• English
    • English
    • Polish
Allcare Ireland's logo
Allcare Ireland's home page
  • Contact Us(064) 6637333
  • Get in touch
Get in touch
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
  • Services
    • Laparoscopy
  • Offers
  • Blog
  • Online Payment
  • Contact Us

Baby Birds: Advice for Owners

Mar 28 2019, 10:19
Share

What to do when you find a baby bird on its own

There’s always more than meets the eye when you encounter a lonely baby bird. Your natural instinct might be to take it under your wing, so to speak, to take it to the vets or interfere with its natural course of life. Sometimes this is necessary but more often than not, the kindest thing to do when you encounter a baby bird is to leave it well alone… they often aren’t as helpless as we think!


Going against your natural instincts

The term ‘fledgling’ refers to a young bird that has ‘fledged’ its nest but is not yet able to fly. Odd as it may sound, this process is perfectly normal. Some young birds leave their nest when they are fully feathered and live on the ground until they’re able to take flight.


Feathered vs. un-feathered

If you find a feathered chick in your garden, the best thing to do is to leave it well alone. It’s simply going through a natural phase of its life. What you can do to help the fledgling is keep your pets – particularly cats – well away from it. Consider keeping them inside for a day or two, a fledgling won’t spend long on the ground before they’re ready and able to fly.

There are exceptions to the rule. If you find a young bird by the side of a busy road, for example, you can move it further away to somewhere they’re less likely to be trodden on. Bear in mind, however, that just because you can’t see the young bird’s mother, it doesn’t mean she’s not there! She may be off gathering food or simply keeping a watchful eye from her hiding place.

Un-feathered chicks are unlikely to leave their nest deliberately. If you find one and it’s obvious that it’s fallen out of the nest by accident, the best thing to do is to put it back. If you can put it back of course, and providing you’re certain it’s going back in the right nest!


Removing a bird from their natural habitat

If you find a bird that is injured or otherwise unable to return to its nest, contact us as soon as you can.

Once a bird has been removed from its natural habitat, it is likely to need human care and intervention for the rest of its life. With this in mind, make sure that the fledgling definitely needs you to intervene before you do so.

The golden rule is: if the bird is fully feathered, it will have left its nest deliberately and probably just needs you and your curious pets to keep out of their way for a day or so. If you find an injured bird, contact us or an expert rehabilitator as soon as you can.

Share
View all blogs

Explore

HomeAbout UsServicesOffersBlogOnline PaymentContact Us

Respecting your privacy

Cookie PolicyPrivacy NoticeTerms of UseComplaints PolicyTerms of Sale for Veterinary Services

Get the latest All Care Veterinary Hospital news


Copyright © 2023 Milltown Veterinary Services Ltd

Company's registered name: Milltown Veterinary Services Ltd

Registered number: 522377

Registered Address: 2 Shelbourne Buildings, Crampton Avenue, Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland

Menu

  • English
    • English
    • Polish
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
  • Services
    • Laparoscopy
  • Offers
  • Blog
  • Online Payment
  • Contact Us
  • Get in touch

Call Us

  • Contact Us number
  • See all contact details
  • Get in touch

Our Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to offer you a personalised experience, personalised advertising, and analyse our web traffic. Click 'Accept our cookies' if you would like to allow all cookies. Alternatively, you can choose which types of cookies you would like to accept or disable by clicking 'Turn cookies on or off' below. For more information, please see our cookie policy.

About Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browser our website and also allows us to improve our website. See our cookie policy.

Cookie settings

We use 3 different types of cookies on our website. You can say which ones you're happy for us to use below.

Functional cookies

These cookies do things like keep the website secure. They always need to be on.

Analytics cookies

These cookies store information about how you use our website, such as what you click on.

Marketing cookies

These cookies do things like tell us if you've seen our adverts on social media, such as Facebook or Twitter.