©CLAWS,Inc.
I thought this was a prime time to go over these issues since so many baby birds are leaving their nests right now. “At some point or another, nearly everyone who spends time outdoors or who feeds backyard birds finds a baby bird, unable to fly very well and apparently lost or abandoned by its parents. Our first impulse is to adopt this apparently helpless creature and try to raise it ourselves. But in most cases, the young bird doesn’t need our help at all, and, in fact, we may be doing more harm than good.” This is from the experts at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who have more information about how to tell if a baby bird is a fledgling like in this poster or a nestling and what to do if it is a nestling on their AllAboutBirds.org webpage.
Here are a few things you can do to help baby birds:
- Check your lawn before raking, mowing or rototilling as small fledglings can be hard to see
- If you have fledglings (and especially if you have a nestling you cannot return to it’s nest) in your yard keep your cats and dogs inside–even a playful pup can seriously injure or kill a helpless fledgling (or nestling).
- Last month Jill also posted some useful tips on safely observing nesting birds as well as about finding baby birds.
The folks at the CLAWS, Inc organization, a group that does wildlife rehabilitation in North Carolina, that kindly gave permission to use their poster above also cautions that baby deer are ‘parked’ out in the open by their mothers “to keep them safe from predators” and also not in need of rescue. You can find more information on this CLAWS facebook page about how to tell if a fawn needs help.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I had a wrens’ nest on my porch this year, and the babies fledged on a very cold, windy day. Unfortunately, they did not survive. Was there anything I could have done to protect them from the cold?
Melinda, sorry for the late reply but I just saw your post. No, there is nothing you could have done to protect the young birds who fledged in bad weather. It is very hard for birds with cold weather, hot weather, drought, floods, predators, etc. There is a high rate of mortality for birds during their first year of life. It is very sad to see but it is the reality for birds I am afraid.
I have a Carolina Wren sitting on 5 eggs in one of my hanging baskets. I have yet to see or hear the male, most unusual, as he is usually very vocal & helpful in feeding her & the babies. They should be hatching in a few days. Why do you think he is not around?
We had a robin build a next on our mailbox right at our front door. She laid 4 eggs. We left a bin for the papers and mail on the step and left them to hatch. It took 10 days for them to hatch and another 10 days before they left the nest. All four eggs survived.
Interesting article, but someone really needs to proof that poster!
I have had bluebirds nest and lay eggs in my bluebird house twice this year. Both times I found the birds dead. They were fullgrown babies. What could be happening?
Susan…have you noticed any House Sparrows around in your yard? i used to put up nest boxes for the blue birds only to find that the dang House Sparrows take them over everytime before the bluebirds even get a chance.we would take out the nesting material from the nesting boxes only to find them right back the next day.they are not protected by law(thank god!!!!).The House Sparrows are a real pain in the butt and will fight with the other birds if they feel like they are trying to take “their” property.i have had Tree Swallows nest in the same boxes that i have tried to put out for the blue birds(which is ok)only to find the House Sparrows have taken it over and have found dead Tree Swallows in the nest box.unfortunately, i have given up on the big nest boxes and left my smaller “wren size” houses up in the trees with better luck,so far,except for no blue birds as they are too small for them to fit into.That burns me so bad,the House Sparrows,I have had blue birds nest here 2 years in a row twice each year and then this year i can’t keep the House Sparrows away!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Drill a hole in the roof of the bird house and the problem should clear up! Sparrows don’t like light but bluebirds do.
I found a healthy baby fledgling blue jay hopping on the ground on my tiny property and listened to the advice to leave it alone as the parents were around. The next evening it was barely alive with flies on it. I rushed it to an emergency animal hospital that takes in wild birds 15 miles away but it was too late. They had to put it to sleep. If I had rescued it the previous day they could have saved it. Why didn’t the parents feed it? I was VERY upset!
Are you certain the parents were blue jays? It sounds like it probably wasn’t healthy when you saw it the first day, and then it just grew worse. If the flies were on it it was about to die anyway. Thank you for trying to help! We rescued a baby woodpecker that flew into the truck and it survived. It flies over often now.
I left a comment yesterday about finding a baby blue jay fledging and never heard anything back and you removed my post. Why was my post removed?
I see now that my post is still on but is still awaiting moderation.
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