Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Assess the situation
• Method 2 of 3: Feeding a young bird
• Method 3 of 3: Take care of a young bird
• Warnings

Many birds fall from their nests in the spring. Their pathetic squeaks unleashes the maternal instinct in even the most harsh of people. Everyone wants to take a pathetic bird and take care of it until he gets well. But before you do that, take a good look at the situation and decide what's best for the birdie. Is he really alone? Is there a shelter nearby that can take better care of it? In the Netherlands (and in the rest of the EU) it is illegal to raise wild birds. If you choose to take care of the bird yourself, you should be aware that it takes a lot of time and effort. Young birds are very weak and need to be fed almost constantly. If you think you can handle it, this article will give you everything you need to know to feed and care for a young bird.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Assess the situation

1. Determine whether the young bird is a nest-keeper or a nest bird. First, see if you are dealing with a nest-keeper or a nest-float. Nest keepers are born with closed eyes, without feathers and are completely dependent on their parents for nutrition and warmth. Most songbirds and tree birds (with crooked toes), such as robins and blue jays, are nest keepers. Nest flyers are further developed when they hatch. They have their eyes open and have soft, downy feathers. They can walk and immediately begin to follow their mother, pecking for food. Examples of nesters are ducks and geese.
   • Nest keepers are much easier to care for than nest keepers, but they need help less often. Nest flyers usually make their nests on the ground, so the young cannot fall out or be thrown out. If you find a lost nestling pup, try to return it to the mother bird before taking it with you.
   • Nest keepers who have just hatched are completely helpless and therefore need help. In green neighborhoods you often see nest-keepers who have fallen or been knocked out of their nests. You can also choose to leave the bird and let nature take its course.
2. Check whether the young is still nest-bound or is already old enough to fledge. If you have found a sapling or songbird that has likely fallen from a tree or been abandoned, the first thing to do is determine whether the young is a nest-keeper or a nest bird. Nest keepers are little birds that cannot yet leave the nest because their wings have not yet developed and they may not even have opened their eyes yet. Nest flyers are a bit older, have already developed wings and are strong enough to learn to fly. They can leave the nest and can perch on a branch.
   • If the young you found is a nest keeper, it belongs in the nest.If he's outside the nest, something is wrong. He may have fallen out or been pushed out by stronger siblings. A litter-keeper who is alone has almost no chance of survival.
   • However, if you do find a nest, take a good look at the situation before you start playing the hero. If it flutters and squeaks to the ground, it may sometimes appear as if it has fallen from a nest or been left behind, while it may be learning to fly. If you keep an eye on the young enough, you will automatically see if the parents bring food from time to time. If so, leave him alone.
3. If possible, return the young to its nest. When you are confident that you have found a nest-keeper lying helpless on the ground, you can return it to its nest. First, see if you can find a nest in a tree or shrub nearby. It can be well hidden and difficult to reach. Then pick up the bird. Place it in one hand and cover it with your other hand so that it warms up. Check if he's hurt. If it seems okay, you can carefully return it to the nest.
   • It is a myth that the parents no longer accept the young if it smells like "human". By the way, birds have a very weak sense of smell and mainly identify their young by sight and hearing. In most cases the young is accepted back into the nest.
   • Leave as soon as you put the young back into its nest. Don't sit back and watch the parents come back, because you'll just scare them away. You can observe the nest from behind your window with the help of binoculars.
   • Returning a young to the nest is no guarantee that it will survive. When he is the weakest young, it can be expected that he will be thrown out of the nest by the stronger young as they compete for food and warmth.
   • If you see dead young in the nest, the nest has been abandoned and there is no point in putting the fallen bird back. In this case, you must take care of the young, along with its surviving brothers and sisters, if you want to help them survive.
4. If necessary, make a replacement nest. Sometimes an entire nest falls from a tree or shrub due to high winds, pruning or predators. In this case, you may be able to save the nest or build a new nest and transfer the young into it. If the nest is still intact, you can place it in a strawberry box or a butter tub (with holes in the bottom to allow water to drain) and hang the nest from a tree branch with metal wire. Try to put the nest back in its original position. If that is not possible, a branch in the vicinity is also good. In any case, make sure that the place is sheltered from direct sunlight.
   • Pick up the young and warm them in your hands before returning them to the nest. Go away, but try to keep an eye on the nest from a distance. The parents may mistrust the new litter at first, but their instinct to care for the young is usually stronger.
   • If the original nest is completely broken, you can make a new one by covering a strawberry box with paper towel. Even if the nest was previously made of grass, you should not cover your home-made nest with grass, because it contains moisture, which cools the young.
5. If you are sure the bird has been abandoned, you can call the bird sanctuary. It is important to make sure that a bird cub has really been abandoned before taking it with you. The most common situations in which young need help are the following: you find one or more nest keepers, but you cannot find or reach the nest; when the nest-keeper is injured, weak or soiled; or if you have been monitoring the nest for more than two hours and the parents have still not returned to feed their young.
   • In these cases, it is best to call a bird sanctuary, who can take care of the bird. These types of centers have experience in caring for young birds, which gives them the greatest chance of survival.
   • If you don't know if there is a bird sanctuary nearby, call the vet or a forest ranger who can inform you. Sometimes there is no bird or animal sanctuary, but maybe there is someone with a bird shelter permit who can do the job.
   • If the options above are not available, or if you cannot bring the bird to the sanctuary, you may need to take care of the young bird yourself. Only do this if there is no other option, because it takes a lot of effort and time to care for a young bird and its chances of survival are slim.
   • In addition, it is against the law to keep a wild bird in captivity unless you have a permit for it.

Method 2 of 3: Feeding a young bird

1. Feed the young bird every 15 to 20 minutes from sunrise to sunset. Young birds have strict feeding times, the father and mother birds fly out literally hundreds of times a day for food. If you want to mimic this schedule, you should feed the bird every 15 to 20 minutes from sunrise to sunset.
   • If the young bird has its eyes open and already has some feathers, you can wait 30 to 45 minutes between feedings. You can then increase the amount of feed at a time and reduce the number of feedings proportionally.
   • When the bird is strong enough to leave the nest and starts hopping around the box, you can feed it every hour. Then you can extend the interval to 2 to 3 hours and put food in the box so that he can eat from it himself.
2. Figure out what to feed the bird. There are differing opinions on exactly what a young bird should eat, but most experts agree that as long as it's getting the basic nutrients, it doesn't matter what exactly it eats. Although adult birds have different eating habits (some eat insects, others eat seeds and berries), young birds have the same nutritional needs, namely food rich in protein.
   • A good starting menu for a nest keeper who has just fallen out of the nest consists of 60% puppy or kitten kibble, 20% hard-boiled eggs and 20% mealworms (you can buy these online).
   • You can moisten the kibble with water until they become spongy, but they should not drip with water, as the bird can drown if it takes in too much liquid. The hard-boiled eggs and mealworms should be cut into small pieces so that the bird can swallow them.
3. Change the menu as the bird gets bigger. When he gets older and starts hopping around, you can give him the kind of food he will eat as an adult bird.
   • Provide insect-eating birds with earthworms, grasshoppers and crickets, which have been cut into very small pieces, along with other insects that remain on a “bug trap”.
   • Give birds that eat fruit berries, grapes, and raisins that have been forcibly in water.
4. Find out which bird species have special nutritional requirements. The exception to the above menu is formed by birds such as pigeons, parrots, hummingbirds, fish-eating birds, birds of prey and nesting birds.
   • Pigeons and parrot-like birds eat so-called “pigeon milk”, a substance that is regurgitated by the mother. As a milk substitute, you can buy milk powder for these young birds that is specially made for parrots (available at pet stores) and administer with a plastic syringe with the needle removed.
   • You are unlikely to encounter the other species. These are their feeding requirements: hummingbirds need a special nectar supplement, fish-eating birds eat roaches, cut into small pieces (available at tackle shops), birds of prey eat insects, rodents, chicks, and young nestlings grow well when fed turkey or special compound food for young birds.
5. Do not give the young bird bread or milk. Many people make the mistake of feeding young birds milk or bread. Birds are not mammals and milk is not a natural part of a bird's diet, they have milk intolerance. Bread is full of empty calories and does not provide the young birds with the nutrients they need to survive. Make sure that the food you give the bird is at room temperature.
6. Use proper feeding technique. Young birds should be fed very carefully. The best way is with blurry tweezers or plastic tweezers. If you don't have one, you can also use chopsticks that are narrow enough to fit in the bird's mouth. Grab a small amount of food with the tweezers or tongs, or on the end of the chopsticks, and put the food in the bird's mouth.
   • Don't worry that the bird might choke, as its glottis will close automatically when it eats.
   • If the bird does not have its beak open, gently tap the beak with the feeding tool or rub the food along the edge of the beak. This is a sign to the bird that it is feeding time. If it still won't open its mouth, open it gently yourself.
   • Continue feeding until the bird stops opening its beak or begins to refuse feeding. It is important not to overfeed the birds.
7. Do not water the bird. Young birds should not drink water, because then the lungs will fill with liquid and they will drown. They should not be watered until they are big enough to hop around in the box. Then you can place low containers in the box, such as the lids of pots, where the bird can drink from itself.
   • You can place a stone or a few marbles in the tray to prevent the bird from standing in it.
   • If you suspect the bird is dehydrated, take it to a vet or bird sanctuary, where they can inject fluid into it.

Method 3 of 3: Take care of a young bird

1. Make a temporary nest for the bird. To make a replacement nest, it is best to use a cardboard box with a lid, such as a shoebox. Make a few holes in the bottom. Place a small plastic or wooden bowl in the box and place an uncolored kitchen towel in it. This way you build a cozy nest for the young bird.
   • Never put threadlike or shredded material in the nest as it can get caught around the bird's wings and neck. Also do not use grass, leaves, moss or twigs, as they can be damp and mold.
   • Refresh the nest when the nesting material becomes damp or dirty.
2. Keep the bird warm. If the young birds feel damp or cold, you should warm them up when you put them in the box. You can do this in different ways. If you have a heat pad, you can place it on the box with a not too high temperature. You can also fill a sealable plastic bag with warm water and place it in the box or hang a 40-watt lamp above the box.
   • It is very important to keep the bird's nest at a good temperature. It is convenient to put a thermometer in the box. If the bird is less than a week old (the eyes are still closed and it has no feathers yet), the temperature should be about 35 degrees Celsius. Every week that passes, the temperature can drop 2.8 degrees.
   • It is also important not to put the box in full sun and not in a draft. Young birds are very sensitive to cold and overheating, because they have a relatively large body surface compared to their weight and they do not yet have an insulating feather layer.
3. Provide a quiet environment. Young birds do well only in a calm and stress-free environment. When young birds feel too much tension, their heart rate goes up and that is bad for their health. Place the box in a quiet area away from pets and children. Avoid the following situations:
   • Excessive or incorrect picking up, loud noises, wrong temperature, too many birds on top of each other (when you have several), irregular feeding or wrong feeding.
   • Try to observe and hold the bird at eye level, as birds don't like to be viewed from above. Keeping them at eye level will make you appear less threatening.
4. Keep track of the bird's growth. You can check the bird's progress by weighing it every day to see if it is gaining weight. You can use a kitchen or postal scale for this. The bird should gain weight every day and after 4 to 6 days its weight when it hatched should have doubled.
   • You can consult a growth chart to check that the young bird is growing well for a bird of its kind.
   • If the bird is gaining weight very slowly, or not gaining weight at all, that is a sign that something is wrong. Take the bird to the vet or bird sanctuary right away or it will likely die.
5. Let the bird fly and then release it. When the bird has become a full-grown chick, it will need a larger box or an enclosed and sheltered area in the garden where it can spread its wings and learn to fly. Don't worry about this as a bird instinctively learns to fly and after a few unsuccessful attempts it will be able to fly in 5 to 15 days.
   • Once he can fly easily and high, it is time to release him outside. Take it to a place where you have seen other birds of the same species and where there is plenty of food and release it.
   • If you release the bird in the garden, you can put the cage outside with the door open. Then the bird can decide for himself whether he is ready to go.
   • The less time the bird is held captive, the more likely it is to survive in the wild, so don't delay the release date longer than is strictly necessary.

Warnings

• Birds can bite and peck you. Be careful because they are wild animals.