Chirp, chirp, chirp! Where is that bird chirping coming from? Oh! Where is this injured bird? If we leave it alone, it will surely not survive. During this rainy season, with both heavy rain and strong winds, many people may have seen baby birds fall from their nests, but don't know what to do. We'll tell you how to observe baby birds before helping them and how to care for them so everyone knows.
When baby birds fall from their nests, people often misunderstand that they shouldn't be touched because human scent will cling to them, preventing their parents from taking them back to the nest. In reality, birds have a poor sense of smell. Catching a baby bird doesn't have that much of an effect. However, if you hold it too hard or too often, it can cause the baby bird to be injured. At the same time, adopting a baby bird should be the last option. However, if adoption is necessary, you should provide good and appropriate care. But first, you need to understand that there are three types of baby birds that we will encounter:
1. Young birds – It has only skin or just fluffy fur, but it can’t fly yet, but it fell from the nest first.
In this case, look for the baby bird's original nest. If you find it, take it back. If you can't find it, build an artificial nest, perhaps a basket through which rainwater can flow. Hang it from a tree. If the parents are still alive, they'll return to care for their young. However, people shouldn't guard the nest too close, as this will discourage the parents from returning to their nest. It's best to keep an eye on it from a distance.
2. Baby birds learning to fly – I’m not good at flying yet, so I made a mistake.
In this case, there are usually parent birds nearby. We should wait and watch for 1-2 hours. If there are no parent birds, we can take them away and take care of them.
3. Orphaned chicks He is quite grown up, but has no parents and cannot take care of himself.
In this case, if it is certain that the parents will not return to claim it, you can take care of it by placing the baby bird in a box or basket, lined with tissue paper or torn newspaper.
Caring for birds if you keep them as pets
When feeding birds, we should first identify the bird species so that we can choose the right food and feed it when the baby bird asks for it. Normally, baby birds will cry and open their mouths to ask for food. If they don't cry or open their mouths to ask, it may be because they are not hungry or sick.
A word of caution: do not feed baby food such as "Cerelax" or "milk" because birds do not have the enzymes to digest the protein in milk, so milk can cause diarrhea in birds. And these types of food are quite low in protein, while baby birds need higher protein. As for commercially prepared bird food, it can only be used with certain types of birds, butIf the baby bird is healthy, try training it to peck food from a spoon. Importantly, do not give the baby bird water because it is like forcing it, causing it to choke and enter the respiratory tract. Baby birds usually get water from food anyway, but if you think you want to give it water, you should let the baby bird sip it on its own.
Furthermore, baby birds, which are not yet feathered, require a lot of energy to keep themselves warm. Therefore, warmth is another important issue. Newborn birds need to be warm because they do not have many feathers and lose heat quite quickly. Therefore, incubating them with a warm light is very important. You can use a yellow light bulb or a special incubator bulb. Hang it about 30 centimeters away from the baby bird or at a temperature close to the baby bird's body, about 30-35 degrees Celsius, and place it in a corner of the box. However, be careful that the temperature is too hot and can kill the baby bird.
Finally, once the bird has received basic care and is back to health, it's best to release it to an area with its natural food source. Or, if you feel attached to it and want to raise it yourself but are unsure about how to care for the baby bird, you can seek advice or guidance from a veterinarian.
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References
Dr. Nunree Trirattananuwong, veterinarian at the Special Animals and Internal Medicine Departments, Talingchan Animal Hospital
Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST)