Saving Baby Birds!

Good Evening!

When you find a baby bird and feel it is in danger and need to save its life, please make sure you wear gloves when handling the baby birds and wash your hands thoroughly after handling them because they may have a disease that can be transmitted to humans.

After the initial rescue of baby birds you feel are sick or injured, please contact wild life rehabilitators as soon as possible so they can finish caring for the bird. Even though it is very kind what you are doing , the wild life rehabilitators have more experience and training necessary to save the baby bird's life.

Please do not try to force feed the bird with water, food or milk ( they cannot tolerate milk at all) because you may cause more harm than good. There is a direct route to the lungs of the bird found at the back of its tongue and by forcing food or liquids down its throat can possible drown the baby bird.

Make sure the bird is warm. Baby birds are susceptible to chills and pnemonia. When holding the baby bird in your hand it should feel warmer than your hand. The way to supply warmth to the bird is as follows: Snuggle the bird in facial tissue that is directly next to either a warm heating pad on low or a warm or a hot water bottle making sure it is not too hot. Put the baby bird in a well ventilated box and put in a dark and quite place away from your pets and noise. You may be pleasantly surprised to know that maybe all that is required to get the bird that seems like it needs help only needs a few hours of rest and recuperation. So let it be.

Make an artificial nest from a plastic berry box and make nest material out of facial tissue. To avoid injury to the baby bird do not use cotton, grass, cloth or shredded paper. Make sure the edges provide support for the body and head of the baby bird since the legs of the baby are still to weak to support it. Put the artificial nest back where you found the baby bird because the parents are probably searching for it. Don't worry, the parents will not reject the baby since you touched it, that is a myth. Tie the artificial nest to a hidden limb with a string or rope so it is secured and do not leave any extra string dangling. For the next two hours watch the nest constantly as far away as possible so the parents can reconnect with their baby bird. After the parents reconnect with the baby the will feed it and then take off again until the next feeding.

If the parents do not come for their little baby after a few hours contact your nearest Wildlife Rehabilitator.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this information.

For more information about birds click bird lover.