I found a babybird on the sidewalk,and its mom was not around. Its a few weeks old what do i do?

Question

some blue on wings,but mostly brown fethers with white puffs

Answer 1

My mom had experience with a bird like this before.  Trying to pick it up and put it back in the nest would be a bad idea.  Once birds leave the nest (or are booted), they're gone, and your scent would be on the chick anyway.  The best thing you can do for it is to give it verbal encouragement.  Since it isn't imprinted onto humans, and it's wild, you probably wouldn't have much luck trying to raise it in your home.  My mom found a bird in the front yard, and every day when she came home from work, she'd talk to it and encourage it to fly away.  Once it was an adult, it visited her when she was outside for a few weeks.

Answer 2

The best thing would be to put it back into the nest. Your scent would not be on the bird. It is a misconception since their sense of smell is not very good. Birds do sometimes kill their young if their nest is disturbed but that is only if they can see you messing around. If you know where the nest is wait for parents to leave and then put the baby back in the nest.

If you don't know where the nest is you might want to take it to a wild life rehabilitation center.

If you don't have a rehab in your area and you don't mind keeping the bird you might want to try to raise it yourself.

Whatever you decide you have to decide fast since their metabolism is much faster than human - they cannot stay too long without food and water.

First go to your nearest pet shop and buy a formula for small birds. I used Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding Formula for all baby birds. You will also need a syringe usually sold in the same department. All you need to do is mix it with hot water in the right proportion for the age (instructions on the back) and fill the syringe.

To feed the bird with the formula set it on a table and bring the syringe from the top to it's beak (imitating arriving parent). Do it a few times if the bird doesn't respond right away. If it does it will open the beak and grab the syringe - don't squeeze too much - go slowly so that she could swallow everything you give it without choking. If the bird still doesn't respond squeeze a bit onto the side of her beak - some of it will seep in and eventually she should start eating.

There is also a way to force her to open her beak by lightly squeezing the base of the beak from the sides. I don't like this method although it did work for me in the past. The technique I mentioned earlier seems to work quite well without having to stress the bird...