SALT LAKE CITY — It’s not uncommon to find baby birds on the ground in the spring. Many are hatching and often leave their nests before they are able to fly. Some might also be blown out of nests during a gusty rainstorm.
“Baby birds usually chirp and call from the nest, waiting for their parents to bring food to them — and sometimes they get excited or agitated, which results in them falling from their perch,” Utah Division of Wildlife Resources migratory game bird coordinator Jason Jones said.
The most common baby birds that people find are robins (which nest in trees) and swallows (which build their mud nests in eaves and on the sides of houses), according to Wildlife Resources.
So, if you’re taking a walk around your neighborhood and you come across a young bird on the sidewalk near a tree, what should you do?
You probably should resist the urge to take it home and put it in a cardboard box or cage. Most birds are protected by state and federal laws, and it’s illegal in Utah to possess wild animals without special permits.
But that doesn’t mean you should always do nothing. And your response will be different depending on whether the bird is a newly born nestling or a fledgling learning to fly.
If you find a baby bird on the ground, there are a few things you should do, per DWR:
Put it back in the nest if it doesn’t have feathers
If the bird is very small and still featherless, you should put it back in its nest. If you can’t find the nest, place it on a branch safely out of reach of dogs and cats.
“The baby will squawk, and its parents will find it,” Jones said.
Unlike with some other wildlife species, you don’t need to be concerned about leaving your scent on the bird. Most birds do not have a good sense of smell, so if you pick up a baby bird, its parents won’t know you’ve handled it.
Leave it alone if it has feathers
If the baby bird is hopping around, you’ve found a bird that is a fledgling. They have most of their flight feathers and are very close to taking their first flight.
If the bird isn’t in danger, leave it where you found it. This awkward “hopping” stage typically lasts two to five days. It’s part of the natural process a baby bird goes through before taking its first flight. The parents are watching the baby bird and are still feeding it.
If you think the fledgling is in immediate danger, then move it carefully to a safer spot nearby. But if you can’t catch the bird, just leave it alone.
Don’t feed the birds
If you find a baby bird, don’t attempt to give it food. Birds have a very specific diet, and feeding them something that’s not part of their diet can kill them.
“While robins and some bird species can safely eat worms, others can’t,” Jones said. “So don’t try to feed baby birds or other wildlife that you encounter. You may think you are helping them, but it usually does more harm than good.”
Just place the bird back on its branch or in its nest, and let its parents feed it.
What to do with baby ducks
If you find a duckling on the ground that looks like it’s been separated from its parents, don’t move it or try to put it in water. Baby ducks should be left alone, unless they are trapped in a storm drain or somewhere else dangerous, like in a swimming pool.
If you do see a duckling in a storm drain, contact a Wildlife Resources office to report it or contact city officials.
Don’t disturb nests with eggs or baby birds
While bird species that nest in the eaves of buildings may seem like a nuisance, it’s against the law to disturb nests that have eggs or baby birds, and you can be issued a citation for doing so.
You can take measures to prevent birds from building nests on your home or property, but you have to do it before nesting season begins. Once a bird establishes and inhabits a nest — and there are eggs or baby birds in the nest — you need to wait until after the baby birds have left the nest in order to remove it to prevent future nesting.
Avian flu
Songbirds are not typically affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses, so people shouldn’t have to remove their bird feeders unless they also have backyard chickens or domestic ducks, which are susceptible to the virus. Still, it’s always recommended to regularly clean bird feeders and baths.
If you see a group of five or more dead birds, report it to a Wildlife Resources office. Make sure you don’t touch the birds or pick them up.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
