Would appreciate some opinions

[manic_depressive13]

'Kay, so I found a baby Noisy Miner bird today in the middle of the street. I did some research and apparently it's rather common for baby birds to fall out of the nest about a week before they begin to fly. The parents usually take care of it while it's on the ground, but there are a lot of cats in my area and it was literally on the street, and so against my better judgement, I took it home.

Now, these birds are considered pests because, although they are native to Australia, they are very territorial and don't get along with other birds. They have been known to drive out smaller, more sensitive native birds from their territory. Therefore, wildlife carers are reluctant to take them on and if I hand it to the vet there is a large chance it will simply be euthanised.

So, my question is, what the hell do I do? I've researched their feeding habits and apparently they can be kept in captivity and be fed conventional bird feed, which I can buy from the supermarket or vet. Apparently I only need to keep it safe and alive for about a week, and then it will be able to fly and presumably take care of itself from then on. However, I don't have any experience with raising young birds. On the other hand, I'm afraid that if I hand it over to more capable hands, they won't even try to save it because it's a pest. Should I take my chances anyway?

If you have any tips for caring for young birds, they would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Zedayen]

Not really a tip on how to care for a bird, but perhaps you could find the nest it fell from and return it? If the bird is too young to fly then the nest can't be far from where you found it. Though I'm not sure how the other birds will feel about it, people smell all over it and such, do birds care about that sort of thing?

 

[Amnestic]

It's just a week man. Care for the little bugger and wait for it to fly off.

By the sounds of it, basic care for a bird is just a place for it to hang its feather hat (Which should probably be plenty warm), feeding it, and cleaning up after its poop. Could try returning it to its nest though, like Zedayen said.

 

[Antonidious]

Not really a tip on how to care for a bird, but perhaps you could find the nest it fell from and return it? If the bird is too young to fly then the nest can't be far from where you found it. Though I'm not sure how the other birds will feel about it, people smell all over it and such, do birds care about that sort of thing?

DO NOT return it to the nest. I don't know what it is exactly but mother birds can tell if you've touched it and if it senses you and you try to put it back then it will abandon the bird and possibly the whole nest. Unless you wore gloves the entire time you had it I would just tough it out for a week.

 

[manic_depressive13]

I looked it up and apparently these birds do usually re-accept their young in these situations, unlike some other species. Sure enough, I went outside with it, the bird said "peep peep" and next second I had a hoarde of Miner birds on my lawn swooping me and such. I couldn't find a nest, so I just put it back in the tree under which I found it. The adults kept swooping me so I left it for a bit, so as not to interfere, and when I went back to check I couldn't see it anymore. There was no corpse either, so I guess that's a good thing.

Anyway, I kept it warm overnight and it drank a little water, but it wouldn't eat, so I guess returning it was all I could do. It's out of my hands now, so I'll hope for the best.

 

[Naheal]

Not really advice, but some praise in the form of a cookie.

You did a good thing, mate. No one's going to know about it (unless you tell them. Even then, who's going to care?) and your only reward is your own conscience. You've got a heart. That's a rare thing in today's world.

 

[adakias]

Aw, that's so sweet. <3
I found a baby bird in my yard once, and it's mama was swooping around and it was just sitting there... but there's like a million cats in our neighborhood. I didn't know what to do so I just stood there for hours shooing my cat away. I had no idea if it was okay to touch it, because you know they say that if you touch them they'll be rejected. Eventually my mom made me come in, and within 30 minutes my cat killed it. It still bothers me.
It's so good to hear that this turned out better. It's good that you did something.
No action would have probably ended really badly.
So no advice, just praise from here, too. ^.^

 

[Erana]

Not really a tip on how to care for a bird, but perhaps you could find the nest it fell from and return it? If the bird is too young to fly then the nest can't be far from where you found it. Though I'm not sure how the other birds will feel about it, people smell all over it and such, do birds care about that sort of thing?

DO NOT return it to the nest. I don't know what it is exactly but mother birds can tell if you've touched it and if it senses you and you try to put it back then it will abandon the bird and possibly the whole nest. Unless you wore gloves the entire time you had it I would just tough it out for a week.

This is really more of a myth- more species will accept their babies back than not. Its repeated tampering with a nest that can dissuade a bird from returning to a nest.
The myth does have good intentions, but its wound up doing the same thing as the Little Red Riding Hood myth- getting a lot of said animals needlessly dead.