Very young baby bird found in flower bed. Please could you advise me?

[lucianne1973]

Hi, my neighbour called me this afternoon to say she'd found a tiny chick whilst watering her flower beds this afternoon. It is tiny (2 -3 inches long), eyes not open, and not feathered, although you can see feathers forming under the skin on the wings, tail, and pinpricks down the back.

No nest is visible in the vicinity, although it was under eaves where sparrows might be nesting, and near a conifer where birds could be nesting. I suggested we sit down the garden for a while and see if we could observe any birds, but none came in a five min period, and the chick was wet and cold. I picked it up and warmed it in my hands whilst we phoned the RSPCA and Wildlife Aid. I volunteered to hand raise it, and they advised me to feed it chopped maggots. I couldn't source any maggots (6.10pm) so I've got waxworms and mini mealworms. I gave him (?) about four waxworms, chopped in half, which he took greedily. I've offered food around half hourly until dark, which he has happily taken. He also took mealworms, but they were more difficult to administer.

I know I'll have to feed half hourly from dawn... although I read on a website that it's possible to feed later with artificial light and then delay dawn by placing the 'nest' in a box. Birds Does anyone have any experience of doing this? For tomorrow I'll get up at dawn but it would be much better to be able to get up later and feed later.

I've got him in a tub filled with dead moss and shredded tissue, on top of my vivarium (over the heat lamp) for warmth.

Any advice would be really really welcome. Thank you!

[PeteIsntAPuffin]

You made the wrong choice.

You should never pick up a baby bird. Especially not after waiting for five minutes

Good luck handraising it. Lord knows you'll need it. The bird will be lucky to make it to adulthood, let alone survive in the wild.

[lucianne1973]

Gee...thanks for that... How long was a chick that can barely lift its head going to survive wet and cold in a flower bed? It can't move for itself, so what would have happened other than it dying of cold within a short time?

I waited in the hope that seeing an adult looking interested nearby would at least allow me to identify what kind of bird it is.

What do you think I should have done, and on what rationale?

[Crumble]

Hi lucianne.

I can't offer any advice. Only 'done' ducklings in the past.

Whether you did right or wrong (I'm not qualified to say) I hope you get some practical advice. Well done for doing what, to you, appeared to be the right thing at the time.

[lucianne1973]

Thank you Crumble. I can't see that I had any other choices than 1) pick it up or let it die of cold in the flower bed, and 2) try to hand rear it, or try to get it 20 miles to the Wildlife Aid place tomorrow, where they can try to hand rear it.

From what I've found online, it looks to be 3 - 4 days old.

[Crumble]

The general advice, as you probably know, is to leave chicks for several hours, to see if parents return to feed. I can see your dilemma though, in that even if fed, it didn't have the physical protection of a nest and a brooding parent.

I don't know how capable chicks are at that age of self-supporting, but I think I would have done the same as you.

I'll be interested to read what others would have done given more experience and knowledge.

[cara pace]

Hi Lucianne 1973 and welcome!

First and foremost, the bird must be kept warm. It can't regulate it's own body temperature, so you must make sure it doesn't get too hot or too cold.

Does the bird have any injuries?

I'm not too sure about delaying feeding as I've no experience of doing it and I personally wouldn't risk it. The bird will need regular feeding from dawn til dusk, so it is a huge commitment and cannot be undertaken lightly. I would say that if you have to go to work or be other places during the day, it may be better to take the bird the 20 miles to the sanctuary. However, if you are willing to undertake this, I'm sure they will advise you step by step.

Something else I have to mention, is that the mealworms must have their heads crushed before you feed them

Do you have any pics of the bird in question?

[Farplace]

Best advice is on the website that you have already seen. Keep it warm, feed it often on live food (as you are doing) but remember to crush the heads of mealworms before feeding them to the bird, and keep your fingers crossed. Good luck.
Jan

[spillergent]

hi i have found a fledgling in my garden observerd of a good 2 hours it is a black bird i have id it and not in that bad shape had to move to a bush so cat didnt get it kept watching and the cats just kept just coming back it nearly had the fledgling sneak little blighter so had to take the fledgling in no sign of mum and dad black birds through out but i think u did the right thing with the very young bird if the animal is in danger or going to die then humans should interven but only then good job

[spillergent]

change my email so want to make sure i keep up to date with this thread so sorry about this message