What To Do If You Find A Baby Bird: A South Slope Neighbor Explains

As she was out walking her dogs on Saturday night, neighbor Jessica Ventura stopped when they got to 15th Street between 4th and 5th Avenues as the dogs began barking, and she heard an incredibly loud bird chirping. Looking into the bushes next to a building, she saw the tiniest bird, possibly just hatched, on the ground.

“I texted my husband to try to figure out what we could do,” she said, explaining that they’re both big animal people — their two dogs are both rescues, and her husband, Chris, used to work in a pet store. “But since we didn’t know the best move, we decided to give it a chance and check on it later.”

Like most of us, she’d heard that touching a baby bird might cause it to be rejected by its mother, but of course that’s not true. Still, when Jessica and her husband passed by the site again later that evening, the little bird was still in the same spot, so they decided to take it home to try to help it.

“We did a lot of internet research about what to do,” she said, describing the mixture of dog food and hard boiled egg that they learned to make as baby bird food. “Chris woke up at 5:30am to feed it every half hour.”

Not only was it a holiday weekend, but it was now a Sunday, making it even more difficult to reach potential rescue organizations. With enough on their plate already, Sean Casey doesn’t deal in such cases, but they found the Wild Bird Fund, located on the Upper West Side, possibly the only place in the city that saves all types of wild birds. But while they’re available to provide help by phone and email, they’re closed on Sundays.

And that’s how Jessica and Chris ended up driving to Massapequa on Long Island to Wildlife In Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation, which took the tiny bird in and have been able to keep him going so far.

“Little Herb,” she said, referring to the name she gave the little guy, “is still alive! I checked in with the folks in Massapequa on Tuesday, I believe, and the bird was still going strong! I think I’ll check in again next week — don’t want to be too harassing given their generosity.”

So here’s what Jessica learned you should do if you find a baby bird in the neighborhood:

• Leave it be: While touching it won’t cause it’s mother to reject it, there’s still a chance the baby bird will be okay, and taking it out of the wild may decrease its chances of survival.

• Keep the bird safe: If the baby bird is clearly unsafe, give it some help. A small box lined with tissues or paper towels will protect it from predators, and if you need to take it inside, be sure to keep it someplace quiet.

• Wear gloves: Even the tiniest of birds could be carrying bugs or parasites that can be transferred to humans, so handle them with care, and wash your hands afterwards.

• Contact a rescue: The chances of your bird making it can be pretty small, but they’ll be better in the hands of professionals. The Wild Bird Fund will help with all kinds of cases, and while Sean Casey Animal Rescue aids mostly in other animal cases, they may be able to assist in certain bird rescues.

Thanks to Jessica and Chris for helping out this bird and sharing their story! Have you ever found a baby bird in the area? If so, what did you do, and how did it turn out?

Photo by Jessica Ventura