Not all baby birds need to be rescued! Baby birds learn to fly by jumping out of the nest! Their parents are watching and even though the parents can’t pick them up, they can feed and protect. You can not replace the parents! You can not teach it to find food, what to fear, how to find shelter or a mate. So leave it alone, please.
If you must pick it up to get it out of harms way, do so, putting it in a bush, then walk away.
The following is very basic information to help identify what you are seeing. “I found a baby bird on the ground and I think it is an eagle!”
Everyone has trouble identifying baby birds, I certainly do, and I have seen quite a few. So possibly, the following descriptions will help you narrow down what you have. Once you have an idea of what the baby bird is, you have a better idea of what to do until help arrives.
Note: The international food for birds, milk and bread is WRONG! Until a bird can milk a cow do not give it milk and bread!
|
Song Bird |
Description |
Age out of nest (when they jump out) |
| Blackbird
(Red-winged) |
Red mouth, yellow gape, naked face, whitish down, scarlet skin, thick lower beak |
10 days |
| Bluebird | Yellow mouth, light yellow gape, dark gray down, spotted white breast, hint of blue on wings and tail. |
15-20 days |
| Cardinal | Pink-red mouth, cream-yellow gape, dark beak tip, orangish skin, bald bug eyes, heavy bill brown-gray down |
10 days |
| Chickadee | Light yellow mouth, white gape, pale pink skin, dark gray down |
14-18 days |
| Cowbird | Deep pink mouth, thin cream gape, heavy pinkish beak, pink legs and feet, sparse cream-gray down, brown feathers edged in cream, facial feathers develop late, Trill & quiver when begging. |
14 days |
| Cuckoo | Red-pink mouth with white dots, pale thin gape, black tip on tongue, dark slightly hooked beak, large gray feet, shot legs, black and greasy looking, feather unfurl at 1 week. |
9 days |
| Dove | Long dark rubbery beak, dark gape and skin, sparse beige or gray down |
14-15 days |
| Finch (house)
(Goldfinch) |
Small box shaped bright red mouth, small gape flanges, and bald with sparse down, mottled- stripped breast. Pinkish red mouth, pale cream yellow gape, grayish |
11-19 days
11-17 days |
| Grackle | Pink red mouth, no gape flanges, brown to black beak, naked face, sparse beige or brown down, large gray legs. |
14-20 days |