Rochester Hills, Michigan

 

 

Leave Baby Birds Alone

 

(Juvenile Cardinal)

Although good samaritans provide admirable examples of how to treat fellow human beings in need, most "helpless" wild animals that we contact are better off left alone. This statement is especially true at this time of year as baby birds leap from nests.

On first site, a baby bird on the ground throws otherwise hardened cynics into fits of compassion, and their overriding urge is to rescue the helpless creature from a cruel environment. This is nearly always exactly the wrong thing to do.

After a little reflection, most people realize that flightless baby birds have been falling out of nests a few days too soon for millions of years. Likewise, momma birds and poppa birds have been watching those babies hit the deck. After investing 15 days to incubate eggs and another 15 to brood and feed newly-hatched chicks, songbirds are not likely to abandon their offspring just because they get a little fidgety and bail out early.

Baby birds on the ground are not as helpless as they appear. Many of them are well camouflaged - a spot-breasted juvenile American Robin is not nearly as concpicuous as its red-breasted father - and they innately freeze when apparent danger comes into view. (Most baby birds probably wouldn't recognize danger unless it hit them over the head, but they do exhibit a freezing response when they hear certain alarm calls from adults.)

Once a baby bird leaves the nest, one or both parents follow it pretty closely, often from obsure perches where the adults aren't so obvious. If you patiently watch a baby bird on the ground, however, you'll usually see a parent descend from some hidden branch with a sumptuous morsel of grubworm or potato bug. This catering service will continue all day and sometimes for several days until the flightless fledgling develops aerial skills of its own.

The parents don't just feed the youg bird, however - as you may find out the hard way if you attempt to pick it up from the ground. Larger songbirds, especially Northern Mockingbirds, American Robins, and Blue Jays, can raise sizeable lumps on a human noggin when they dive bomb the baby bird molester's skull. Even mighty-mites like the Tufted Titmouse swoop fearlessly against cats, dogs, squirrels, and humans when young birds are threatened.

So what does one do when a flightless baby birds hops across the lawn? Again, the appropriate response is to leave it alone. Of course, if the local cat is about to a meal of the yougster, it might be appropriate to interfere and lock the cat indoors for the remainder of the breeding season. After getting between the cat and its intended prey, place the your bird in some dense shrubbery close to where you found it so the parents can hear it. There it can wait while awaiting food delivery from its parent. Don't worry about leaving human scent on the bay so that the parents won't accept it; very few bird species have any sense of smell.

Wild birds do need help if they are injured, dehydrated, has difficulity breathing, or cannot fly...call the store at 248.375.5202 for the name of a wildlife rehabilitator.