[CrazyDunnock]

Hello all, new here :)

Tonight as I was leaving the house I noticed a baby dunnock sitting on a neighbour's doorstep (I live in a small black of flats).

Now I know about baby birds and not to take them in etc but I didn't like to leave it there all exposed for the whole night... I moved it around the corner more out of sight and hoped the mother was around, even though it was already dark.

When I got back an hour or so later it was still there so I decided to take it indoors for the night away from the foxes and whatever else prowls around here.

It's a fledgling, fully feathered but without much of a tail. A bit fluffy and has a baby-bird-beak still though! It can fly (it flew about 5 feet indoors) but doesn't seem scared of us at all and just sits and stares. Doesn't seem to mind being picked up.

At the moment it's sitting in a large bowl covered with a gauzy cloth so it can't escape. I've lined the bowl with kitchen paper and given it some food - a jam jar lid with a bit of water and some dried mealworms floating in it and some crumbled up suet block from the bird feeder.

Is there anything else I could/should do?
What should I do in the morning? Where it was found is very exposed. There's a large privet hedge near there but all day it's crawling with grey squirrels raiding the bins and I'm not sure how safe they are for baby birds. There's lots of thicker hedges the other side of the block of flats but maybe that's too far away? There's a small park 2 minute's walk away but I doubt it could fend for itself...

Could I look after it until it's a bit older? Or is that a bad (or too hard) thing to do?

Any advice appreciated :)
Sorry for the long rambling post...

Edit: Now in the morning it's cheeping away, but doesn't seem to be eating anything. Maybe it still needs feeding? I guess the thick hedges are the best bet, and hope its parents hear...?

[CrazyDunnock]

Well that was a lot of fuss over nothing.

After being driven mad by cheeping all morning, we decided to put it near the window where the feeders are to hopefully attract the parents and see what happens. As soon as the bowl was put in the sunlight near the open window (French doors, 2nd floor) the bird started flapping around so we took the cover off - it hopped to the edge and flew straight into the bush.

[Romafree]

Lol, you tried!! At least he was warm overnight. A bit of gratitude would have gone amiss though!!! Well done!!