Tea Corner

Just found abandoned baby birds..?

Well we plan on taking them to some shelter to give them a better chance of living, they were on the ground on a path today so we brought them home. They are large but can only just open their eyes and sleep alot. Their skin looks grey with tiny bits of yellow fluff. Their beaks are long-ish lol with what looks like a little white/yellow spot on the end. The beak is also grey/black. they are about the size of your fingers (without your palm) im sorry i cant get a picture atm.
what shall i do for tonight because i cant take them anywhere today. They still have their nest so there is somewhere to sleep. shall i put a tea towel in for warmth and keep them in the extention? How should i feed the,? or give them water? i have no bread beleive it or not! and i know i cant give them milk. Shall i use a cotton wool blud and put a bit of water on the end? will they drink it? HELP, oh i cant return them, its not safe there as alot of dogs are walked there.

Should have left them for a while before moving htem, but too late for that now.

First off, identify them. From the beak, sounds like they might be collared doves – but you need someone to take a look.

Second – keep them fairly warm. A medium-sizeed carboard box with an old towel on teh bottom, kept inside, would be ideal.

Third – keep them hydrated. Add 1teaspoon of salt and one tablespoon of sugar to one litre of warm water, and mix it up. Put some of this in a reasonably deep bowl for them (not shallow enough to get in, not so deep they can’t drink). You may need to dip the end of their beak in to give them the right idea.

EDIT: Daisyhill -a little salt and sugar in the water is known as ‘international rehydrating solution’, and is used more or less everywhere, when nothing better is available. And you shouldn’t be advising on what to feed them until you have at least a hazy idea what species they are.

EDIT: aquella – I’m not sure what a ‘WLR’ is, and I’m pretty sure it’s a self-appointed title. I would note, however, that you are wrong – whilst care needs to be taken getting fluids into the birds, it is essential. You don’t have to take my word for it – if you like, I’ll scan and upload the relevent advice from Les Stocker, founder of the St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Sanctuary.

They can do without food for a short while, if need be. But remember that they can’t be taken anywhere until tomorrow. Keeping water from them is as cruel as it is stupid – might just as well wring their necks and have done with it.

EDIT: aquella – you say you’re quite sure of your qualifications, but consipcuously fail to mention what they might be. A license is not a qualification – it is merely permission. Consequently, you say nothing at all.

Very arrogant of you to question who might give you a thumbs-down, as if your advice is perfect, and beyond question. As it happens, I’ve been taking in waifs and strays for a good long while – and besides those with obvious trauma from cars, cats, and the like, some of which did not last the night – I’ve released, or taken to a local wildlife sanctuary, every single one. Including a whole family of brand new (pink and blind) harvest mice, whose nest was unfortunately disturbed during a dig. Those, I raised myself, as the “WLRs” could not commit to bi-hourly feeds through the night.

The information I offer is not from the internet – hence I offered to scan it. The clue’s right there – why on earth would I attempt to scan my own monitor rather than hand over a link?

I have the books because I take caring for things quite seriously, and would not wish to do anything wrong, or try anything without first gaining the required information. The book I was quoting was written by arguably the most experienced “WLR” in England – who has been awarded an MBE for his efforts, and is the founder of this organisation:

http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/

If you wish to argue with him, then be my guest. It would be arrogant to do so, but you’ve already demonstrated you have no problem with that.

Let me give you the opening line from his section on providing food and drink;

“To improve [the bird's] chances of survival and recovery, we want it to drink and feed as soon as possible.”

Of course you have to be careful doing so – but if you’re going to attempt care of random animals, you have to put in a little effort.

Incidentally – this book is also where I initially found the recipe for the rehydrating solution.

EDIT: I have no intention of emailing you, as you’re simply not that interesting. What on earth do you presume to know about my experience? I have more proper qualifications (ie, degrees) than you have braincells, and enough responsibility to read up fully on anything that happens to fall into my care.

I refer you to my previous observation; you are arrogant. If you help out wildlife – fair play – that would normally make me like a person. Sadly, you undercut this benevolence by being obnoxious.

Also; unless an exception is specifically made for fledgelings – the standard advice, logically, holds. The books I have bought are neither old, nor written by amateurs.

Oh – I took the mice because their nest was not so much disturbed, as destroyed. A digger went through it. Took me a good long while to even find the things.

EDIT: well, aquilla – that seems awfully like an unmarked edit there… Could it be you’re too self-absorbed to not have the last word? Looks awfully like it, to me…

This question was posted at roughly 6pm GMT. Let us presume it took an hour from the asker finding the birds, to posting on Yahoo. We don’t know how long they’d been out of the nest up until that point – but it’s unlikely they fell out just as he approached. Let’s give you the benefit of the doubt, and call it an hour.

That would suggest that they fell out around 4ish. The asker stated he can’t take them to a sanctuary until tomorrow; presuming he’s not oging to get up at the crack of dawn to do so, let’s presume they’ll arrive there mid-morning. Say, around 11am.

That brings it to a grand total of 19 hours that you’d have baby birds going without water. I’d sure hate to be an animal in your care, if you think that’s at all appropriate.

You asked for some indication that professional bodies might propose giving liquids to fledgelings/nestlings – so here you are. From the RSPCA.

“If necessary, offer a shallow dish of water (putting a stone in the dish to reduce the risk of drowning) – do not offer milk or food.”

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=FAQs&articleId=1011893928909&topic=1112958900073&subtopic=1112958900179&previousPage=1114778749280#1011893928909

Granted, it leaves it up to the discretion of the rescuer to decide what is ‘necessary’ – but if you think that 19 hours away from the nest doesn’t qualify, you ought to have your vaunted ‘qualifications’ rechecked.

As an aside – it seems, from your questions, that you’ve recently been having significant trouble caring for a standard, domestic rabbit. Surely, one so knowledgeable as yourself would have few problems with such a trivial matter…

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