Taking care of baby bird?

Question

i have a baby bird, i think its a sparrow. my brother found it in our garage. i think i know the tree tht the nest is in. i took the bird inside and gave it some mushed bread and water with a toothepick. it ate a little but i think it was confused because its use to its mom giving it food. i found something on the internet tht said when a bird has all its feathers(mine does) it will leave the nest, even before it can fly. it said to leave it on the ground by the nest because the parents will still take care of it. and i already know tht the whole birds will reject the baby because of human sent isnt true. anymore help or tips? i just found the bird today.

Answer 1

Ok. Put this bird back where you found it . It is a fledgling and they spend their first few days out of the nest on the ground., They will flap and fall over and try to fly. The mother and father bird will feed it wherever it is on ground. They will recognize their babies cries and the baby will theirs. It is not true that the parent birds will not feed the baby or raise it because you have touched it.That is a ole wives tale. Birds have a poor sense of smell and they wont even know. They will just think it trailed off by itself and now they found it again. Put it somewhere safe close to where you found it. Do not feed a baby bird bread as the yeast can grow in their crop and sour. Should not give water either. Best thing is mealworms or soaked in water and blotted off cat food broken up. Just put it back and go from there. You can stay hidden and watch for a while to see what happens. If for some reason things dont work out call a local wildlife rehabber who can take it and raise it then let it go. but its best chance is going back where it came from. Good luck.

Answer 2

The only advice I have is to do what your source said: leave it outside so its parents can take care of it. Right now it is a fledgling: this is a critical stage in its life when it should be learning to fly and to take care of itself in the wild; if you keep it in your home then its parents cannot teach it these things, and it won't be able to survive.

You shouldn't need to worry about it surviving on its own: its parents will bring it food and encourage it to fly into a tree if a predator comes around. Just leave it somewhere high, like your porch railing or a tall upturned plant pot; you can peek out at it every half-hour to an hour to see how it's doing, but try to stay out of sight; you don't want the parents to see you and not come to the baby because you've frightened them off. If after a full day its parents still have not come for it, you should consider taking it to a wildlife rehabilitator--there's a good regional list at http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.... that should help you find someone near you. It's important to take it to a rehabilitator because they will know how to take care of it, and they will give it the best possible chance of surviving in the wild.

If you do need to send it to a rehabilitator, you can feed the bird little bits of canned cat food in the mean time, or even small bits of cooked plain chicken (that is fresh and that you would be willing to eat yourself), but don't feed it bread--bread may make it feel full because it has something in its belly, but bread isn't very good for birds, it doesn't have any of the nutrients the bird needs to help it grow. It's really only good for filler if the bird is hungry and you don't have anything else on hand.

Answer 3

The best thing to do is leave it outside in the garden,where your brother found it.It's probably not so used to eating the food you are feeding it now.Leaving it outside for a predator to get it is better for it if it is not really eating.I know it is sad.We found a baby bird in our attic,and we did the same thing.We checked the garden in the morning and it was gone.If you really want to help save its life,find someone who is a bird professional.That's all I can think of.  

Answer 4

You are correct..this bird is a fledgling (a bird that has left the nest on it's own) and it should be returned to it's parents.  Replace it near where you found it..preferably in a tree or scrub where it will be relatively safe from predators and the parents should be back to care for it.