How to take care of a baby bird?

Look for a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in your area (Google “wildlife rehab” and the name of your town) and give them a call. They are used to situations requiring a rapid response.

I did that once, and I was told to “let it die”. No kidding. So I went to the pet store and bought “baby bird food”. At first I fed it from a dropper. Of course I did not know what kind of bird I had, so this part was a guess, but it did quite well on the formula. At first I had to pry the beak open. When it got old enough to be able to stand on its feet, I began to give it the hard kernels of food with a pair of tweezers, and droppers of water. Eventually the goal was to teach it to drink out of a dish, It was doing very well until a child gave it too much gravel. That was a sad day.

You need to get your babe to your local Humane Society asap. They will contact the local wildlife rehab clinic in your area, and take care of the bird properly until a rehab takes over (both our local HSUS’s have rehabs in them….both care for HUNDREDS of wildlife babies annually).

Just yesterday, a gosling made it into our yard with no parents to be found. We took her out for the long drive to our rehab clinic, where she is certain to have a healthy future :)

Cat food if you’ve got any, use a little on a paint brush mixed with some water to feed it. A heat lamp would be a good idea, put it next to baby rather than over the top so she can move away if she’s too hot, you’ll know if this happens because she’ll be on the other side of the box from the lamp. If she stays there more than an hour move the lamp away a little.
Keep her away from any drafts like aircons or open windows

Do not OVER FEED baby, when baby’s crop is full you will still be able to see her neck. The crop should not bulge out above what you would perceive as the shoulder area. Feel the crop area gently it should feel a bit like a balloon.

First feeding might be a bit awkward so just have patience, she’s only got a little tum so she won’t eat much anyway. When she does a ‘splat’ there should be some white in it, it means every thing’s fine health wise.

If you haven’t got any cat food, dog or puppy will also do or failing that a bit of mince meat mushed up.

Find parent, return to parent.