Hi, totally new here and no idea how to post a question in the right place. i thought I’d just done that but then it disappeared so here it is again:
I’m not sure if this is where you post this type of question as I’m new here. I found a young bird in my kitchen this morning that must have flown in last night without us noticing. It’s possibly a sparrow? Still has some fluffy/downy feathers underneath. I picked it up and put it out in the garden and have been watching it now for a good 5 hours. All it does is hop around and then huddle. When I approached to put down some bird seed, it hopped under a bush. A few minutes later it hopped out again. In the last few minutes it’s just sitting out on the concrete and it’s starting to get quite chilly out and is about to start raining. I’ve seen no adult birds approach it and it’s not calling out.
I can’t just leave it there as I have a sausage dog who would grab it in a heart beat and my neighbours have cats so for now I’ve put it into a box with a warm hot water bottle and a towel (def not too hot, just luke warm). I optimistically put a worm in as food but obviously it’s not eating.
What can I do with it? I would absolutely love it to have been found by its parents but if nothing has happened in 5 hours, I’m pretty sure it won’t. I think it’s weak and needs feeding up. But how and what with?
I hope someone can help. Thank you!
Hi Jules, if the adults have not been back to the chick for over 5 hours then you will need to find wildlife help via THIS WEBSITE which will indicate places to contact closest to your location. In the meantime, as you have a dog, you could use a little tinned dog food moistened slightly with water or the moist dog food minced down and use the flat end of a teaspoon (or even your finger) to try offering a little at a time to the chick which may be sufficient to keep it alive then get it to the nearest centre as soon as possible. Very young chicks will not feed themselves and are reliant on their parent birds to bring food which they will place in their beak. I would try the moistened dog food, a tiny bit at a time, every half an hour (not too much food) and find a wildlife or rescue centre to gain more advice and to get their assistance. Good luck.