I feel like such an ogre but I inadvertantly killed a baby bird that I tried to rescue. The poor thing had fallen out of a tree that was hanging over a busy parking lot. It was very young and appeared to be no worse for the wear after tumbling from its nest. It had its feathers but they were still sheathed in that sleeve they grow in with. It would not/could not fly just yet. I picked it up to get it out of the way of the cars and didn't know what in the hell to do with it. I was afraid to return it to the grass under the tree b/c I just knew it would hop back into traffic. So, I got in my car and was on my way to PetSmart to buy a small animal carrier but the bird started to stress out and within 5 minutes it was dead. I was absolutely mortified. I am wanting some info as to what I should have done and should do in the future. Should I have left him to chance (and possibly getting squished by a car)? I am thinking of just buying a small animal carrier and keeping it with me at all times just as an in-case. I feel like such a loser. please help.

unfortunately each situation is different with every bird. Considering the fall he may not have been as fine as he seemed at first. My friend constantly rescues all types of birds and sometimes they just don't make it. You obviously already know that the less stress the better, so a small animal cage might be a great idea especially if it is covered so the animal doesn't feel exposed. Also if the animal seems stressed you may want to save the physical check for later and only handle them enough to get them in the carrier. Sorry it didn't work out. The only bird I ever took home died after 24 hours and I was very sad.

Actually, birds often leave the nest early (before they can fly), and in a lot of cases the parents will keep feeding the young fledgling. So your best best would be to try to place the bird back in the nest, or failing that somewhere relatively sheltered and safe (like up in a tree somewhere near the nest).

Though I know everyone has the best intentions when they try to save baby birds, you should know that most nestlings that hatch don't survive even to leave the nest, and of those that leave the nest most will die within a few weeks thereafter. That's just how nature is. So my attitude is that heroic efforts to save young birds (beyond trying to get them back into the nest) really aren't necessary except when the species is uncommon or endangered.

Out of curiosity, do you know what kind of bird it was?

My impression was that it was maybe a sparrow. Lots of pretty dun colors (shades of browns).

You're right. I knew it would have been best to leave it be (nature and all that) but with so much negative crap in the world, you really want and need something that makes you feel like you are making a difference. Unfortunately I ended up feeling worse than I would have if I had left him to his own devices.

This has happened to quite a few times. I remember once the bird died on me, seemed to have a heart attack, like what happened to you. Another time, a baby blue tit jumped the nest in our garden, and it's mother kept flying back and forwards feeding it. So we thought we'd just leave it there, rather than risk touching it, but it died through the night, probably due to the cold :(

A few weeks ago i was in Spain, and me and my friend almost stepped on a baby bird that had fallen from it's nest onto a path. It was so tiny, had definitely fallen and not jumped, cos it's eyes were still shut, didn't have many feathers, and it just lay there. We really didn't know what to do with it. There was a big plant pot on the pavement just where it had fallen, with a bush growing out of it, so we decided to hide it in the plant pot where it couldn't be seen by any other passersby, and hope it's mother found it. But the next night, when we went to check on it, it wasn't there. I think it'd probably been found by a cat or something :(

It can be quite heartbreaking, but sometimes i don't think there is a right thing to do.

Baby birds are very difficult to raise. I've raised a number of them and had my share of failures, one quite recently. You can only do your best.

Fledglings have full feathering except their tails, and sometimes their wingfeathers are a bit short. Baby birds out of the nest without full feathering have probably fallen or been pushed out. Naked baby birds out of the nest won't be taken care of by the parents but are abandoned. It is safe to take these home and try to care for them.

Please don't feel bad. You meant well and I'm sure it wasn't your fault. **hugs**

We found a baby robin a couple of months ago. He was only a hatchling with very few feathers yet. We made a little nest for him out of a fuzzy hat and a tupperware container and put a bottle of hot water in there with him so he would be warm. Then we took him to a wild bird rehab place (hard to find, since robins are a non-native species.) It's a very difficult task to raise a baby bird yourself.

It's so sad, but don't be hard on yourself. What you tried to do was very compassionate.

Many thanks to all my new friends for the cheering up!! After reading your posts, I do feel better about the situation. I will always feel reponsible for his little life but I do have to remember that I did not intend him any harm. Lesson learned.

I killed a bird once. Same story. It would have been OK on it's own and I took it in and killed it. Unintentional of course, but I cried and cried. I know now what to do. It wasn't your fault. You meant well.

I know everyone else has already said this, but really don't beat yourself up about it. My family and I have taken in, saved, or tried to save a ton of birds throughout the years. The problem is, they are very delicate and, if a trauma occurs, they will often go into shock and eventually just die. I've noticed in the past that the older one's we've taken in have been more likely to live through their injuries or trauma.

I found a baby bird sitting on my yard. It couldn't fly and it didn't look like it could walk either. It looked like it was losing it's feathers. I didn't touch it for a long time, but I coulnd't stop thinking about it. I didn't know what to do but I knew if I left it there either my cat or a neigbor's cat would get it, so I put it in a wicker basket up in a tree. The next day it was well, and the day after that it got up and flew away. It grew so much over those 2 days. The basket is still up in that tree.

I did get a (very blurry) picture of him. Can anyone tell me what kinda bird he was? I named him Nigel.

It depends on the age of the bird for what your options are. Fledglings (young birds that have left the nest) should be left alone even though they are not strong fliers. Birds that have no feathers should be put back into the nest, left alone, or killed. I would rather kill the bird than let it sit there and die.

It seems like a good idea to help baby birds but there is nothing you can really do. If you raise the bird yourself you will not be able to release when it is old enough. It will not have the skills to survive.

I'm so sorry - what a bad thing to have happened.

It is very, very difficult to care for baby birds. They must be fed every 20 minutes. If you find a baby bird on the ground and you can locate the nest it fell from, put it back in its nest. The mother will NOT reject it. Most of the time the mother will continue to feed babies that are on the ground and protect them from predators. If you find a nest with eggs or baby birds in it, put it back in the tree. Birds have a very poor sense of smell and won't be able to tell that a human touched their baby. The mother will come back after you are gone. Observe the nest from an area the mother can't view you in, like inside of a building. If the mother doesn't return, call your local wild life rehab center and they can tell you how to care for the babies, or they will take care of them.

You did what you thought was right in the situation, and you shouldn't feel guilty. The bird could have been injured from the fall, or had a disease. I've attempted to care for several baby animals including birds, baby mice, and even some bats. I ended up taking the bats to a wild life center, and the mice died from constipation. Some of the birds I cared for lived, and some of them died. I was homeschooling at the time and had all day and night to care for them. In a couple of the cases, I had to wrestle the babies away from cats. I fed them meal worms from pet stores, grubs from my garden, and berries. Grinding up insects and shoving them down a baby birds throat is not very pleasant, and is probably best left to profesionals at wild life centers.

In your case, even if the parents were feeding the baby, it was probably best to attempt to care for it. It was only a matter of time before he hopped into traffic. I'm sorry that he didn't make it. It is always sad to see a baby die.

It depends on the age of the bird for what your options are. Fledglings (young birds that have left the nest) should be left alone even though they are not strong fliers. Birds that have no feathers should be put back into the nest, left alone, or killed. I would rather kill the bird than let it sit there and die.

It seems like a good idea to help baby birds but there is nothing you can really do. If you raise the bird yourself you will not be able to release when it is old enough. It will not have the skills to survive.

Instead of killing the bird, wouldn't it be a better idea to call a rehab center so they can take care of it? The mother will continue to feed the baby while it is on the ground. I would much rather take a chance on her feeding it than executing it. That seems a little barbaric to me.

Someone delete that Megaman post, that's horrible :P

I don't know what to say, but I feel bad only for you! You never had the chance to exercise your ownership rights over that young bird, but hey, at least you could now eat that bird as a snack or for dinner and still not feel bad for it. If it hadn't died, you could've compelled that bird with a rod/whip to jump through hoops of blue fire for cash or what ever you want to do with that bird.


:stinkeye:

Instead of killing the bird, wouldn't it be a better idea to call a rehab center so they can take care of it? The mother will continue to feed the baby while it is on the ground. I would much rather take a chance on her feeding it than executing it. That seems a little barbaric to me.


Being someone who has worked at an animal sanctuary and has hand-fed countless baby birds I do not think it's a good idea. I have raised many birds that left the nest early. It's not hard to save a baby bird but it's very unlikely that the bird will survive when you try re-release it.

You might consider it barbaric, I consider it humane. Fledglings will be fed by the parents but hatchlings that fall to the ground will not. And if you can't find the nest I think it's more humane to kill the bird than for it to die slowly from dehydration or insects.

That's so sad. I remember I once was walking in from the courtyard (back when we lived in an apartment) and I accidentally stepped on a bird on the ground. It squeaked and at first I thought that it was a dog's chew toy someone had left out. SO I ran in and told my Dad, and he said that the bird was probably overheated. When I went back later to check the bird had flwon away, so at least that had a happy ending. In that case I would probably have called a wildlife rehab center or something. It was sad that the bird died, but at least you tried. Trying is better then leaving hte poor thing to die.

Thanks for all the support. I have begun to look at this incident in a new light (I've quit feeling so damn guilty) and have taken all the advice to heart. Knowing that so many experienced people try and don't succeed have made me quit doubting my abilities to help out the little pure, white lights out there. I don't think I will ever be able to turn my back and walk away from a creature that needs help (even with rationale saying let nature take its course) so I will say a prayer, try the best I can and hope for the best. I don't think that it's by coincidence that things like this happen to us. Just me finding the little bird was a freak occurence. I had planned on leaving the shopping center parking lot by another exit but because a woman hit my car while I was waiting to enter traffic on the main road, I ended up leaving the lot an hour later by another exit. By changing my exit I drove up on the little bird hopping in the parking lot. Like I said, these things are life lessons (whether we realize it, accept it, whatever). My lesson was, do I give up trying to help those in need because my heart can't take the dissappoinment or do I learn how to do it right and keep on keeping on? I choose the latter. Thanks for the advice and for sharing your experiences. :up: