We found a bird...

[HardHatOptional]

We found this little on our path earlier, make no attempt to fly or move when approached.

I think it's a house sparrow, we've put him in a ventilated box with padding. Given some water in a bottle lid and left it for a couple of hours in a quiet room.

Just been to check and it's alert, so took it outside and tried to set it free. Little bugger was sat on my hand, tucked his head in and went to sleep. No attempt to leave.

What do I do? I admit I'm useless and know nothing about birds.

I'm in NE Wales. I've just put the lid back on for now. Will try again in a little bit.

So we've had the same thing in the last few days, a fledgling pigeon that was out of the nest but couldn't fly and we had to rescue it from cats - twice

We kept it inside overnight and then put it on the lawn in the day and its parents came and fed it

Today we phoned the SSPCA and they were great, they advised that if you can put it back in the nest then do so. If not, then leave it for its parent as long as there is no danger (cats, magpies) But if it is injured then get animal rescue

Our pigeon had a wound from the cat bite, so they took it as it needed treating. We felt bad for the poor parents, but it is likely to survive now as it will be looked after and fed.

Tried again with cat food. Not interested ☹💔

Oh bless I hope he/she makes the night! As others have suggested I would just keep trying to feed in the hope it would work and then contact someone in the morning.

Is it warm? Could you pop it in a hat with a warm hot water bottle underneath? They won't feed from dusk til dawn usually. Hard boiled egg yolk or softened kitten or puppy kibble, soaked for a few hours.

I had this in my garden and the mum was calling for the baby and he kept responding but for some reason she couldn’t see him, he was just underneath and I didn’t want to interfere as other posters have said but she eventually flew off and the baby was taken 😭 my cat ate a lot of birds and mice or could have been a Fox so I fully think had you of left it it would have died.

He's lovely!

We had a fledgling that the cat had brought in. Managed to reunite it with its parents but in the interim we dug up worms and hand fed them to the baby. As soon as it saw the wriggling worm it opened its mouth (try breaking the worms in half to make them more bite sized).

@WeAllHaveWings

It's a fledgling, should have left it alone and watched from a distance to see if parents are about. If you've had it indoors for several hours the parents might have given up looking for it.

Put it somewhere safe nearby and watch carefully for a couple of hours. If no parents return looks like you need to start googling as you have a chick to raise!!

This, it's always better to leave alone and watch from a distance.

If you find fledglings that are in danger you cAn pick them up and put them off the ground, the parents would not abandon them. If they are not in any immediate danger leave them alone. I once tied a cardboard box to a tree and put a fledgling in to keep it away from cats. Parents found it very quickly

We found a fledgling jackdaw in our garden last weekend. I thought it was dead initially but as i approached it it was trying to get away but unable to walk or fly. It was kind of dragging itself along by its wings on the floor and was quite distressed. I didn't think it would survive, but I couldn't bear to leave it suffering and there are lots of cats in our area who I am sure would have taken it.
So we caught it and put it in a box with some straw. I found some instructions on a wildlife website that suggested making some rehydration fluid - it was a litre of lukewarm water with 1 heaped teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt if I recall rightly - and soaking a piece of twisted kitchen roll in it, then letting the drips fall into the bird's mouth. You have to take care not to drip it in too fast or they can drown. It took a little that way, and then we left it the box in our shed with a small dish of the fluid next to it. The website had advised putting them under a 40W lightbulb but it was a warm night so we didn't do that. Amazingly it was much more alert next morning though still not able to walk. We got some cat food and mashed some of it in with some more of the fluid to make it really soft and it took some of that. Then we took it over to our nearest wildlife rescue centre, but still weren't too hopeful. Its legs looked twisted so I thought they might be broken.
However, they sent me a message yesterday saying that it was thriving and had bonded with some other similarly aged jackdaws that they already had, and they are hoping to be able to release them into the wild in due course. There was nothing wrong with the legs after all, it was just so exhausted and dehydrated that they couldn't support its weight.
I was really thrilled as basically I was only trying to save the bird from a horrible death, but it looks like it should be able to get back to a normal life. Obviously all birds are different and that might not be the right thing to do for all types, but I thought a success story might encourage you. Hope you get it sorted. I love birds (even though I don't know much) and we have had some really beautiful ones coming to our garden feeders this year - far more than normal.

Birds do not have a good sense of smell at all - the parents will find it by sound - NOT smell. It’s probably being quiet because it sees op as a possible predator. Op it might survive the night - if so the parents will be nearby with their other babies. Put it near to where you found it and watch Out for cats, magpies and crows.

So little bird survived the night but is still uninterested in eating. Keeps his head tucked into himself. He's shifted and snuggled into a cuddly toy I put in with him.

It's pouring with rain here. Do I risk putting him outside? Should I wait until it's a bit warmer?

So pleased little bird still with us :)
Did you see Mrs’ post about the sugar op?
Is bird more lively or chirping today?

This is quite a handy guide

Please don't put him out in the rain op.

He's not chirping or opening his beak ☹ He just looks then tucks his head away. He's still in a box with cuddly toy and hot (warm) water bottle underneath.

I feel helpless.

We take the ones out cats bring in to the local bird rescue but we are in South Wales so not much help to you. Have a google there might be a bird rescue near you. Ours go to a local Morrison’s car park 5 times a day to collect birds from anyone who brings them. Have a look on their Facebook pages as ours never updated their websites or answers their phone.

@MostlyAmbridgeandcoffee

This is quite a handy guide

Your screenshot isn’t clear. Can you post a link?

OP, there is The Owl Box on Anglesey who rehabilitate wild birds (they are on Facebook)

We currently have a fledgling starling in the yard. We had a swift box installed and starlings colonised it. One chick fledged a bit early and plummeted to its doom. This one has been about for about three days, still can’t fly, mum is feeding, but means we can’t let cat or dog out. (House cat btw, but likes our little yard) It’s been pissing down all night, so hope he’s ok.
Hope your little one is, but not sounding good. 🙁

Keep is updated, love birds and hope little doted makes it back to his parents

www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/orphanedanimals/youngbirds

@HardHatOptional it will need liquid more than food if it's had nothing since yesterday. Can you look for the dehydration recipe someone posted below and try and get that into it while you find a rescue place.

I have had some success with feeding fledgelings. I mashed up small amounts of cat food (the pate type, not chunky) with water to make a sloppy consistency, scooped it up on a soft, clean children's paintbrush, and " swooped" my hand (holding the paintbrush) towards the baby bird, in the manner of a mother bird flying towards it. That seemed to encourage it to "gape" its beak so I could wipe the cat food mixture inside its beak. Once it got the hang of it, this method worked well. It took several "swoops" to get its attention though.