Taking care of a baby wren help please!

[Spring]

A baby wren got stuck in our rat trap (one of those gluey ones) and we took it out and cleaned it up. We have never taken care of a wren before and could use some pointers.

[valleyforge]

Originally Posted by Spring

A baby wren got stuck in our rat trap (one of those gluey ones) and we took it out and cleaned it up. We have never taken care of a wren before and could use some pointers.

Hi Spring, and welcome to the WAB forum.

Hand rearing a fledgling of a small, mainly insectiverous bird, such as a wren, is not an easy proposition if your aim (as it should be) is to eventually return it to living in the wild. Its nutritional requirements are quite specific and not easily replicated in captivity.

I feel your best bet is to make contact with an avian wildlife rescue organisation in your area, who can take on this task for you. Most wildlife rehabilitators will allow you to be present when birds or mammals you have brought them are eventually released, if you have indicated you'd be interested in witnessing that.

If you need assistance in locating a suitable wildlife rehabilitation organisation near you, let us know which general part of the country you are in, and we can hopefully supply you with some approriate contact details.

Meantime, it is important that you keep the fledgling warm. Mix some oatibix or weetabix with a little warm water and a small quantity of well-mashed meat-flavour cat food ... you need the mixture to have the consistency of a 'gloop', sort of like a thick wallpaper-paste ... the oat or wheat breakfast cereal contains glutens which help make the mixture sufficiently sticky so that it can be picked up on the end of a blunted cocktail stick, or with a child's paintbrush and presented to the bird.

If it's not sticking particularly well, your mixture is either too dry or too wet. Adding a small quantity of mashed banana to the initial feed mixture is useful too as it provides a good mixture of natural sugars and salts to help combat dehydration ... it also helps make the mixture 'gloopier'

The fledgling may not at first open its beak to be fed. To encourage it, gently wipe the mixture along the side edge of the beak from hinge to tip a few times. Some of the liquid in the gloop should seep through between the upper and lower beak and persuade the bird to swallow it.

Do not rush this procedure ... it is very easy for a baby bird to breathe in liquids and aspirate, so go slowly and gently. As the bird becomes used to your presence it should eventually gape and allow you to place a small piece of the mixture into its beak. Ensure that you place this as far back in its beak as possible, and allow it to swallow completely before offering more.

There is sufficient liquid within this mixture that no further water needs to be supplied to the bird at this stage, and a seperate water dish should not be provided to any baby bird until it is able to feed itself.

The mixture I have described will keep the bird in good stead for a few days only, it is not sufficient as a rearing food. If you do need to keep the bird yourself for any longer, then you need to supplement the mixture with a propietary insectiverous bird food, such as Sluis Insectiverous, or Bogena. Both can be sourced readily from several mail order companies on the internet.

Please bear in mind though that hand rearing a fledgling bird generally requires you to feed it every 2 hours, from dawn until dusk, for a period of perhaps 10 to 14 days ... so it is a full-time commitment and not something you can readily fit around a working, school or social life.

If you can provide a photo or better description of the wren, we'll have a better idea of just how old it is, and provide more focussed support accordingly. Best of luck.

BTW, please get rid of (responsibly) any glue-traps you still have. They are a hazard to many non-target species, as you have unfortunately discovered, and certainly not a humane way to kill rodents.

[Spring]

Thank you for the wonder full info but I am sad to inform you that it has died. We believe that it died due to it injuries caused by the trap. But we now have a new dilemma we had given two robin eggs that my grandma found to the dove beside our door she took them and one hatched yesterday but we had to take it out since it was starving due to the fact that they do not eat the same thing and we are not sure what we should feed it. I guess that you could call us the neighbor hood animals rescue but we have never taken care of a robin of this age. Please help asap!

[paulinemiller10]

I don't think its a good idea to hatch baby birds Spring, as they will need special care, and not easy to look after, they will need a heat pad and maybe chopped worms, best to follow the advice valleyforge has given you, and find an avian wildlife rescue organisation as soon as possible. Pauline.

[meinchewster]

Originally Posted by valleyforge

Hi Spring, and welcome to the WAB forum.

Hand rearing a fledgling of a small, mainly insectiverous bird, such as a wren, is not an easy proposition if your aim (as it should be) is to eventually return it to living in the wild. Its nutritional requirements are quite specific and not easily replicated in captivity.

I feel your best bet is to make contact with an avian wildlife rescue organisation in your area, who can take on this task for you. Most wildlife rehabilitators will allow you to be present when birds or mammals you have brought them are eventually released, if you have indicated you'd be interested in witnessing that.

If you need assistance in locating a suitable wildlife rehabilitation organisation near you, let us know which general part of the country you are in, and we can hopefully supply you with some approriate contact details.

Meantime, it is important that you keep the fledgling warm. Mix some oatibix or weetabix with a little warm water and a small quantity of well-mashed meat-flavour cat food ... you need the mixture to have the consistency of a 'gloop', sort of like a thick wallpaper-paste ... the oat or wheat breakfast cereal contains glutens which help make the mixture sufficiently sticky so that it can be picked up on the end of a blunted cocktail stick, or with a child's paintbrush and presented to the bird.

If it's not sticking particularly well, your mixture is either too dry or too wet. Adding a small quantity of mashed banana to the initial feed mixture is useful too as it provides a good mixture of natural sugars and salts to help combat dehydration ... it also helps make the mixture 'gloopier'

The fledgling may not at first open its beak to be fed. To encourage it, gently wipe the mixture along the side edge of the beak from hinge to tip a few times. Some of the liquid in the gloop should seep through between the upper and lower beak and persuade the bird to swallow it.

Do not rush this procedure ... it is very easy for a baby bird to breathe in liquids and aspirate, so go slowly and gently. As the bird becomes used to your presence it should eventually gape and allow you to place a small piece of the mixture into its beak. Ensure that you place this as far back in its beak as possible, and allow it to swallow completely before offering more.

There is sufficient liquid within this mixture that no further water needs to be supplied to the bird at this stage, and a seperate water dish should not be provided to any baby bird until it is able to feed itself.

The mixture I have described will keep the bird in good stead for a few days only, it is not sufficient as a rearing food. If you do need to keep the bird yourself for any longer, then you need to supplement the mixture with a propietary insectiverous bird food, such as Sluis Insectiverous, or Bogena. Both can be sourced readily from several mail order companies on the internet.

Please bear in mind though that hand rearing a fledgling bird generally requires you to feed it every 2 hours, from dawn until dusk, for a period of perhaps 10 to 14 days ... so it is a full-time commitment and not something you can readily fit around a working, school or social life.

If you can provide a photo or better description of the wren, we'll have a better idea of just how old it is, and provide more focussed support accordingly. Best of luck.

BTW, please get rid of (responsibly) any glue-traps you still have. They are a hazard to many non-target species, as you have unfortunately discovered, and certainly not a humane way to kill rodents.

Nicely put.....makes you wonder where one finds robin eggs if not in a nest and then hatches them off under a dove....smacks of an over eager youngster to me.

Spring, as advised, dispose of the sticky traps asap and use humane methods. Bird eggs are best left well alone given that it is illegal to disturb nesting birds

[valleyforge]

Originally Posted by Spring

Thank you for the wonder full info but I am sad to inform you that it has died. We believe that it died due to it injuries caused by the trap. But we now have a new dilemma we had given two robin eggs that my grandma found to the dove beside our door she took them and one hatched yesterday but we had to take it out since it was starving due to the fact that they do not eat the same thing and we are not sure what we should feed it. I guess that you could call us the neighbor hood animals rescue but we have never taken care of a robin of this age. Please help asap!

That's an unfortunate end for the wren, Spring.

The advice I gave you for feeding the wren is equally applicable for feeding robins, but with hatchlings you need to be feeding every 20mins or so for the first 7 days ... that is a huge commitment and probably not one that someone of your inexperience should be tackling, I'm afraid, even with remote support.

Caring for wildlife is of course terrific, but in this instance you do really need a lot of background knowledge too to be successful in raising 'orphan' birds.

I think you really need to contact a local wildlife rehabilitator ... and fast.
Let us know whereabouts you are, so we can provide contact details of someone who might be able to help you.

As other posters here have advised, it is rarely a good idea to try to incubate the eggs of wild birds and in fact, under most circumstances, just having them in your possession is illegal.

[Spring]

Iam not incubating them the dove has already hatched them but they were dying of malnutrition. And in answer to one of your posts I did not take them out of the nest they were in my grandmas guter when she cleaned I out and one had already broken and the mom was not coming back. I do not need a contact number since we already have one and will be calling it asap. Thankyou for all the help.

[HedgehogRescue]

Spring, go to your details page and put a location in so people can tell where you are. It's much easier to point you in the direction of experienced rehabbers if we know where you're local to.

[Spring]

I do not need a rehab contact since I already have one and we have already called them and they took the robins. And for your information I am not an over eager youngster I am in fact a very experienced wildlife rescuer.

[meinchewster]

Originally Posted by Spring

I do not need a rehab contact since I already have one and we have already called them and they took the robins. And for your information I am not an over eager youngster I am in fact a very experienced wildlife rescuer.

No offence intended Spring, just that as most experienced wildlfife resucers are aware, intervention is always a last resort.

People have obviously got to clear gutters etc, but it is in fact illegal to disturb a nesting bird.