What to feed a baby songbird
Wildlife First Aid - How to Feed Songbirds & Passerines
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Look for parents; they are almost always
nearby.What to Feed a Baby Bird
How to provide the right nutrition when wildlife rescues aren't an option
By
Melissa Mayntz
Melissa Mayntz
Melissa Mayntz is a bird expert, certified Master Naturalist, writer, and author with over three decades of experience.
She's published in several national magazines, including National Wildlife Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and WildBird Magazine. Melissa has studied hundreds of bird species around the world, traveling to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the central Pacific, the Middle East, and more on birding expeditions.
Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
Updated on 08/26/22
Reviewed by
Kathleen Miller
Reviewed by Kathleen Miller
Kathleen Miller is a highly-regarded Master Gardener and Horticulturist who shares her knowledge of sustainable living, organic gardening, farming, and landscape design. She founded Gaia's Farm and Gardens, a working sustainable permaculture farm, and writes for Gaia Grows, a local newspaper column. She has over 30 years of experience in gardening and sustainable farming.
Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board
Fact checked by
Sarah Scott
Fact checked by Sarah Scott
Sarah Scott is a fact-checker and researcher who has worked in the custom home building industry in sales, marketing, and design.
Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
The Spruce / Catherine Song
Every backyard birder has seen the "starving baby" act by fledgling birds, when they flutter their wings and call piteously for attention from seemingly hard-hearted, indifferent parents. The desire to nurture those fluffy balls of feathers can be strong, but it is important to understand the special needs of a fledgling's diet and know what to feed a baby bird for the best nutrition.
Do I Need to Feed This Baby Bird?
Baby birds have very demanding dietary needs. Depending on their age and species, baby birds may eat off and on for 12 to 14 hours per day, consuming a diet rich in insects for sufficient protein to ensure healthy growth. No human other than a licensed bird rehabilitator has the proper equipment, food supplements, or endurance to keep up that frantic feeding schedule. If you find a baby bird that appears to need feeding, the best thing to do is not to feed it, but to get it to an appropriate bird rescue organization.
In many cases, the begging birds are not abandoned and the parent birds are nearby and tending to their babies as needed, even if they aren't seen.
If you find a baby bird that seems to be unfed, watch the bird closely for a while to see if the parents return to feed it within the hour. Bear in mind that it may take just seconds for a parent bird to deliver a bite to its chick, and inattentive observers may miss several feeding cycles. As the chicks grow, feeding may also be less frequent, and one parent bird may be tending to several offspring in different locations, so parental visits may be uneven. If the baby is being fed, rest assured that the parent bird is able to keep up with its demands, and no intervention is necessary if the baby does not appear injured or ill in any other way.
If the baby bird is not being fed and appears to be growing weaker and more lethargic, the first step should be to find a licensed rehabilitator to provide it proper care. When contacting the rehabilitator, ask for their evaluation of the bird in question before attempting any emergency feeding.
If it is recommended that you feed the baby bird, he or she might have specific suggestions in mind as an emergency measure, and those suggestions should be meticulously followed.
If Feeding Is Necessary
If you find a baby bird that needs to be fed but you are unable to contact a bird or wildlife rehabilitator, it is important to know what to feed a baby bird that will provide similar nutrition to its natural diet. While every wild bird has a different diet, several types of food can serve as emergency rations when necessary. At the same time, it is critical to understand that baby birds have very different nutritional needs than adult birds, and foods you would normally feed to your backyard birds are not appropriate for young fledglings.
Good Foods for Baby Birds
- Moist dog food
- Raw liver (no seasoning)
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Dog biscuits (moistened)
- Dog or cat kibble (moistened)
The Spruce / K. Dave
What Not to Feed Baby Birds
- Water
- Bread or bread products
- Whole birdseed
- Milk
- Pet bird food
- Worms
- Kitchen scraps
The more mature a baby bird is, the more "adult" food it can consume without harm, and the longer it can go between feedings.
The Spruce / K. Dave
Tips for Feeding Baby Wild Birds
If it is necessary for you to feed a baby bird, remember:
- Offer food that is spongy in texture, not dripping with water that could cause choking or drowning. All dry food should be softened before being offered to a baby bird.
- Food should be offered at room temperature only, never warmed or heated, and also never refrigerated or chilled.
- Keep bits of food small and in proportion to the bird's size; very small birds need very tiny bites. Cut or crush food appropriately to suit the bird's size.
- While feeding the bird, handle it as little as possible to minimize the risk of additional stress or injury. Never force the bird's bill open to eat.
Caring for Baby Birds
Remember that feeding a baby bird should be an emergency measure only. If a baby bird is abandoned and needs care, it should be taken to a bird rescue organization or experienced rehabilitator as soon as possible.
Rehabilitators can not only feed it an appropriate diet for its species but can help it learn how to find its own food, evade predators, and learn other skills necessary for a successful life in the wild.
If there is no rescue organization or experienced rehab specialist available in your area, keep these tips in mind:
- Identify if the bird is a nestling (few or no feathers) or a fledgling (a feathered bird approaching adulthood). Nestlings will require much attention for a longer period than fledglings, which may be nearly ready for independence quite soon. An older fledgling can sometimes be fine if you simply place it high on a branch where its parents can find it. Nestlings, on the other hand, may require several weeks of attention (assuming a bird rehab organization is not available) to give them a chance for survival.
- Protect it from predators—including family pets. Normally, a simple cardboard box lined with a towel, placed high enough to be out of reach of pets, will suffice.
If using a lidded container, make sure it is well-ventilated. Ordinary room temperature is normally fine, though a gentle heat lamp can be used if the room is very cold at night. But take care not to overheat the young bird—in most cases, no heat source is necessary. - Give it a "nest" by using a small towel or cloth diaper formed into a concave shape and placed in the bottom of the box. This will help support the bird's body until it grows stronger.
- Small nestlings are best fed with moist, well-softened food from a syringe, offered very gently, in small drops. Even a kitchen baster may be too large to be useful. As a nestling grows older, you can offer it food by dangling it from tweezers in front of its beak.
- Never try to feed water directly to a baby bird. Nestlings will get their water needs met through moisture in food. A fledgling can be offered water in a shallow dish—if it's ready to consume water this way, it will drink on its own.
- When a fledgling bird has fully feathered out and is beginning to exercise its wings by flapping, it can be given time outdoors and encouraged to begin flying.
Often, it is enough to simply set the bird's containment box outside in a safe location, open the lid and wait for nature to take its course.
But remember that raising a featherless nestling bird through the fledgling stage and into a mature adult bird is no easy matter. It's always better to leave this to professionals who are experienced in the practice.
Article Sources
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Picking up baby birds can do more harm than good. Oregon State University.
"Dropped" Chicks: Save, Do No Harm!
Over the past week, the inhabitants of Kaliningrad have tried to attach several selected fledglings to the Kaliningrad Zoo. This situation is repeated from year to year in May-June, when the grown chicks fly out of the nests.
We have compiled a memo for people who met a flown chick. It contains answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Who are fledglings?
In most birds that live side by side with us, the chicks deliberately leave the nests at an age when they cannot fly. The reason is simple: if a predator finds a nest with chicks, it will certainly destroy them all. And the chicks “scattered” over the area are not such an easy prey. Parents know exactly where the chick is. They regularly fly in, feed him, protect him and teach him to fly. Such a "school of life" can continue for quite a long time, for example, corvids continue to feed their cubs even when they reach the size of an adult bird.
How do I know that I have found a fledgling?
Fledglings, as a rule, are covered with "baby" down. They have a curly tail, and a yellow border around the beak. Not fully grown feathers can cover only part of the body. However, the eyes of the fledgling are open.
He can stand or jump on the ground.
How do fledglings behave?
After leaving the nest, fledglings choose the safest place. They can sit still for hours, waiting for their parents, because their life depends on how quiet they behave. Frightened, the fledglings freeze.
I found a fledgling, what should I do?
1. Assess the situation. If the bird sits away from crowded places, roads and playgrounds - do not touch it! Just move away and try not to attract animals and people.
2. If the chick is sitting in a dangerous place: on a playground, sidewalk, roadway, carefully take it and move it to the nearest safe shelter, for example, in a bush, and plant it on a lower branch. Planting high, and even more so, trying to return the chick to the nest, should not be: it will still fall out of there, having been injured.
When does a chick need my help?
1. If the parents do not fly to the chick for a day or more.
2. If he has obvious injuries: blood, he is very emaciated and does not react to what is happening.
3. If the chick is “not ripe” even to the fledgling: it has no plumage and fluff, no tail at all, it is very small. In this case, you have a victim of a tragedy - a chick that fell out of the nest as a result of a strong wind or an attack by predators.
4. If a swift chick lies on the ground. Swifts do not sit on the ground, and a chick that falls out without help is doomed to death.
I did not know anything about fledglings and brought such a chick home. What should I do?
1. If the bird is a really healthy fledgling, return it immediately! The faster you do this, the more chances the chick has for a long and happy life.
2. If it is impossible to return the bird to nature, get ready for a long and difficult feeding process. There is a lot of information on the Internet about how to properly feed chicks. In short, the chick should be fed every hour with a break of 4-6 hours at night.
The songbird is fed with a mixture of hard-boiled chicken eggs, finely grated carrots and white breadcrumbs. The composition of the feed must include multivitamins, mineral supplements, cottage cheese and chopped lean boiled meat. It is necessary to water the chick from a pipette. If he refuses to eat for 2-3 hours, he will have to force-feed: opening his beak and pushing food into the throat. After a couple of such feedings, the chick, as a rule, understands what's what.
3. Small chicks, whose feathers have not yet blossomed, must be heated, maintaining a temperature of 26-28 degrees with a heating pad or a special lamp.
4. Little owls should be fed finely chopped quail, mice or chickens. Occasionally adding chicken liver.
Who is able to help me out fledgling?
If you pick up a fledgling, all responsibility for its fate lies only with you. There is no special rehabilitation center for wild birds and animals in the Kaliningrad region.
The Kaliningrad Zoo, in accordance with the requirements of the law and veterinary standards, cannot accept birds from nature, however, it is ready to provide advice by calling 21-89-fourteen.
IMPORTANT! It is impossible to return a chick fed by man to nature. He does not know how to get food on his own and trusts people. In the wild, such birds die very quickly. Fledgling is a natural stage of maturation through which all birds go. Keep this in mind when making a decision "to take or not to take."
How to feed the found chick, how many times a day
If you find a chick, the first thing you need to do is determine its species. Feeding granivorous, insectivorous and predatory chicks have their own differences. But in the early stages of feeding, you can use the same feeding methods, and then, after finding out what kind of bird you found, transfer the chick to the appropriate feeding.
Here is one of the most common feeding options for granivorous and insectivorous chicks.
This nutrient mixture is well used for feeding for chicks and fledglings from the passerine family. To prepare our mixture, we need the following products: Boiled egg, low-fat cottage cheese, raw carrots, meat (beef, chicken, turkey), greens (lettuce, dandelion leaves, wood lice), hamarus and daphnia, Calcium gluconate (shell from boiled eggs) glycerophosphate , children's dry dairy-free porridge or boiled millet (without salt and fat on the water).
Action one. Boil the egg, free from the shell. We free the shell from the shell film. Grind the egg as much as possible, you can use a grater with small holes.
Second step. Boiled meat, it is better to take the pulp from the breast of a turkey or chicken and also chop or divide into fibers. The mixture will require meat 40 (for granivorous) and 60 grams (for insectivorous).
Third step. Take washed carrots of a small size, grate them on a fine grater, then squeeze the juice and we will use the remaining pulp.
Fourth step.
We take not sour and not fatty cottage cheese. Cottage cheese should have 0% fat content, anything above is considered fat for poultry. We need 90-110 grams of cottage cheese. Sour cottage cheese must be boiled twice changing the water and then it will be suitable.
Step five. You can use greens to add the mixture, but you can do without it for the chicks. And so you can take the greens listed above, chop and add 1.5 teaspoons to the mixture.
Action six. To the above ingredients, add 1.5 -2 tsp. dairy-free porridge or boiled millet (well boiled, without salt and fat in the water).
Step seven. To the mixture we add the shell from the boiled egg, which must first be ground in a coffee grinder, plus one fourth of the crushed tablet of glycerophosphate. If it is not possible to find glycerophosphate, then you can purchase bone meal and add one fourth tsp. in powder form. At the very least, the shells are enough for now.
Step eight. We take chopped hamarus and daphnia and add about 1 tsp to the resulting mixture.
Then we mix everything, it turns out a very thick, crumbly porridge, it should not stick to the fingers. If the mixture is sticky, you can add dairy-free porridge or powdered cereals.
From the resulting mixture we roll small balls no larger than a small pea, focus on the size of the chick's beak. You can feed 2-5 balls at a time and after each feeding drink plain water from an insulin syringe with a removable needle (without a needle) 4-6 drops. A week-old chick should be fed every 1-1.5 hours, older than two weeks of age every 2-4 hours, at three and four weeks of age you can feed 3-4 times a day. Do not forget that the chick is growing and, accordingly, one-time portions of food are growing. A very important point, do not forget to warm the chicks, because at their age they themselves cannot maintain normal body temperature. Warming up promotes better assimilation of feed. Don't forget to control your chick's weight. If possible, show the chick to a specialist. To control the work of the intestines, you can take the litter from the chick for a coprogram, this is an analysis of the digestibility of the feed.
