Baby Parenting Guide

How do we care for a baby bird we found?

There was a nest in our bush that had eggs. One egg didn't hatch. The other baby flew away and the mother cardinal appears to have left. Now, the other egg has hatched. The baby is out and mother is not around anymore. How can we care for it? We would like to help it. Thanks.

Public Response to How do we care for a baby bird we found?

1. Eyedropper to feed.
2. you should definintly call up your local spca or animal hospital they will know what to do. also a pet store would proabbaly give good information although id checkout the other places first. If i were you i wouldnt trust any info given over internet just because you dont know how experienced the person is. a vet will have the right answer
3. Hello Dave, leave it in the nest is all you can do...it's just impossible for humans to care for a newly hatched chick..the moms do take off to eat, bring food back for the chick & it is safe to put the chick back if it hasn't been too long !! Take Care :)
4. If there's no way the mother is going to take care of it and you've already shouldered the responsibility, I have a few tips for you (I'm not telling you what to do about the bird but only what to do if you've already made that choice:) 1: room-temp raw hamburger meat and bread will help sustain the bird. It resembles the regurgitated worms that the mother would feed. a tiny bit of water at a time, the moisture from the hamburger meat and bread should help a lot. 2: keep it warm, nestle it in cotton rags. 3: you'll be feeding it every hour or two. Baby birds eat 4 times their weight every day. 4: YOU NEED TO CALL A BIRD SPECIALIST to find out other things you need to be doing, especially if you know what kind of bird it is. You can call the SPCA to find contacts. 5: leave the tubes on its feathers alone. the bird will pick these off when the time is right. 6: You will need to actually feed worms and whatever else the bird specialist suggests as the bird grows 7: you NEED to be prepared for its death. It's a very hard thing to do, so you almost have to expect the fact it probably won't make it. And don't feel too bad about it if it does happen. The baby wouldn't have made it anyway if the mother had abandoned it. You were giving it another chance; you didn't "kill" it if it does die in your care. Good luck on your choice and subsequent outcome.
5. I was successful in raising baby starlings that were so young they did not have feathers. A couple died before I tried cutting a One a Day Vitamin in quarters and wrapping one quarter in hamburg. I used tweezers to drop it in the birds open beak. The remaining baby lived even though they were sickly before I gave vitamins. I feed the vitamin once each day and feed worms, bugs and plain hamburg every couple of hours
6. Its a nice thing you are doing for that little bird, i hope you succeed in carrying that bird up to and throughout adulthood. Maybe a little research on the net or in books of what that specific species needs to eat, other that worms. Chop whatever bugs you need thoroughly and mix with a little water. Use a eyedropper applicator to feed. Make sure you get it down its gullet, if your not careful you could get it into its lung. It will be relatively easy to get it down the right area, it'll be pretty much straight down; main hole. You could surround it with soft hamster bedding to keep it warm, in its original nest. You could also put the nest in a box first. Im not totally clueless i have birds myself. And i wish you the very best of luck with the raising of this little bird, and for your kindhearted nature .
7. Call an animal rehab/rescue. Each birds diet is a little different.
8. bring it to a animal shalter
9. Surrender the baby cardinal to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, because it is illegal to possess native wild birds in the US. Also, a licensed rehabilitator will have the knowledge and the resources to properly feed and care for the bird without making it into a pet, and it can be released when it is ready to take care of itself.
10. Recipe that I use: 20 or so pieces of dry cat food One yoke of boiled egg spoonful of canned baby food (meaty one) water I use a straw cut into a spoon-shape to feed them Baby birds need a A LOT of fat and protein or they will starve to death even if you are feeding them. A lady brought in a baby sparrow to the pet store that I work for and I have been taking care of it for two weeks. It is out of the danger stage and has almost all of its feathers. They need to be kept warm under a heat lamp and be fed (some feathers: every 2-3 hrs)...(most of the feathers: every 4-6 hrs) This is a big responsibility, and hope it all works out.