How to Feed Wild Baby Birds

Most people forget that birds are actually wild creatures. The best solution for wild animals is to leave them alone, especially since keeping wild birds indoors is illegal. However, if you must care for and feed them, this article provides the necessary information for their care.

Wear gloves. Always wear gloves if you plan to touch the bird. The gloves will protect you from the bird, as even a baby bird may use its beak to peck at you.

Check the feathers. If the bird has feathers, it is a fledgling. If not, it is still a chick.

Release the fledgling back into the wild. A fledgling can live well outside the nest. Once it has enough feathers, it can fly. They are simply outside the nest now. Parent birds will continue to feed them, even on the ground.

Return the chick to its nest. A chick might need assistance. If you find a chick, try to place it back into a nearby nest. If the nest cannot be found, further help may be required.

• Listen for the sounds of other chicks. If the parent birds are bringing food, you can find the nest by following the calls of the chicks asking for food.
• To catch the chick, gently approach it with one hand on its back and head, and the other supporting its belly and legs. Don't worry about the parent birds abandoning the chick when you touch it. They are likely to accept it back into the nest.
• Warm the chick by cupping it in your hands until it no longer feels cold to the touch.

Check the other chicks. If you locate the nest and find that the other chicks are dead, you can safely assume the nest has been abandoned, and you will need to care for the surviving chicks.

Use your finger to test if you’re unsure. If you can’t tell whether the bird is a fledgling or a chick, place it on your finger. If it grips your finger, it’s a fledgling.

Pay attention to the bird's nest. If you're concerned about leaving the bird alone in the nest, you can check if the parents are returning by observing for a few hours afterward. However, make sure to maintain a safe distance, as the parents may not come back if you're too close.

Make a temporary nest. The original nest may have been destroyed by a storm, predators, or humans. If you can't find the nest, consider creating a new one. You can use a small plastic bag, filling it with soft materials like a washcloth, small towel, or blanket.

• Place the nest in a shaded area close to where you found the bird. You can attach it to a tree. Place the bird inside, making sure its feet are underneath its body.

Wash your hands. Always wash your hands after handling the bird. Birds can carry diseases, so the best practice is to thoroughly clean your hands after placing the chick in the nest.

Check the bird's parents. If the parents haven't returned to the nest after several hours or if you're sure they are no longer alive, you need to seek help for the bird.

Look for injuries. If the bird is having trouble moving or flapping its wings, it may have sustained an injury. Additionally, if the bird is shivering, it could be experiencing issues. Injuries are also a reason to seek help for the bird.

Avoid keeping the bird as a pet. Keeping and raising wild birds might be illegal in some countries. In the United States, you need special permission from both local and federal authorities to care for wild birds.

Contact wildlife caregivers. Wildlife caregivers have the skills and training necessary to care for young birds. You can find them through your local wildlife agency's website or by contacting a local vet or animal rescue center, as they may know wildlife caregivers in your area.

• Ask for advice on how to feed the chick and keep it warm.

Understand the risks. Remember that you may be breaking the law by keeping a bird in some countries where such actions are regulated. Additionally, you might not know how to properly feed the bird, which increases the risk of the bird's death under your care. Furthermore, caring for a chick isn't easy; it may require feeding every 20 minutes or even more. Lastly, you won't be able to teach the bird as its parents would, such as how to find food or how to avoid predators.

• Birds can also become accustomed to humans, which is harmful because they no longer know how to fly away from people and may constantly beg for food.

Identify the bird species. You can identify the bird by checking online bird guides.

• Identification will be easier if you have an idea about the parents' species. However, if the parents are still around, it's best to let them care for the chick. They have strong instincts for caring for their young and are fully equipped to do so.

Determine the bird's food source. What a chick eats depends on what the parents eat. For instance, the fire-capped bulbul consumes seeds, while ravens eat a variety of things from seeds and berries to insects and small rodents.

Use cat or dog food for omnivorous species. If your bird is an omnivore, you can try feeding it dog or cat food. Many wild birds are omnivores, and when they are young, they are primarily fed insects by their parents. This means animal protein-rich foods, such as dog or cat food, are suitable for these species.

• If you're using dry food, soak it in water for an hour before feeding. However, when feeding the chick, make sure it doesn't absorb too much water, as it could enter the lungs and suffocate the bird. The food should be moist but not soaked.
• Form small food pellets. Roll the food into tiny balls, about the size of a pea, and place them in the bird's mouth. Using a popsicle stick or chopsticks can make feeding easier. You can also cut a straw into a small spoon shape. The chick will be ready to eat, and if the pellet is too large, break it into smaller pieces. Essentially, you need to create small food pieces that resemble the size of a pea.

Feed seed-based food for herbivorous birds. If the bird only eats seeds, you can provide seed-based food, which is available at pet stores. Pet shops often sell birdseed for baby parrots.

• Use a syringe to feed the food through the larynx. The larynx surrounds the windpipe. You will see a small opening in the bird's mouth or at the end of the throat where the windpipe opens. Do not feed food or water directly into the windpipe. Make sure the syringe tip passes through the larynx.

Feed the bird until it seems full. This means the chick will eat when it is hungry. But if the bird shows no interest, it may already be full.

Do not provide water. If the food already contains sufficient moisture, additional water is unnecessary for the chick, at least for younger birds. Offering water may do more harm than good as it can cause choking or even death.

• If the bird appears dehydrated when you first capture it, you can offer Gatorade or an electrolyte solution to help hydrate it. Use your finger to drop a small amount into its beak so it can drink. Symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth and reddened skin. Furthermore, the skin on the back of its neck won't snap back quickly if pinched if the bird is dehydrated.

Feed every 20 minutes. Baby birds need frequent feeding to keep their energy up. However, there's no need to wake up in the middle of the night to feed them.

Minimize the time you keep the bird. To release the bird, make sure it doesn't form a strong attachment to you. Limit your interactions with the bird and refrain from treating it like a pet.

• In fact, it is nearly impossible to raise a baby bird without it forming some connection to you, especially if it is younger than two weeks old.

Let the bird start eating by week 4. Around the fourth week, the bird should begin learning to feed itself. However, this can take a month or more. Continue hand-feeding the bird, but also place a small bowl of food in its cage. You can introduce a small water dish as well.

• You may notice the bird gradually showing less interest in hand-feeding.

Feed the baby bird until it fledges. It may take several weeks for the bird to grow its wings and become a fledgling. The bird cannot survive until it develops wings and starts flying. Once that happens, you can release it back into the wild.

• If you keep the bird until it matures, you'll need to switch to an adult bird diet, which differs from the chick's diet.
• Also, when the bird starts hopping up the sides of its box, you can move it to a cage rather than keeping it in the box.

• Make sure you are also aware of which foods are harmful to birds, as some foods are not safe for certain species. For example, most birds cannot digest milk.