We picked up a baby bird that fell from their nest. I'm planning to take care of it, any tips how?

Sadly, it probably will not survive. It is a wild animal and you are not a professional. You should call animal control...they alone know how delicate a baby bird is. It's mother will NOT accept it back now that you've touched it. The bird could be ill, which is why the mother rejected it in the1st place.

It could be injured if it fell far, as well ...so please seek the help of a qualified vet or call animal control.

Good luck :)

bad idea. call your county extension office though for help.

should put it back

It'd probably be best if you just gave it to your local aviary or animal rescue center

i dont think its gonna work

Put it back in the nest. The myth that the mom won't take care of it isn't true. Last year a baby bird fell from its nest on our garage and we put it back. I checked on it a couple of times and it did fine.

I tried that when I was younger and the bird died from shock-just the slightest movement.
You can't keep a wild animal, it's just not fair for them. Bring th ebird to someone who knows how if anything-an animal shelter often is informed on how to do this. My animal shelter constantly is taking in injured birds, I bet yours could help as well.

wild animals are just not meant to be tamed and those raised without a mother and father(in some breeds case) won't know how to survive in the wild.
You should have left it if anything so that the mother would find it eventually...I don't know..There's no good option anymore. Nature needs to be left sometimes.

it will probably die you should contact your humane society alto of them have a person who deals with birds, but some baby birds purposely jump from the nest and the mother watches and still feeds the baby, i made this mistake once thinking i was saving a baby, turns out the bird guy told me that i should have left it since the mother would have still taken care of it and it would of been flying very soon anyways and that it was natural for birds to fall when they getting ready to learn how to fly but good luck and hope the baby makes it

Do not listen to most of the answers here. Most are completely wrong and will result in the death of the chick.

Do not handle the bird. Do not attempt to feed or give any liquid to the bird. Especially milk. Milk comes from mammals - not birds. Birds are lactose intolerant.

YOU CANNOT KEEP THIS BIRD - It's illegal.

Native birds and wildlife are protected by law. You cannot have a bird, an egg, a nest, or even a feather without proper licenses and permits.

Do not tamper with wildlife. It's nesting season, and many babies are on the ground. The worst thing you can do is interfere.

FLEDGLINGS DON'T FALL FROM THEIR NESTS - THEY JUMP. They can't fly yet - they are supposed to be on the ground.

Baby birds develop feathers and jump out of the nest (fledge)before they can fly. They are called fledglings. Fledglings stay on the ground for days, are fed by the parents, taught to survive, while gaining strength and coordination before flying.

If this bird is a fledgling, you must return it immediately. It's parents are nearby, but may avoid the area until you leave.

Tiny babies who have only down feathers are called nestlings. If you find a nestling who has fallen from a tree (not a ground nester) - you may replace it in the nest, if possible.

Don't worry about touching chicks or eggs when necessary. Birds have a poor sense of smell, and a strong parenting instinct - they do not reject eggs or babies that have been touched by humans.

Wild birds must be raised by wild parents, who feed them the correct food, and teach them survival skills, and migration paths - they cannot learn this from humans.

Wild animals are illegal as pets. You cannot keep them. And it's cruel to try. They are never tame and suffer severe stress in captivity.

IF YOU CARE LEAVE IT THERE. Unless an bird has been attacked by a cat, or is visibly injured - leave it alone.

If you do find injured wildlife, please contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. These services are free to the public. Here is an official list of rehabbers and clinics worldwide:

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/

One other thing. If it is nesting season in your area - other animals are also breeding. Please do not touch baby mammals, who are generally not abandoned. Baby rabbits in nests are often left in plain sight.

Please keep pets indoors, and outdoors only when supervised. Cats are the biggest threat, as their saliva contains bacteria that is lethal to birds. Even the smallest bite or scratch can infect them.

Any wild bird who has been attacked by a cat should be brought to a rehabber for lifesaving treatment immediately.

Please listen to Suzi and any others who told you NOT to keep the bird!

Baby birds fledge (leave the nest) several days before they start to fly. They hop around on the ground, and they climb on low branches until their wings are strong enough for them to fly. The parent birds continue to feed and care for the fledglings until they are self-sufficient. If the bird has most of his feathers, leave him alone (or if you have already taken him, put him back.)

If the baby has mostly fuzz, he is not ready to fledge. Try to put him back in the nest. Do not worry about your scent being on him. It won't bother the mother. Wildlife biologists take baby peregrine falcons out of the nest to test them and band them, and they handle them with their bare hands. When they put the babies back in the nest, mom never rejects them. You can see photos here: http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/p...

If, for any reason, you can not get him back in the nest and you are afraid that the neighborhood cats might get him, call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. You should be able to find one here: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact....

Licensed wildlife rehabilitators have the specialized training to care for sick, injured and orphaned wild animals, and they have the required state and federal licenses that allow them to keep the wild animals until they are healthy enough to be released.

Do not take the animal to a vet - vets are for pets, and most vets do not have the expertise to care for wild animals; nor do most vets have the proper licenses that would allow them to keep a recuperating wild animal.

Do not attempt to keep this bird and care for it yourself. In the US, all native migratory birds are protected under federal law (Migratory Bird Treaty Act), and it is illegal to keep any protected bird unless you have the required permits. Penalties for violating this law include up to $500 and/or up to 6 months in jail for each offense. http://ipl.unm.edu/cwl/fedbook/mbta.html

It doesn't even matter if you did not intend to break the law: "It is a "strict-liability" law, meaning that there is no requirement for law enforcement agencies to prove "intent" to violate the law. That is, if you are found in possession of a protected species or its parts or products, you are automatically in violation of the law." http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/bir...

Many other countries have similar laws pursuant to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which is an international treaty, protecting their native species.

Do your best for it. Chances are no one will come to it's rescue but you. Go to the pet store and get baby bird formula and do what the package says and keep it warm. I did find a turtle dove that fell out of the tree when I was 14 and he lived a ripe old age and a happy one with me. Good luck

yes, it will probably die- they often do. but a lot of the live too, and when they do it's wonderful. it's a big commitment though, especially if it is very young. a lot of feeding and care, and for weeks!

1st you need to figure out what kind it is- to figure out what it eats. (i use my mum for this, so i'm not much help on that bit unfortunately) it will either eat jellymeat like cats do if it eats bugs or something along the lines of complan mixed with water into a paste is it is a seed eater. how well it eats will depend on how old it is- you can tell by looking at it's feathers and beak, a younger bird has fluff (or is bald) more than feathers, they only start getting real feathers when they are older- they start off as funny poking spikes- this is the feather enclosed in a sheath which will pull off slowly as it grows. it's beak when it is young is soft and puffy in the corners, this srhinks as it gets older. older babies will take food pretty easily, but when they are young you need to push it way down in their throat. the best way is to get a blunted wooden skewer, put a little bit of food on the end and hover it in front of it. they will usually open their beak to this, it's instinctual. if not, you can work their beak open gently and use your fingers to hold it open. make sure you push the food in over their toungue, and deep into the throat. that part can be pretty strange. the food collects into a ball in their 'throat', so look under it's head and you should be able to see this happening. when it is young you will need to feed it every hour or so, as it grows, more food but less often. it'll need to drink as well, that should be reflex if you hold it's head up and trickle water into beak.

to keep it, you need a small cardboard box, something about 3-4 times as big as it is best. line it with newspaper, for cleaning, and some scrunched up tissues... we once had a box which we had made especially for babies- it had heaps of old feathers stuck through the lid so it was warm and cosy inside. it needs to be kept warm- we often kept them in the hot water cupboard. when it's feathers are smooth and cover it completely (no fluffy tufts on head) it should be able to be released. sometimes this takes a while- i had a sparrow once who came back! good luck and if i can help with more info at all please ask.

also, i don't know what the rules are there but do talk to a local vet, some of them are more than happy to help with cheap/ free care or at least with info. :)

Eat it

feed in dills

eat worms and regurgitate.
repeat as necessary.

you'd probably kill it... find the nest and return it...

keep it warm feed it every couple hours tweezers chopped worms do not put it back mother will kill it she may have kicked it out anyway because she had too many for the nest

If you know what kind it is (insect eater or herbivore) you need to mash suitable foot and add it into their open mouth with a pipet (or small turkey stuffer kind of thing).

You can't force it to eat, they have like 2 mouths (basic words) and if you shove food into the one you see, it'll drown // choke. It is really confusing...I'm even confused now but apparently thats how it works.

first off it needs a bed usually a shoe box filled with an old towel next is food i usually feed the ones i find noodles cus they look like worms

i guess it eats regurgitated worms...

Unfortunately, now that you've come into contact with this bird, it won't survive for too long. Birds need their mother's care or else they will die. It's too late to put it back into the nest now though, since the mother may find your scent on it and reject the rest of her babies. She may never come back to take care of the other ones. Even if you do manage to take care of it, it'll never learn the proper hunting and flying skills it needs to learn. Please, call animal control, or bring it to a shelter where it can be looked after properly.

Hope this helps,
Andrea

In the time it took to post the questions its probably died already.

A local specialist is its best hope and its best hope isnt much.

if you plan on taking care of it then letting it go back to the mother it will not take it back, if your going to do this do not touch the bird very much. the bird will probably not do too well in captivity but you could try. as a baby it has to have processed food so feed it like ground worms or something like that.

well, i wouldn't. you think you're doing a good thing, but you're not. once you release it, it has no idea how to hunt for worms and stuff. they were dependent on you for food when they shoud've been learning how to find food from their mother. the best thing you can do is, take a ladder and wait for the mama bird to fly away from the nest you caught it from. don't let her see you (i.e. peek out a window near the nest.) then put the baby bird in the nest with a ladder do it quick or she might come back, see you, get scared to death and abandon the nest and babies/eggs

Feed it diluted milk with a dropper. You will need to actually put the milk drop by drop into its mouth. If you can, mash up worms and feed them to the baby bird. Also, very important: keep it away from the reach of any pets or stray animals like cats, dogs or the like

What kind of bird is it? Anyway, you should feed it every 45-60 min. and as it gets older give it harder food untill it is weaned. Keep it away from any other pet(s) you might have. Care for it!! Keep it warm!! Teach it to fly if you are going to let it go by playing catch with it with a friend. Be gentle!! If you are going to keep it i would suggest getting its wings clipped soon. Give it a good name!!
Good Luck with your bird!!

Your compassion is valiant but your effort violent. You have doomed this bird. With your scent on it, the mother will kill it, and you are not properly equipped to take care of it.

Don't do this again. When birds fall from the nest, the circle of life takes over. They feed bugs and neighborhood cats and they nourish the soil. Humans should not interfere. Honestly the most humane thing to do for an abandoned bird is to step on it and leave it there.

I'm not trying to be harsh. Just realistic, and I'm sorry you have to be going through this. It's heartbreaking.