Raising and hand-feeding baby birds is a huge responsibility.
Suppose you're taking a walk in the woods during the springtime when you notice a tiny, peeping creature at your feet. Upon further inspection, you realize it is a baby bird with no nest or mother in sight. A helpless, abandoned baby bird is very vulnerable to predators and weather; in order to save this little bird, you might have to feed it yourself.
Instructions
1. There are a few things you should do before even touching the baby bird. If it has some feathers and is hopping around, it is probably a fledgling and is learning how to fly. This is a natural process and the parents are probably nearby. You should not try to interfere with a fledgling. If the bird is younger and clearly not ready to be out of the nest, look around for a nest it might have fallen out of and place it back inside. If there is no nest in sight, keep in mind that the most humane and responsible thing to do is to surrender the baby bird to a wildlife rescue organization.
2. If you decide to try to raise the bird yourself, you must first make a shelter for the bird that is optimal for its survival. The easiest way to do this is to line a shoebox with paper towels and place it in a warm area. Build the towels up to make a nice, soft nest. Change the paper towels frequently to avoid bacteria growth.
3. The basic diet of most wild baby birds is pretty simple . Like most baby animals and humans, they need lots of protein to grow healthy and strong. Baby birds can be fed raw meat or canned dog food. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, recommended meats include raw liver or kidney. The meat should be cut or ground into tiny pieces that the bird can swallow. You can add in a few other foods like hard-boiled egg yolk mashed with milk, cottage cheese and moistened raisins. As the bird gets a little bigger, introduce small insects and berries (for fruit-eating birds). Follow each feeding with a few small droplets of water from an eyedropper.
4. Feed the baby bird with a pair of dull tweezers. (Sharp tweezers could cut the bird's delicate skin.) Hold a small portion of the food in the tweezers in one hand and use the other hand to gently hold the bird and raise its head. Tap on its bill gently to signal that it is time to eat. The bird should open its mouth very wide. If it doesn't, you can gently open its mouth by hand. Drop the food as far into the throat as you can. Continue feeding until the bird stops gaping its mouth.
5. Raising a baby bird is a time-consuming responsibility. You have to be able to feed the bird multiple times per day. According to the Three Ring Ranch Exotic Animal Sanctuary in Hawaii, featherless baby birds should be fed every half-hour and feathered ones should be fed at least every hour. It will be several weeks before the baby bird can be released.
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