HELP needed with baby bird!!!!
 

This is a bit complicated but I will try to make it simple. I have a baby bird that looks to be a few days old that has fallen out of it's nest. What do I do???

I can't put it back. I have a brick mailbox with a space under the mailbox for a newspaper. A bird has gone into the area for a newspaper and up thru the holes in the brick and made a nest under the mailbox and had babies. A baby has fallen out of the nest and is in the area where newspapers go. I can't reach up thru the bricks to put it back. It is crying and I just can't let it lay there. I did move it back a bit so that it is out of the sun. When it felt me touch it, it opened up its mouth to be fed and it breaks my heart.

I have called a wildlife center but they do not open until tomorrow and I'm not sure they will take in a baby bird that is only a few days old. Anyone know of how I can save this baby bird?????

Here is a link that explains what to do until you can get it to a wildlife rescue.

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research

find some worms and feed it. Give it something to lay on.(make a little nest)

Thanks for the link! I did what it said and made a small nest from the top of a plastic container and tried to feed it using the recipe from the site.

It had stopped crying when I went back and would barely open its mouth but I managed to get two bites in. It has gotten colder here , low 70's and the sun has gone behind the clouds. I think the baby has gotten too cold and weak :( It is only 2-3 days old so I doubt it will make it but I have to at least try and just hope the mother will continue to feed it.

You need to bring it inside to keep it warm since it doesn't have it's mother to sit on the nest.

Hopefully it will understand that you are trying to feed it and open it's mouth up for you.

If it's that young it probably won't survive. You have better luck with a baby bird that has feathers, but they are still tricky to rehabilitate. Good for you for trying, though.

If I bring it in, how do I keep it warm? I'm really hoping the sun will come back out. The bricks are still pretty warm but the poor thing seems to have gotten pretty weak :(

Why can't you put it back in the nest? My sister used to work for animal control, and she said it really isn't true that the mother will reject it. I'd put it back.

Edited: I just saw where you said you can't reach it. Call animal control and see if they can get it in there.

Can you take the mailbox OFF?? There should be bolts in it that you can remoive to get it off, place him back in the nest, then return the mailbox

If you cant get it back in its nest you could make a heating pad and put it on that. Some ladies on yt said you can make one by putting rice in a sack and heating it up in the micro. They use this to keep puppies warm. I dont know how long you heat it for though.

No, I wish I could. There are no bolts. The whole thing is a small structure made of bricks with the mailbox inside. The mailbox is held into the brick structure with morter.

I brought him inside and put some paper towels into a shoebox. I put Lily's heating pad on the kitchen counter and put the shoebox on top of the heating pad. Lily is none too happy having to give up her heating pad :rolleyes:

My goal is just to get him strong enough to where he can cry like the others up in there are doing. Then I will put him back where I found him and hope the mother will start to feed him there.

I haven't read all your responses- just your latest post.

Maybe you could try giving him a TINY bit of water via an eye dropper or a straw. That is what a wildlife rehab told me to do until they could come pick up a baby bird that I found.

I wonder if you could add a tiny bit of sugar to the water? That's what you do for baby chicks so I would think it'd work for a baby bird.

Good luck. :)

I've saved a few babies if they had feathers. Sometimes with an eyedropper, sometimes with the corner of a cloth that I could let drip into their beak. We found one last spring with only a couple feathers - too young to leave while I went to work. A friend I work with raises chickens, turkeys and other assorted farm fowl took "him" and gave him what she gives baby chicks. We had named him Rupert and I'm glad to report that Rupert is all grown, tame (he's a Morning Dove) and has a new best friend - a tame white pigeon. Did you check with an ER vet about what to feed him? I've used bread and milk for older babies, but tiny ones need a bird formula. Maybe the same kind used for hand-raised pet birds. Good luck.

The ER vet was no help whatsoever. They just gave me the number of the wildlife place which is closed today. He seemed to do a lot better once I got him warmed up and he ate some more too. Keeping him warm seems to be key. The heating pad turned off while I was out planting flowers and he wouldn't eat. I've also been able to give him some water using the Q-tip with the cotton pulled off and letting a drop fall in his mouth which he seemed to really like. I'm going to check on the sugar water.

I just assumed he is a few days old. I first heard the babies yesterday and then found him today. He doesn't have any feathers, his eyes are closed, and he can't stand up.

Oh and he pooped which must be a good sign :rolleyes:

Thanks for everyone's suggestions! I'm just a sucker for animals I think.

I'm just seeing this. poor baby!!!!! I hope he/she makes it. how are the dogs dealing with having a baby bird in the house?

We once saved a baby bird but it was a bit older and starting to learn to fly. We fed it worms until it was ready to fly off on it's own. I hope your baby makes it! I would put it under a heat lamp if it's still little to keep him a bit warmer. Good luck!

Baby bird
 

Hi there~ I didn't read thru all the posts, but I have raised tons of baby birds and hand fed them...the best thing to do is to put it into a box, get a small heating pad and fold a small (not too thick) towel on top of it....then set the box (what works GREAT are those clear acrylic boxes that they have at the pet stores for either small animals or crickets I think...they have a top that has little slits and a little handle)....put either some paper towels or a little towel in the bottom of it, and set on top of the heating pad that's set to either low or medium.

If you have an eye dropper, you can use that to work into the corner of it's beak to open it and drip slowly a few drops of water in. If you have a food that's like a gruel (like pablum baby food), you can also feed it with that. The baby will (or should) be very happy to accept the food...make SURE you WARM it up first though...just mix it with warm water and test it on the back of your hand like you would for a baby!! No microwave, b/c the center may be much hotter and if you burn the crop, the bird will surely die. You want to make sure it's warm enough for the baby to digest and not get what's called "sour crop" (where the food curdles in it's crop, or the little pouch you'll see expand on it's neck area when it's fed), but not too warm where it will produce a burn in the crop! You should feed it enough so that the crop expands like a small bulb...it should be swollen but not too firm...sort of soft, but not baggy. You can PM me or email me at seananapa2@aol.com if you like. I would also put a light towel over the top of the container so it's quiet and not too scary for it. Good luck! Wish I were closer and I'd bring over an eyedropper...I have lots of brand new ones from when I was raising mine!

Sorry....too late to just add onto my original post to you. Im not sure if he's too young (he's for sure only a couple of days old at most), but I know you could soak monkey biscuits (most pet stores and feed stores sell them) in some apple juice and try feeding that too....he may be too young for that though.

Try to keep him warm consistently, and try to warm his food and water up before you feed him.
There's a powdered baby food you can buy at Petsmart I think...and I forget what it's called. I used one that I got at the feed store and it had to be frozen...forget what that was called too. But I'm pretty sure I noticed something at Petsmart awhile ago in the bird seed/food section.

I just remembered what I did about the heating situation...I had the clear plastic container and put one of those stick on temperature things you can get for aquariums....I kept it at I think, 78-82 deg...I'll try to check on that just to be sure though. That way, if it's getting too warm in there (b/c he won't be able to get away from it if you've got a heating pad on the bottom), you'll know to turn it down or up if it's too cool.

The baby bird food:


Kaytee exact Hand-Feeding Formula for Baby Birds - Food - PetSmart

Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions. I'm sad to say that he passed away a few minutes ago :( He was doing very well, eating, pooping, I thought he might get strong enough for me to put him back near the nest but he suddenly stopped breathing and moving. I know that the mother may have kicked him out of the nest for a reason but it's still sad that he didn't make it. I didn't think that he would being so young but I had to at least try.

Again, thanks everyone...

God bless you for trying.:(

Checking in to see how your little bird is doing.

see post #19 :(

Awww...sorry, at least you tried! It's true that if there's something wrong with them the mom will do that....at this time of year though, it's hard to tell. It's hard to keep one alive that's so young. Bless you for trying though:)