Do baby birds need a good samaritan

A local bird rehabber writes: When you pick up a wild baby bird, you might as well sign its death warrant. So, before you play the good Samaritan, ensure you are committed to getting the bird to someone who can help it. Treating, rearing, or keeping wild birds without a permit is illegal. When you find a wild bird you think may need help, it is best to call your local veterinarian or rehabilitation specialist before picking it up. They are there to help you make the right decision.

Fully feathered baby birds (fledglings) usually do not need your help.

If the bird is in your garden, do not pick it up. Bring your dogs and cats indoors for an hour or two. Most of the time, the bird’s parents will come to feed it, and it will fly away after resting for a while. Learning to fly is hard work! When you find a fledgling in the middle of the road, you could move it to the sidewalk where its parents will find it.

Fledglings usually do not need you to interfere.

Naked baby birds or those covered in yellow fluff (hatchlings) need urgent help. It is vital to keep the hatchling warm. Covering it with a blanket alone will not help. Put the baby bird in a small cardboard box on a soft blanket with a beanbag or bottle with warm water before calling Parys Animal Hospital in Allenby Street. They will put you in touch with the area’s bird whiz. Never give a hatchling food or water without first speaking to a veterinarian or wildlife rescue specialist. Hatchlings need urgent help. Whenever you see blood or broken bones on any bird, juvenile or adult, please pick it up and take the bird directly to the vet. They will examine the bird and treat it appropriately before giving it to the local rehabilitation centre. Nothing is more satisfying than assisting a little, helpless life. But aiding wild birds and animals includes rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing. Regrettably, most people only do the first step and then keep or release the animal without rehabilitating and following the proper steps. All three steps are equally critical because no wild animal should repay its debt for being saved behind bars to make you happy. It takes genuine, unselfish love to put an animal’s well-being before your own and let it be happy, free, and with its own kind. (Source: Helpless Wings – Lynn Ravat