Baby "house finch" fell out of nest, still unable to fly, cats going crazy, what to do?

Question

There's been a nest of house finches in the "under-roof" of our backyard patio for the past few years (they come and go while reusing the nest), and the babies just hatched about a week ago I think. Two have fallen out (or have tried to fly and failed, we don't know), and have been sadly eaten by our cat without our knowledge. There is now one left, and sure enough, he fell out of the nest too. The parents have been trying to coax him to fly since yesterday, but I honestly think he's too young. He still has a few baby feathers on his head and is still all pudgy. We've locked the cats in the house but we can't keep them in here forever, and the baby bird is still flailing around outside. The nest is really high up in a corner so I'm scared that we'd hurt the bird more than help if we tried to put him back with a shovel or something. What should we do?

Answer 1

Your best bet is to contact the Department of Conservation.  They have animal rehabiliators and rescuers that may be of help.

Answer 2

Simple.  Which do you care for most?  I'd get rid of the cats and keep the birds.  Cats kill millions of song birds in America every year.  I personally would have no problem listing the domestic cat as a terrorist and having an open season on it.

Leave the wild to the wild.

Edit:  Don't waste your time calling Dept of Conservation.  They care but just dont have the time, money or people power to handel every bird that falls out of a nest.  Some people really just plain dont know what they are writing about.

Answer 3

Get a ladder and gently with your hands put him back up in the nest.  The mom and dad birds won't mind.  If he dies it won't be your fault because lots of birds die from things like that out in the wild.

Answer 4

This bird did not fall out of the nest..it left because it was ready to leave.  Baby birds leave the nest BEFORE they can fly..perfectly normal.  The parents care for them until they can fly, and even for a little while after they learn to fly.  Just leave your cat in until they clear out of this area.  The baby should be mobile enough soon to hopefully avoid you cat.  Also, hope you are aware that cats are responsible for the death of millions of songbirds each year just in the US alone and are contributing to the decline and endangerment of many species.  Look here for more info:

http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/poli...

Your cat will be safer indoors as well.  Also, cats are domesticated animals and really no longer have a niche in the ecosystem so should really be indoor pets.