Help Me What Is This Baby Bird!

[emilou22]

my mum brought home a baby bird, its freiend was being attacked by a cat but my mum saved this little fella before the cat got to him. But I have no idea what breed or age he or she is. I was also hoping for some advise on how to care for him or her. Please help.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Greenfinch I'd say. Willing to be nay-sayed though.

A warm welcome to WAB too , Emilou. :-)

Cheers,

Adam

[emilou22]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

Greenfinch I'd say. Willing to be nay-sayed though.

A warm welcome to WAB too , Emilou. :-)

Cheers,

Adam

do you know how old he might be he is flapping but i have no idea if i should let him go. he keeps gapping his mouth which im guessing mean feed me? but i have no idea of what to feed him?

[Hedge Witch]

Hi Emilou, I have no experience, but this is one of the better threads on the subject. Good luck.

Baby sparrow (help!)

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by emilou22

do you know how old he might be he is flapping but i have no idea if i should let him go. he keeps gapping his mouth which im guessing mean feed me? but i have no idea of what to feed him?

Well it still has down on it so it is only just out of the nest, but it is old enough to have fledged but still be being fed by its parents. Wouldn't like to put an exact age though. Probably only been out of the nest a day or two at most. I would guess it is a youngster from a second brood at this time of year.

Cheers,

Adam

[valleyforge]

Hi emilou22,

I would agree with Adam that this does look like a fledgling greenfinch.

At this point, there are a number of considerations you must make to give this bird a chance of survival:

1) First of all, the bird's own parents are those best suited to raise it. If the bird was only picked up today, consider if it can be returned immediately to where it was found to be released in a spot which is safe from cats/other predators/children/traffic. If so, do so, and then keep watch over it from a distance until you are sure that its parents have located it ... may take a couple of hours watching.

2) If point 1) is not practical, then the bird will need a surrogate parent. Best option is to locate a wildlife rescue centre in your area, and phone them.
If they can't help, they may know someone who can. Your local vet may also know of someone with experience of fostering birds, although don't expect the vet to take the bird in.

A list of some rescue centres is available on this website at this address:
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/maps/rescue-centres

Don't hang about though, as the bird will need to be fed soon.

3) If you can't find someone in your area to help you, you will need to assume the parenting role yourself ... this is time consuming, and requires both dedication and stamina, but provided that the bird is uninjured by the cat, it can be done successfully following instructions that we can give to you.

Let us know what you plan to do, so we can provide further support as necessary?

[emilou22]

Originally Posted by valleyforge

Hi emilou22,

I would agree with Adam that this does look like a fledgling greenfinch.

At this point, there are a number of considerations you must make to give this bird a chance of survival:

1) First of all, the bird's own parents are those best suited to raise it. If the bird was only picked up today, consider if it can be returned immediately to where it was found to be released in a spot which is safe from cats/other predators/children/traffic. If so, do so, and then keep watch over it from a distance until you are sure that its parents have located it ... may take a couple of hours watching.

2) If point 1) is not practical, then the bird will need a surrogate parent. Best option is to locate a wildlife rescue centre in your area, and phone them.
If they can't help, they may know someone who can. Your local vet may also know of someone with experience of fostering birds, although don't expect the vet to take the bird in.

A list of some rescue centres is available on this website at this address:
Wild About Britain

Don't hang about though, as the bird will need to be fed soon.

3) If you can't find someone in your area to help you, you will need to assume the parenting role yourself ... this is time consuming, and requires both dedication and stamina, but provided that the bird is uninjured by the cat, it can be done successfully following instructions that we can give to you.

Let us know what you plan to do, so we can provide further support as necessary?

It has been two days since my mum brought him home. We did think about putting him back the nest was on the floor. When my mum picked the baby bird up first it was under a car along with the cat that was tomenting it. There were originally 2 babies but a larger bird, my mum said it might have been a hawk or something like that, flew down and attacked the other baby green finch and flew off with it.
I have bought some dried meal worms to feed him on. I have been soaking them in water so they are soft when he comes to eat them. He is also drinking water of my finger. He is starting to fly a little not far at all only half a foot every now and again.
I am wanting to know more about when I come to weaning him, my next door neighbour has an aivery, i dont know how to spell it. But he has budgies and two older green finches, that he got of a friend. So I will be giving him to them when he is weaned and eating hard feed and flying well enough. But I have heared that the are really hard to wean. Any advise? and when should I start to wean him? and how is it done?

[Kayleigh]

Please dont let someone keep him as a pet, he a wild creature here are some rescue centres I think that is the best root for the chick as they will rehabilitate him back into the wild..


Wildlife Rescue Centres

[valleyforge]

Hi emmylou22,

I agree with Kayleigh that the greenfinch in your care should not be kept as a pet, and except in exceptional circumstances it is actually illegal to do so!!!

Perhaps your neighbour's birds are 'captive bred' in which case they will have closed rings on their legs, and be registered as such.

You really should hand the bird over to a wildlife rescue organisation that has the necessary experience to foster the bird. 'Weaning' BTW is a term that is rightly applied to mammals, not to birds whose parents don't provide them milk.

In the meantime, you must provide a properly balanced diet. I suggest you get some tinned or sachet cat meat (not fish-based cat food), and mash some of that with water and a little crushed weetabix or oatibix ... this forms a gloopy mixture that you can then add further foodstuff to, to provide some variety and a balance of nutrients.

This food should be fed from the handle of a teaspoon, or something similar, if the bird is gaping to be fed. If the bird can already pick up food for itself, then make the mix a little drier and provide a few sunflower kernals (the seed without the outer husks) or some budgie/canary seed.

Adding the soaked dried mealworms to this basic food is fine, but try adding the yolk of a hard-boiled egg (not the white), some mashed banana, or some mashed boiled potato on successive feeds to see what it likes best.

Also try feeding thin slices of apple, pear, grape, banana, strawberry or a couple of small leaves of lettuce or raw spinach.

Let it have a shallow container of water (jar-lid or bottle top) and ensure whatever you keep it in has a couple of suitable perches.

Please let us know how you get on and don't hesitate to ask for further help.

I forgot to add ... if the bird is not able to pick up food and feed itself, you will need to feed it by hand every hour during daylight (say between 0530hrs and 2100hrs) ... that won't give you much chance to do anything else probably. :-(

[tcvarlh]

Isn't this situation a conundrum wrapped in a riddle tied with puzzlement and served with a side order of enigma, what to do for the best? I feel that the fate Nature has reserved for fledglings that fall or hop out of their nest is a logical one, to be food for something else, but that's my head speaking. My heart goes out to the poor wee critter and I am moved to aid it. Then I have the distressing problem of what to do with the beastie. Do I wait to find the parents, will they accept the youngster after being handled by the enemy, will they attack it, how to feed it, and raise it correctly and so on?
It is hard to do but I have come to the conclusion, my head is right, I can handle a mammal, I am one myself, there is not that great a difference between a baby badger and baby human, but a bird is another world. I can't teach it to fly or seek the correct food. I may be causing it intense suffering and trauma merely by rescuing the fledgling; I imagine seeing a great pair of hands coming towards you would scare most creatures half to death. Therefore, apart from lifting them off the ground and placing the birds I find in trees or out of the way of cats I leave them alone. But each time I do this I sadden my world a little more.
h