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House Finches (?)
There’s nothing cuter than a baby bird.
Okay, maybe that’s a matter of opinion. At this age, though, you can really see why many scientists today believe that birds evolved from dinosaurs, can’t you?
What everyone can agree on, I’m sure, is that they do look tiny and helpless, especially when the wind blows an entire nest of them out of the overhang of your house onto the ground. One didn’t survive the fall, but the other three appear to be uninjured.
The best thing the home owner could have done in this situation would have been to get a ladder, and replace the nest in the soffit. Even if they weren’t able to get it back in the exact same spot, the parents would have found their babies, and continued to care for them, feed them, and rear them naturally.
Instead, the well-meaning and kind-hearted people called NY Wildlife Rescue Center the evening before last. So, naturally, my phone rang a few minutes later.
“Will you take three baby birds?”
Half an hour later Wes’s daughter Hanna was ringing my front doorbell (note of surprise: I have a front doorbell?! Who knew?)
He wondered if they were “starlings or sparrows”. Sparrows maybe, most definitely not starlings (ask me how I know this….) But, considering all of that fluffy fuzz sticking out of them, not likely sparrows, either. After pouring through books and websites, I’m about 90 percent … okay, maybe 85 percent … let’s call it 80 … that they’re House Finches.
Regardless, after half a day of having to gently pry little mouths open, they began to realize that the red straw cut into the shape of a mommy-bird beak contained food. Now, they’re gaping well, eating well, and due to the fact that they’re well covered in down and new feather growth, I’m able to feed them about every half hour to forty minutes, rather than every twenty minutes, as a really tiny nekkid baby would require.
One nice thing about doing nestling bird rehab is that at sundown, the natural parents would stop feeding … which means they, and I (most of the time), sleep through the night. The drawback is, of course, that sunup means hungry mouths, and we have another entire day of every half-hour feedings ahead. I’m definitely ready for sunset by the time it arrives.
Baby birds really aren’t so bad. The danger is, of course, in the fact that they imprint so easily.
Ask me how I know this….
Once a bird is truly imprinted on humans (or any rescued wild animal, for that matter), it is no longer a good candidate for release. To successfully rehabilitate a baby bird to the point that it can be put back in the wild when ready, one has to remain distant, handle only when feeding and providing necessary care, and provide a safe, secure, place away from human interaction the rest of the time. The bird is better off if it can be kept with others of its own, or at least a similar, species. Once the baby is perching, trying to fly, and eating on its own, it must be introduced to natural foods that it would find in the wild, and be moved to a situation where it can learn to forage for itself. Ideally, it should be released in its own home environment…or, at the very least, an area very similar to that in which it was born. There are a large number of things that can go wrong when rehabilitating wild animals, and rehabbers have to do their best to find the right balance for success.
Thus, the first option when finding any baby bird, is to try (and try hard) to return it to its parents.
There are many excuses we hear when people bring us birds. Some of them are really not valid, when the welfare of the bird is made the first priority, I’m sorry to say. A very common one is “my cat might get it” (why not keep your cat inside till the babies fledge? This usually happens in just a couple of weeks, they grow very fast).
There are also, of course, valid reasons. Occasionally the parents will have been killed. Sometimes it’s impossible to locate the nest site. The bird could be injured and need special care. However, always assess the situation carefully, with the fact in mind that a baby bird is always better off with its parents (even if it might mean doing a few calisthenics to get it back to them).
People who bring baby animals to rehabilitators for care are really very good people. Their hearts are in the right places, and we do appreciate this. However, learning about wildlife, educating oneself about the best thing for the animals, is a big part of that caring nature. There are quite a few good books out there about wildlife rehabilitation, and websites that give lots of wonderful information.
If you’ve found an orphaned or injured bird or other wild animal, see this as a nudge in the direction of self-improvement. Let it open your mind to curiosity about wildlife. Let the experience spark a desire to know more. Hit the library, browse the web, stop by the bookstore. If you visit the “Book Shop” here on Gazehound.com, you’ll find quite a few books there about wildlife care and rehabilitation. One of my favorites for songbird rescue is the little booklet in the Storey Country Wisdom series, Helping Orphaned and Injured Wild Birds. For a little book that’s not much more than an oversized pamphlet, it’s packed with great information.
It’s only May. That means baby season is just starting, and in fact, it seems to be early this year. No doubt, these three little Probably Finches are just the first of a full season of orphans. If people arm themselves with knowledge and locate their local wildlife rehabbers “just in case”, it will make the summer a more satisfying one for everyone, birdies included.
