How to help baby birds

This advice relates to garden birds, this being the most common type of baby bird encountered by humans. For advice on waterfowl chicks please see here

There is a great deal of misinformation about what you should do with baby birds and a great number of birds die unnecessarily as a result. Certain national domestic animal charities run huge campaigns each year telling the public never to pick up a baby bird. If you call them you'll be told to leave the bird alone regardless of the situation, any injuries and the age of the bird. It certainly is important not to interfere when not needed but each situation should be assessed individually by a wildlife expert. There is no one single appropriate response to a baby bird situation.

The sad fact is that baby bird casualties run into many many thousands each year. Caring for them is extremely resource intensive, pretty mundane, messy and sometimes disappointing as a fair number will die. As a result some organisations are keen to avoid taking them in and not above giving out incorrect information to achieve this. The advice which follows is unbiased. It is based on many years of experience in caring for baby birds but with nothing to gain from giving you incorrect information. Our only motive is ensuring that baby birds are given the help they need when they need it.

The first and most important thing to remember - the golden rule - is that any bird which has been caught by a cat, regardless of it's age, will need treatment. There are bacteria on cats teeth which will pass into the birds bloodstream when it is bitten. Without antibiotics within a few hours of the attack the bird may develop fatal septacaemia.

The second most important thing to know is that baby birds are fed by their parents as often as every 15 minutes. If they are not fed regularly then they actually start to digest their own stomachs, causing irrepairable damage. So if you do find a baby bird you must seek assistance urgently. If you cannot get it to a wildlife rescue quickly, then either keep it somewhere completely dark (which will send the bird to sleep and it will not then need to feed) or feed it every quarter of an hour with moistened cat food (apart from baby pigeons (see below) or waterfowl). Never feed worms (some are toxic), milk or alcohol (very dangerous old wives tales).

On the subject of old wives tales it is not the case that parent birds will reject their babies once they have been touched by humans. Birds have quite a poor sense of smell and recognise their young through the sound of their call. So you can safely handle a baby bird to assess it for injuries or move it to safety without fear of upsetting Mum and Dad.

So, when should I rescue a baby bird?

	If the bird has been caught by a cat
	If the bird is obviously injured
	If the bird is out if it's nest and is not feathered (return to the nest if possible, if not it will need rescuing)
	If the bird is out of it's nest, only partially feathered (eg it's tail is short and it still has a fluffy appearance) and there is no sign of any parent birds for a couple of hours
	If the nest has been destroyed and the occupants are not fully feathered
	If the bird is in immediate danger from a cat, cars or any other threat. You can try placing the bird in a bush or low branch of a tree but if it is still in danger it will need rescuing.
	If both parents have been killed.
	If the bird is fully feathered, not injured and not in immediate danger. The bird is probably a fledgling taking it's first flight. If possible place the bird in a hedge or low branch of a tree to keep it safer. Observe to make sure the bird remains safe.

If you find a baby pigeon the same rules for whether or not you should intervene apply, although baby pigeons are fluffy when they hatch, never actually bald. You should not attempt to feed a baby pigeon - this should only be done by very experienced handlers - but the good news is they can safely go without food for several hours. Baby pigeons are often mistaken for ducklings so this is what a baby pigeon looks like


Ooh it's really cute, can I keep it as a pet?

No, no, no, no, no! If you take only one thing away from this website please let it be this. Wild animals are just that. They are not pets. Rearing baby birds is a full time job and then some. They need to be fed every 15 minutes from dawn til dusk. In the summer this means up at 6 and feeding til 10 without a break. The cat food suggested on these pages is fine to keep them going for a few hours but long term they need a specially forumlated mix containing the right balance of vitamins and minerals. Knowing when to stop feeding them is a practised art and I've seen many inexperienced people overfeed and choke a baby bird. They also need to be kept at just the right temperature.

Even if you get the bird through this difficult stage what will you do with it then? Do you really think it fair to keep a bird designed to fly free in a cage, on it's own with no company of it's own kind? As it grows up it will revert to it's wild state and come to fear and hate you. You will be condemning the bird to a miserable existence. If you're reading this website, if you've gone to the trouble to rescue a bird then you must really love animals. Please demonstrate this by doing what is best for it. Please take it to an experienced wildlife rescue so that it can have the best possible chance of being rehabilitated and returned to the wild. If you have fallen in love with it why not offer to help at your local wildlife rescue and perhaps get involved with rearing babies for them? Some rescues have foster schemes where helpers take babies home with them either full time or even just an evening a week to help ease the burden on them.