Wild Bird - help!

Someone brought a baby bird into the shop today.....
It's fallen out of the nest - which has been abandoned.

We are feeding it meal worms, fat balls, wild bird seed, and givingit water to drink every time it squeaks at us!

Is this the right thing to do?
Any other tips?

How old do you think it is Hevvur?
Any wildlife hospitals around where you are?
Poor little thing should probably have been left where it was as the parents would have found it.
It's early though isn't it???
Bless.
I would check out the wildlife hospitals...there is one at Freshfields Animal Rescue I think, at the very least they could advise you on the best things to do for the little one.

Found this one....

Three Owls Bird Sanctuary and Reserve
Cares for: Birds
Location: Rochdale
Tel: 01706 642162

This is Freshfields site...
http://www.freshfieldsrescue.org.uk/

http://www.lancswt.org.uk/Contact%20Us/contactus.htm

Thanks Ramble.
It had been there a while.......the nest is empty, and no sign of Mum or dad!
But it was on a main road, so couldn't leave it there!

Not sure on age..it's a decent size...fits in our hand, its wings seem ok...it just seemed cold and dazed.
It's eating well, and drinking too!

it needs to be kept in a dark quiet place, maybe a shoebox Hev
as it will need to sleep
yes you are feeding it the right stuff

do you have any handrearing bird formula in your shop?
this would help it loads


we had a swift given to us last year and we handreared it on our baby parrot formula and set it free when it was able to fly

I wrote a long post about my experiences in hand-rearing wild birds, but it got lost

I just wanted to say that, unfortunately, the majority of wild birds that are hand reared don't seem to make it. Baby birds are so easily imprinted on humans that they can often not be released if they survive. The only one I have personally had any long-term success with is my owl (she will be three years old in April, and we began hand-rearing her at two weeks old). I also rescued and cared for a young racing pigeon that had crash-landed at our yard and managed to get him returned to his owner.

The important things are keeping the chick warm and clean, fed and watered so it sounds like you're doing everything you can. If you know the age and breed of the bird, you can get a commercial formula which contains all the essential proteins and nutrients and just needs warm water to make it up.

It's possible that the baby was starting to fledge, or it may have been "exploring" the ground level. Many baby birds spend time on the floor before they begin to fly, and use their beaks and feet to climb.

One of the bird centres that Ramble provided details for should be able to give you further information about hand-rearing your chick, or be able to take it in for you if there is some reason why it can't go back where it was found (danger from predators, too young, etc).

Good luck, and I hope that there is a happy ending for this birdie

Hope it all goes well, I'm sure one of those centres will give you even more advice, the stuff posted on here already is good.

We had a nest in our garden a couple of years back...right by the dog toilet!!!! A fledgling came out onto the dog loo (which thankfully was clean) and my oH got a ladder and put it back...5 minutes later it's out again...poor little thing was only trying to escape the nest...all the others followed soon after...how foolish did we feel?!!!!

Thanks everyone.
We have put it in a small spare cage with a bowl of food and water, where it is dark and quiet.

I know they enerally don't survive...I have 'saved' a few before, and they all died, but you have to try!

His wing seems a little sore - he doesn't stretch it out as far, but he doesn't flinch when we touched it.

We think he is a starling btw.

Tomorrow after a good nights rest and some food (assuming he is still alive) we will try and put him out near some hedges close to where he was found.

He does seem lively, and his hopping about the caage, and opens his mouth when we offer him food....we aren't touching him though - as little contact a possible.

Will update if we have any news!

Let us know how he gets on

My favourite "rescue" was a baby dove that a cat dropped at the front of our house. She did really well for the best part of a week, but when we felt she was ready to be released the following day, she passed away in the night (I say "she" - we just felt it was a girly bird!)