Abandoned baby bird - what to do?

[TastingTheRainbow]

Posting here for traffic.

In my garden there is a bird nest and one of the babies seems to have been abandoned. It’s on the floor, in the rain and crying out. I’ve been watching it for over an hour and no bird has come back to it. I went to put it back in the nest but spotted the nest is now empty and the other birds are gone. Does this mean it’s been abandoned?

What do I do with it? I’ve already tried phoning the RSPCA but they said leave it and the mother will come back eventually. Except googling seems to say that it will die soon left alone.

Any ideas??

He could have been snatchd and then dropped by a magpie.

I was shocked by how few blackbird hatchlings survive.

No parents came back despite the crying constantly. Phoned round several wildlife centres / RSPCA again etc and RSPCA told me to take it to a wildlife vet 30 mins away from me.

Drove all the way there on the promise that someone would help it and the vet tells me it’s being put to sleep as that’s what the RSPCA inspector asked for, failed to tell me that of course! Honestly don’t why anyone still supports them.

How disappointing and frustrating for you, op.

He could have been snatchd and then dropped by a magpie.

Yes. Happens a lot. Not surprised the wildlife vet opted to put it down. It would be a huge struggle to keep such a young bird alive and would probably just prolong the agony.

I had something similar last year with a new born baby fox. My daughter ran in with it (I thought it was a rat) and we put it back outside even though it was snowing. A neighbour called rspca as my daughter has a big mouth and they put it to sleep. If left where it was the mum may have come back.

Not surprised the wildlife vet opted to put it down. It would be a huge struggle to keep such a young bird alive and would probably just prolong the agony.

This is very true. We were looking after some baby blackbirds last week, similar age and size to the OP's one, and even with 2 people doing it full time (and supervised by bird specialists in the wildlife hospital's ICU), it was very stressful and time-consuming trying to get them to feed and keep them warm. Missing one feed could be enough to put them at risk, and even with an incubator and a heatpad, one little guy in particular was really struggling. I don't know if he's made it. Will only find out when I'm back this weekend. Without all those facilities, the chances of survival are very low. Even with those facilities, it's still very difficult.

Well done for trying OP. It's very sad that it wasn't a happier ending.

I understand it may have been the best thing to put the bird to sleep but I think the RSPCA inspector should have at least told me that rather than telling me drive half an hour away from home to a ‘specialist wildlife’ vet for treatment when if it was being put to sleep (and the vet told me that’s what was requested) the vet 5 minutes down the road would have been fine!

Yes, they can survive. Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital has a nuthatch, who flew into a window and gave itself a head injury. It’s now recovering there. See their Twitter feed.

They have a helpline, which gives advice on injured wildlife, abandoned baby birds, etc.

This is not an advert for them - I just sought their advice on a sick hedgehog last week. We took the hedgehog there for treatment and we had a look round the visitors’ centre!