Now is the time of year that we receive dozens of calls every day regarding fledgling birds in peoples gardens that 'can't fly'.
Garden birds such as blackbirds, thrushes, robins etc leave their nests before they can fly properly and they spend the next few day hopping around in low bushes and on the ground while the parents still come down to feed them regularly.
During this time, the youngsters flap their wings, excercising them and building up the muscles, practicing their flying but are also at their most vulnerable to predators such as cats.
If the parent birds are around please do not interfere with the youngster as it will eventually start to fly properly and learn to fend for itself. If you have a cat, keep it in and ask any neighbours who own cats to do the same.
Any queries regarding fledgling birds can be posted here.
Hi my son has brought home, what he thought to be an abandond bird, He rescued it from a cat, It is young, fully feahtered and and has probably just left the nest. It is trying to fly althougth its attempts to leave the box have been unsuccessful. It does not appear to be injured in any way and the cat did not get it it was just stalking it as it was hiding in a hole.
I have read the advise on your page and I know it should have been left alone but my son was not aware of this and he thought bringing it home would be safer than leaving it for the cat to get it. But I am concened that now it has been removed from its parents it will not be accepted back. It has fed a little bread soaked in milk and hopping round the box, We have not handled since making the box and made a nest out of hamster staw bedding.
Can you please give me some advise, I want to return it to the wild as soon as possible but don't know the safest way to do this.
Hi Karen Any bird which has been caught by a cat needs to be given antibiotics to prevent infection, even if it looks uninjured. You really need to take it to your nearest wildlife rescue centre. If we are your closest you can bring it in until 9pm tonight or from 7am in the morning.
Please do not feed it any more bread, you can do more harm than good by feeding this. Mash up some dog or cat food with water (Pedigree Chum Puppy food is the best) & feed small amounts at a time when it opens its beak. It will need feeding every 30 minutes or so.
If you are not local to us you can ring us from 7.30am tomorrow & we will search our list of centres in the UK to try to find one close to you.
