Help! Baby bird fell out of nest! *Update*Mom is back with the nest!

[Beth76]

We have a nest in one of our trees. I've seen the mother sitting in it all weekend. I just came home and the nest has sort of fallen and there's a baby on the ground under it. I haven't seen the baby before. He's pretty big, with feathers, but I can see that he's shaking. I don't see the mother and the mother was in the nest everytime I saw it this weekend. I know I'm not supposed to touch the baby, but should I move the nest? It's in the same place, just tilted a bit. I think the mother might be injured because she did fly out of the nest the other day but was sort of flying/hopping.

 

[mommytotwo]

I would leave it in the same area that you found it in, but maybe on a branch or higher area so that any dogs and other animals can not get to it.
When and if the mommy comes back, she will look around that area where the nest fell for her baby.

 

[Beth76]

Do you think I should move the baby? I thought we weren't supposed to touch baby birds. I was just wondering if I should move the nest so that it's level again. So that if the mother comes back she can get into it.

 

[pyrxtc]

whatever you do, wear rubber gloves cuz if the mother smells human on anything , baby or nest, she will abandon it and the abby will die. Unless it is immediate danger, then leave it but watch. Call animal control if the mother neglects it or you have to touch it. they will help. They will probably take it and raise it since the mother won't.

 

[laurajetter]

it's a myth that you can't handle baby birds

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/babybird.asp

 

[XYSRUS]

When this happened at our house a few years ago the people at the wildlife center told us to simply leave it alone. If the mother is coming back to care for the baby she will. If not, then that's survival of the fittest and most fortunate. They said they get tons of calls on this every spring and people bring in the babies or try to care for them. Baby birds, I learned need around the clock care-every 10-15 mins. to be exact. I know it's hard to watch the little one(s) suffer, but, it's not without reason in the big picture of natural consequence.

 

[damo]

I'd put it back if it looked like it was in danger. Otherwise, I'd leave it alone.

 

[Beth76]

Well I pushed the nest back into the tree. The little bird is still on the ground shaking. I take back what I said before about it having feathers. It doesn't. It has some sort of covering-I guess beginning feathers. I have to take my son to school and I'll check on it when I get back.

 

[mickeyfan2]

This happened to us a few years ago. We call and were told to replace the nest where it was (use a box if the nest is broken) and then put the baby back in. We used work gloves but they told use our hands would have been fine too. They then said to watch and see if the mother bird comes back. She did and all was well.

 

[laurajetter]

it's a myth that you can't handle baby birds

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/babybird.asp

I should've pointed out that this link not only explains the myth, but also provides useful information about what you should do. Here is a small excerpt:

Why should you not immediately bear young birds away to a safer place? Primarily because the last thing you want to do is separate baby birds from their parents. Don't consider picking up such finds and bringing them into your home to be cared for, because their parents will do a much better job than you ever could. Chances are very good that mom and dad are close at hand, even if you don't see them.

The first step in aiding young birds is determining whether the little ones are nestlings or fledglings. Nestlings are featherless or fuzzy and belong in a nest. Fledglings have feathers and are old enough to leave the nest and be on the ground or in a shrub. Replace nestlings into the nest they have fallen from, but leave fledglings where you find them.

 

[pyrxtc]

I wasn't posting not to touch them because of a myth, I was posting it becasue of my experience with baby birds. My dad and our family ended up rasing a few families of abby birds that had been handled and then abandoned by the mom. They were messy as heck but were very cute.

 

[Beth76]

Thanks Laura, I did not read the snopes page initially. I think I will try to move it. I'm a little worried because the nest is kind of up high. I don't know if I'm tall enough to actually get the bird inside. We'll see what happens.

 

[Beth76]

OK, I moved him. And of course, I almost dropped him. He's a morning/mourning dove and I heard another one cooing while I was out there. I didn't see it though. So hopefully that was the mother I heard.

 

[phamton]

Yes, you can touch the birds. The mothers often abandon baby birds, not because they smell a human, but because there is something wrong with the bird or because you are alerting other predators to the nest.

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/myths/myths.aspx

Parent birds will abandon a nestling if it has been touched by humans.

This is an amazingly popular myth despite the massive amount of evidence to the contrary. Think about the thousands of studies that involve monitoring nests, weighing and measuring the young. Consider that most of those nests are successful and that the adults return as soon as the intruders are gone. Factor in the millions of baby birds that are banded and fledge successfully. Remember the tens of thousands of bluebird boxes.

If birds were repelled by the scent of human beings and fled if their odor appeared on the nest, there would be wholesale abandonment of nests every year. Yet this myth persists, a "truism" handed down from generation to generation. Its origins may lie in the fact that human scent can be disruptive to birds' nesting success. It is not birds, it is mammalian predators that follow scents, and if you approach a nest too often, or too closely, you may well be leading a predator to the site. The next time you visit, the nest will be abandoned. Voila! The birds smelled you and ran.

There are very good reasons for staying away from bird nests. Birds may find your intrusiveness offensive for many reasons, but one of them is not the way you smell.

 

[Beth76]

The mom is back in the nest with the baby. Everything seems fine.

 

[Virgo10]

whatever you do, wear rubber gloves cuz if the mother smells human on anything , baby or nest, she will abandon it and the abby will die.

And from another authority:

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

If I touch a baby bird will the parents abandon it?

No, birds have little or no sense of smell, but do keep contact to a minimum. It is often easier to pick a bird up by gently covering it with a cloth first.

 

[Virgo10]

The mom is back in the nest with the baby. Everything seems fine.

That makes me feel better after losing the 3 Mockingbird eggs yesterday.

You're a good bird step mommy.

 

[Buckalew11]

Yay!!

I had 4 baby Mockingbirds born a little over a week ago. They were growing fast and had their pin feathers already and opening their eyes.
This morning we looked in on the 4 of them and one was dead on the ground.
I am not sure whether it fell out, died and she pushed it out, sick and she abandoned it, or another bird got it.

I think one of the 3 remaining is dead in the nest.

2 are still alive but very weak. I hope the mother will care for them. I see both parents out there. It is so tough to watch such helpless creatures and feel so helpless too.

I am happy your bird story had a good ending!

 

[Virgo10]

Yay!!

I had 4 baby Mockingbirds born a little over a week ago. They were growing fast and had their pin feathers already and opening their eyes.
This morning we looked in on the 4 of them and one was dead on the ground.
I am not sure whether it fell out, died and she pushed it out, sick and she abandoned it, or another bird got it.

I think one of the 3 remaining is dead in the nest.

2 are still alive but very weak. I hope the mother will care for them. I see both parents out there. It is so tough to watch such helpless creatures and feel so helpless too.

Yikes and I was a wreck because something got the eggs! I would be a walking puddle of tears if I had to watch that.

Nature stinks sometimes, doesn't it.