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Baby House Martins

Could anybody tell me what do you feed a baby house martin as one has just fallen out of a nest and can't quite fly yet. I,ve put it in a large box with water but have no idea what can be done with him.

  • Hi Defstef

    I don't think I will be a great help here but they are insect eats. You could try mealworm soaked if needed.

    I'm sure will have the answer to your problem soon...

    Robert

  • Hi Defstef,

    Are the parents still there? If so it is best just to leave him. The parents will find him and feed him on the ground. If he is in a safe place i.e. not out in the open, leave him where he is. Otherwise you should move him to underneath a bush or somewhere out of the way of predators, but close to where you found him. His parents know best. There are several threads on this forum about helping chicks - and plenty of advice from the RSPB

    http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/health/babybirds.aspx

  • A house martin is an exception to the rule about leaving the bird on the ground, since the parents would be extremely unlikely to come down to feed it. It would be best to get it as high as possible and as close to the nest as possible to give it the best chance. Hopefully it is old enough to fly; if not, it needs to be up somewhere where the parents can continue to feed it. The young ones need a bit of a head of air to get themselves airborne, in a similar but not in quite as extreme a way as swifts. I once had a house martin in my garden that ended up crashing down on its maiden flight. Once it was given a head of air to launch itself off again, it took flight, flew to a nearby tree, and perched on a bare branch for quite some time before moving on. Perhaps it needed some time to figure out what the flying lark is all about - and to gather its courage to try again.

  • Well blow me there is always an exception. That's another thing on my long list of never knew that.

  • Cheers mate for the advice on the House martins. I got a ladder the next day and he went straight back in the nest like he knew where he was going. There are dozens of nests where I am staying but I believe I got the right one.

  • defstef said:

    Cheers mate for the advice on the House martins. I got a ladder the next day and he went straight back in the nest like he knew where he was going. There are dozens of nests where I am staying but I believe I got the right one.

    You got great advice and followed it.Fantastic :o)

  • Hi, I have a baby bird which I extricated from my cat's mouth, apparently unscathed (can flex both wings, grip with both feet, no blood visible, etc) I think it's a house martin, looking at pictures online, and there are various nests about, but I don't know which one he belongs to.  I put him in a box last night, and, surprisingly, he's still going this morning.  Any advice as to what I should do?  Thanks!

  • Young House Martins & Swallows often jostle & fall out of their nests. Just gently pick them up & go up your ladder & pop them back in as soon as possible - & they'll be fine.

    CJ

  • Hi, I recieve alot of birds to nurture/reabilitate from my local RSPCA with alot of success. I have just released 2 house Martin's which I have had in my care for 3 weeks and I have fed them on a diet of wax worms and mealworms. This is the 2nd pair I have reared successfully from chicks and feel proud and privileged to be able to help these beautiful birds that aparently ate in an amber state of decline. I hope this helps and if anyone finds any injured bird or baby bird in distress I would be happy to help. I have an incubator, cages and RSPCA will supply me with recovery food ect. You can email me at margwag50@gmail.com.