happy ending to my story!! My dad kept an eye out and saw the parent birds in the garden looking for food and they appeared to fly into the tree where we had put the box. I came home a couple of days later and went out and checked on the box - it was empty with no sign of the fledgling round about so I am hoping this means it has flown the nest now!! Or at least has hopped to somewhere else that isn't as dangerous as our open garden! )