During the spring it’s fun to see nesting birds in your yard, neighborhood or out on nature walks. But what should you do if you come upon a baby bird that has fallen from the nest? As bird lovers our first instinct is to want to do something to help, but many times the best course of action is not to intervene.
Many birds spend a few days flopping around on the ground, unable to fly, but are learning skills from their parents and are being taken care of. They may look awkward but it’s part of learning how to fly, find food, and protect themselves. Many people make the mistake of thinking the baby has been abandoned if they don’t immediately see the parents, and try to “rescue” the bird. If you bring a bird inside during this stage, you are taking away this critical teaching time with their parents. Most of the time intervention is not necessary.
So let’s discuss what to look for if you come upon a baby bird, and how to know if it needs your help. I’ve made a handy flow chart you can reference, and below we will dig into the topic a little deeper.
Determine the age of the bird
The first step in deciding which action to take is to determine what stage of development the bird is in. Before becoming juvenile birds who are independent from their parents, baby birds go through three stages;
- Hatchling: approximately 0-3 days old. Hatchlings have just come out of the egg and haven’t even opened their eyes yet. They have no feathers and might look mostly “naked” with only a few thin wisps of soft down. At this age they cannot leave the nest and are completely dependent on their parents.
- Nestling: approximately 3 – 14 days. Nestlings are starting to develop their feathers but they may look like odd tubes at this age because they are still in their protective sheaths. Their eyes are starting to open and they are becoming more aware, but are mostly immobile. Nestlings are still completely dependent on their parents and should not leave the nest.
- Fledgling: approximately 14 days and older. Fledglings are fully covered in feathers. They are usually still small and don’t have their adult shape, their wings and tail may be short. They can hop around and flutter and are becoming more mobile. Fledglings are ready to leave the nest and learn how to fly, but the parents will stay close-by and take care of them.
