They'll be fine. Circle of Life and all that. No worries.

I'm sure our friendly neighborhood hawk will see them safely back to the nest. LOL!

They are fine! They are fledglings. Many people mistakenly take in baby birds that are fledglings. They might seem helpless, but for the last couple of weeks of a baby bird's "childhood" they are cared for on the ground. The parents feed them there. I am sure those baby's parents are nearby.

I never knew that! That's pretty awesome! It's actually a really good spot to raise babies on the ground!

This post was edited by shear_stupidity on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 17:47

LOL at the picture with circles and arrows!

Even if they aren't fine, your friendly neighborhood hawk has gotta eat too, you know. And she might have babies to feed as well!

This post was edited by TheTradition on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 15:32

It's really hard to draw with a malfunctioning mouse! LOL!

My daughter sent me the link to this photo on Facebook, the rest is self-explanatoryâ¦

Found them!

Here is a pic of one baby. He froze when he saw us. My husband said he kept projecting, "I'm just a leaf, I'm not a bon-bon. I'm just a leaf, I'm not a bon-bon."
The other one was hiding behind a post and I couldn't get a pic of him.

In my own defense, when covered with Miracle-Gro water, they looked more naked.

Mom and dad were nearby and unconcerned with the photo shoot of their youngsters.

Hilarious!!! And from the picture, they are definitely fledglings and old enough to be on the ground. They are fully feathered with teenager feathers! Years ago I did the embarassing walk of shame from a wildlife rehabilitator after getting the lecture about how I had "kidnapped" a perfectly healthy fledgling who was being taken care of by parents. Now, I always try to spread the word!

That is hilarious! I love the illustrative picture.

~

My husband brought me home a baby bird today. Not a fledgling, only partially feathered.

I am trying to a) find a wildlife rehab to take it, and until then, b) feed it and keep it alive.

*sigh*

He said that fire ants were surrounding it, and a couple were on it... so if they'd left it, it would have died. The nest was too high to reach.

Many years ago while driving home one Saturday from a junkyard I saw a baby bird standing in the middle of a country road. I stopped and picked it up, it's eyes were still closed and looked to have been pushed out of the nest high in the tree by a grackle. I spent a number of days tending to the bird, a bluejay, until it was ready to be released. When a flock of bluejays came around I released the bird and it flew up into the flock. Lots of raucous noise while they introduced themselves to each other and then they flew off, the young bird included. About a week later as I was tending the feeding stations a flock of jays showed up, one bird seemed to be acting strangely so I held up my hand like I often did and called the name I gave it 'sassy' and that jay flew down and landed on my finger like it did many times while I was feeding it. The rest of the flock was very vocal about it's landing on my hand, we spent a minute or two conversing (in bird talk) then Sassy flew back up to the flock and they left. The bird never identified it's self ever again to me when the flock of jays came to visit the feeders, just that once to tell me thanks and it was doing OK with it's new family.

Lou.

Lou, that is a lovely story. So nice a bird was saved.

I didn't know that about fledglings. That's why I love this site, you learn something everyday. :o)

I was just outside this morning, doing my usual "How did we all do last night?" wanderings. Those babies are apparently being raised on that whole side of my house. I almost stepped on one again as it scooted across my path. The nest I circled above is only about 7 feet off the ground, and I'm sure I've been a familiar sight to them since they hatched. They're perhaps too comfortable with me... LOL!
The picture I took of the baby, my camera (and my face) were only about a foot and a half away from the bird. Even the parents were content with me crawling under there with their two babies.
Strange... and cute.

I love this thread! Too funny.

I had a similar experience just this past weekend while at Magic Kingdom. We were leaving the park and some lady in front of us wasn't looking and sort of kicked this fledgling bird hanging out on the ground by the exit. I picked it up so no one could step on it and told a worker nearby. He told me to put it in the raised garden bed area with a tree, so I did and moved on. I was very happy later in the day when we came back to the MK and saw it hopping around where I left it. It was chirping happily and pecking around and its parents were up in the tree, flying around.

I never really knew much about the fledgling stage until this happened and followed up with this thread :).

Our baby bird is still alive this morning and eating well. I am having a heck of a time finding a rehab to take it....

Actually, in the middle of typing that sentence, I received a call back from a lady who doesn't actually do it anymore, but gave me some tips to try to return it to the parents. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll be making a trip to Tallahassee, as there is not a single place closer. At least there is a Sam's Club there. I hope I can avoid the plant nursery!

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I just happened to have a nest in my shed that one of my kids had found several years ago. Convenient for temporary baby bird housing.

Strange that you're having trouble finding a place. Here, I just call the local police department's non-emergency number and they come get it!

Seriously. She was the closest, but doesn't even do it anymore (unless it's an emergency until she can get it to Tallahassee).

I sent her pictures and she said it's old enough that it would be leaving the nest, so I'm heading to put it in a bush or something so the parents can continue their job. I'll check this afternoon, and if it's not being taken care of, I guess I'll have to take it to Tallahassee.

Baby bird is safely in a thick bush under the tree where the nest is. Parents visited twice before I left, so good luck, baby bird!

I am now off to do errands, with a much relieved mind.

Oh good! I keep checking on my babies, too!