[MadameMimm]

My teen daughter (an aspiring Vet) found a very small newly hatched bird and since many other children had been around it, she decided to put it in a box and try to take care of it until we can take it to the bird sanctum tomorrow. We are wondering how to take care of it for now. Should we try to feed it? Should we keep it under a heating pad to keep it warm? Please, any ideas would help for the duration of this little guy.This is a baby-baby. We're pretty sure it's a Mockingbird. It has no feathers and if it senses something around, it opens its bright yellow beak to eat.

[Sherry C]

i would consider talking to the vet clinic to see if they have any baby bird formula to mix and feed with a syringe. if you have determined the type of bird that you may have found. check on line for the bird species and what the adult eats. most birds would eat fruit and insects. if that is the case, see if the pet store has any meal worms, small crickets or any kind of food bugs. worms are easier to handle.you can either mash it up to a paste and feed it that way with a small clean Popsicle stick. or if this type of bird eats its food whole, use tweezers. you have no worries about giving it water. if you can get it to eat, it will get enough liquid from the worms.be sure tho to keep the little fellow in a quiet area, away from alot of visitors and traffic. the noise and the stress alone would be enough to do harm.

[Honeybee]

Your daughter is very sweet for worrying about the baby bird. It sounds to me like it must have fallen out of the nest? **The BEST thing to do for it is put it back in the nest as soon as you can!** The parents are the best thing for a bird that young. It's a myth that adult birds will not care for young with human scent. It's absolutely not true. If you can't find the nest or it is too high to safely reach, I would call a local vet. Keep it warm. It probably needs to eat often (like all babies).

[tien]

If it's newly hatched, make sure it has an incubator or other source of steady heat. Check the temperature, so it's not too cold, but also not too hot. Baby birds need to be fed A LOT: As soon as it starts cheeping, you'll know it's hungry. After feeding it, it'll usually quiet down and go to sleep.For feeding... if you can't get your hands on anything from a store, here's what I think might work:Blend together soaked dog/cat food (make sure it's really fine!!) and add some egg yolk, dash of yogurt, other vitamins and nutrition. I believe these are some of the ingredients used.See if you have any blunt plastic syringes; the babies need 1/2 a cc about every 30 min, I believe... (careful! Don't overfeed if it's really young!) If you can't get a syringe, I think you can get by with a straw. Just push the straw into the mixture and then hold your thumb over the end. Also, get a small paintbrush or something, and dip it in water. Run the brush's tip over the roof of the bird's mouth, to get it to drink. Do this every time you feed the bird the mix. When feeding (if you have the syringe/straw (BLUNT!)) make sure you push the tip down past the bird's windpipe, so it won't choke on the food.I'm not sure if this will work, but this is the technique that we use at Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, so I'm hoping your bird will act likewise, and you'll get by.Good luck!

[fuzzybug]

I'm the bird lady in my neighborhood. When someone finds a baby bird that was pushed or fell from its nest, I get it! I get baby bird formula at the pet store (I always have some on hand) and follow the instructions to feed the baby with a small bottle or eye dropper. Baby birds need to be kept warm, I wrap it in a small towel or wash cloth and sit it under a small lamp that will generate a little heat, but not too much.I had a bird last summer that I took care of and fed. I had it for about 4-6 weeks until I finally let him go. I took him out and he hung around and finally flew off. But lo-and-behold, he came back about 2 hours later wanting to be fed! He did this every day for about 2-3 weeks--coming up on the porch, banging at the windows, or if my husband and I would walk out through the yard, the bird would come and land on our head or shoulder wanting fed. As soon as we fed him (still with the bottle) he would hang for a couple minutes and then leave! He didn't come at night, just during the day. Finally one day he didn't show up anymore. It was sad, but it was really neat to have a wild bird (I think a starling) and watch him grow and finally leave home. Kind of like my kids, but not as expensive! HA I would love to find out how you make out.