Raising A Baby Bird

So you may have to raise the bird yourself. Read this page to learn how to meet the bird's environmental needs, and what to expect as he grows.

- Find a cardboard box with dimensions of about 1' long x 1 1/2' wide x 1 1/2' high.

- Place a heating pad on the bottom of the box, turned onto its lowest setting.

- On this, place a small bowl or smaller box, that is high enough to prevent him crawling over the edge and falling onto the heating pad. The bird will overheat if this happens.

- Inside the bowl, place a folded towel, taking care to insure that the complete bottom of the bowl is covered. The bottom of the bowl, even if it is 'soft' plastic, is too hard for the little guy, as I found out when I let mine sleep without a towel one night, and in the morning he was miserable and had a very sore leg, which I'm sure would have gotten worse if I did not immediately return his towel. A small slightly upheld rag loosely placed on one end of the bowl can be useful in allowing the bird to choose for himself whether he prefers to remain under it, where the temperature is quite a bit warmer, or to remain outside of it, to be cooler. Make sure he has the option of leaving the fold easily.

- Put a thermometer directly on the area where he will be living, and check the temperature often. A good thick glass thermometer from the pet store will do, but not one of those thin plastic ones that can break too easily. You want to keep the temperature at about 90 degrees. This seems to be the temperature that my sparrow was happiest with, although it was recommended to me that 85-95 was acceptable. I tend to disagree. 95 seemed to hot for him, and 85 not warm enough. Other species may prefer slightly higher or lower temperature. In any case if your bird is panting he is too hot. Other signs of being over-heated are if the bird constantly keeps his mouth open, or seems uncomfortable and restless, which can also be a sign of disease as well. These signs can show up alone or in combination. If he is shivering, act QUICKLY to raise the temperature!

- Keep a dark towel on top of the box, with just enough of an opening to let a little bit of air in. 1" or so should do, but this affects the temperature in the box, so check it and compensate as necessary. If the temperature goes a little too high, you can also try putting a folded towel between the bowl the bird is resting in and the heating pad. It will take a few hours to make sure the temperature is stable, so keep checking.

- DO NOT use grass, hay, straw, etc., as bedding. These can cause cause illness and death.

- Do not use an aquarium as a nesting box. Even with only a screen or towel on top, the air circulation is too poor. Humidity remains high, and can lead to bacterial contamination of the tank, or infection of the bird.

A contributor suggested the following alternative setup: A closed cardboard box with about five air holes no bigger than a pen's circumference. The heating pad was kept under the box as opposed to inside it, and was set to 'medium'. If this setup successfully keeps a good temperature range, then it would be the better bet since it would protect the bird from drafts. In any case, the temperature should be verified often!

Other methods of assuring warmth can be used, but with caution. Light bulbs are an easy source of warmth, but they will cause burns if allowed to shine directly on the bird. They also dry the surrounding air to unacceptable levels, which can be dangerous to the chicks in several ways. The glare can also prove deleterious to young birds. The light is too bright during the day, and at night, they will need darkness to get their rest, but turning off the light means no source of warmth. If using a light bulb, leave a blanket or other barrier between it and the bird. A good idea could be to use 2 boxes, one on top of the other. The light bulb could be used inside the lower box, and the chick left in the upper one. Then you could adjust the distance between the 2 until you reach a good temperature around the bird.

Some people have mentioned using hot water bottles to keep their birds warm. I can't really recommend their use. The heat produced by the bottles is not constant enough, and you will need to refill them every few hours, including at night. They can however be used as an emergency source of warmth, if nothing else is handy at the time. Best to wrap the bottle in a towel before placing near the bird. This will allow the heat to diffuse slower and more stable. Take care not to over-warm the bird, and be sure that the bottle does not leak, which could burn him if the water is still hot, or chill him if the water has cooled down. (Both are deadly.)

About "naturally" warm places around the house, such as tops of the fridge, hot water heater closets, near radiators, etc. I tend not to recommend these places since so many variables can affect the health of the chick. But occasionally, a person does seem to have a suitable place available in their home. Be very careful using such a place. I would only recommend using such a place if you truly cannot get a more suitable environment for the bird. The factors to keep an eye on are: temperature, humidity, fumes, cleanliness of the area, and available lighting. All these preceding factors must be within the acceptable ranges, and remain stable throughout the bird's stay in the area. Other general safety issues must also be considered.

Growth should be noted every day. The best thing to do is to weigh the bird each day to insure that he is gaining weight. I had no device for this myself, so I cannot be more detailed than that. But you should notice things like bigger feet, eye development, color changes, feather growth, etc. Sometimes you will only notice one thing, such as when I noticed my bird all of a sudden had these huge feet! He looked otherwise the same to me as the day before. This is apparently normal. As long as something is growing, the bird is doing alright.

The bird should also have a good energy level when offering him food, and should want to eat. If you notice a drop in these, start paying close attention to him. He may have simply had a bad night, but more likely he may be getting sick. If this behavior lasts more than 2 hours, raise the temperature to 95 degrees, and call a vet, rehabilitator, or wait until the situation passes, one way or the other. Try to observe his surrounding conditions for anything noteworthy, like drafts, noise, fumes, etc.

Let the bird get 8 hours uninterrupted sleep. Remember, he is a baby after all. Stay out of his room, and keep all the lights off. However, on the first couple of nights, don't let this stop you from checking the temperature of his box. Simply bring a flashlight with you, and avoid shinning it directly in the box. Take the thermometer out, and read it there, then put it back.

Keep his area clean. I removed my bird's droppings whenever I noticed them, and I changed his bedding every 2 days, since we got a lot of food all over his little towel.

Do not let any other animals near the chick. Even if the animal is friendly, you do not want your bird getting used to that animal since when you release him, you will decrease his chances of survival. Just imagine that your bird has been playing with a friendly cat, and then when you release him he goes to the first cat he sees thinking it is a friend. There goes all your work! I would even go so far as to say that you should not let the bird see you with your animals.

It should also be understood that under no circumstances should a wild bird ever be allowed to near an indoor pet bird. They should not even be present in the same room. The risk of disease transmission is high, and pet birds generally do not have a strong immunity to native avian diseases. If you own a pet bird, wash your hands before and after dealing with the wild bird to prevent spreading any illness. (You should be washing your hands anyway, for your own sake.)

No smoking, or spraying of air fresheners, pesticides, cleansers etc., in the bird's room. Keep all chemicals and toxins well away from the bird. It does not take much to make the bird ill (or dead) with these substances.

Growth rates can vary from species to species, but usually it takes somewhere between 2 to 4 weeks until a chick fledges. By the second week, my sparrow only had pin feathers coming out of his wings and tail, and they were not very long at all, maybe 1/4", if that. By the third week, he had almost all his feathers, except at the area on his body below the wings, a small patch on his belly, and his leg feathers were only just coming in. On top of that, most of his sheaths came off so that his feathers are completely open and useable.

When feathers are growing, you must be very careful not to break them, since the birds can bleed to death. At this stage, the bird may seem quite uncomfortable with the feathers coming out, which I suppose is to be expected.

You will notice that as the bird continues to grow, he will start becoming more curious about his surroundings. He will start to walk, talk, and flex his muscles. Young birds are usually pretty clumsy at first, but in a few days they learn the ropes. Take care that your bird cannot become injured with his little explorations, or fall out onto the heating pad.

Within a couple of weeks to a month, the bird will have fledged, which means not only does it have almost all its feathers, but it will actually fly, or try to. They usually fly pretty weakly at first, but within a week, they should have basically mastered it. I often held my sparrow on my finger and let my hand down repeatedly to get him to exercise his wings.

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This website is not intended to replace the expert care that is only available by professional rehabilitators. The use of this website is only intended for those where the option of bringing an orphaned bird to a rehabilitator is not possible. By raising a wild bird yourself, you greatly diminish it's chances for survival. Please check this link for a rehabilitation center in your community: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm. If none are listed near you, call a local animal shelter, veterinarian, or wildlife office/agent for information on local rescue centers. Thank you.

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