Found a baby bird but I can't put it back (1 Viewer)

It's a small bird, fully feathered and can flap it's wings and balance on my arm. My dog found it under some trees and picked it up but it's fine! The dog was actually very gentle. It's really not injured at all. I think it's some kind of sparrow but it has yellow on the sides of it's beak.

I can't find a nest, it must be up too high.
I can't put it back where it was..it's a horrible spot. It's 6:30PM and we have fischer cats, feral cats, neighborhood cats, it's near a fence and the neighbor's dogs and cats will eat it if it gets through the hole. It's just really a horrid spot the poor thing was in. I can't see leaving it out there all night to get eaten. On the other side of the house we've found bird skeletons from something eating them..so yeah.

But now I don't know what to do with it. It's in a box. In my kitchen. LOL

Hi and welcome to Bird Forum!
Small birds are a heartbreak, as most of them die quickly unless they get fed very frequently, several times an hour. Keep it warm and in the dark overnight, it will sleep.
The yellow gape indicates your bird is still a baby, that goes away as they get older.
You can try feeding it hard boiled egg, in small chunks, and give it water, either with an eye dropper or a shallow saucer. Call the local Audubon tomorrow, they hopefully can refer you to a wildlife rehab specialist who will take the bird off your hands.

Hi, thanks for the reply. It really is a heartbreak.

I realized he/she can kind of fly since posting this. He was flapping around and chirping with the birds he heard outside. I took him back outside to see what he'd do and he tried to fly towards the trees he was found under. He's only flying a few feet or so and not that high. His wings seem fine though. Just learning I guess.

I took it back in the house. I just couldn't leave it out there to get eaten tonight. I figured he'll have the best chance at survival if I let him go early in the morning when all the other birds are out and chirping, am I wrong? At least there are no cats or anything around in the morning.

If he can sort of flap, then the best thing would be to put him on a tree branch or in a bush perhaps. His parents should still be looking to feed him if it hasn't been more than a day.

Hey, so the little guy was a different bird in the morning. Chirping at 5am. I opened the box he was in and he flew out and landed on the floor. He was not flying or flapping like that yesterday. He no longer would let me touch him or he'd flap and hop away. Yesterday, I kept picking it up and he sat on my arm. It took some time to safely catch him just to bring him in the back yard where he was found. The second I opened the box back up he flew across the yard. The distance was much better and his landing skills improved. He was not doing that yesterday and I still think he would've gotten eaten by a cat if I left him out there. I tried feeding it but it wouldn't take anything. I left some food for it, I don't know if he ate anything. Maybe he just had dog slobber on him that needed to dry.

Yep, he'll be fine. It wasn't long before some of his buddies found him. :flyaway:

He had so much energy I couldn't get a good pic of him but thought I should post something. LOL

Good to know there was a happy ending.

Kits said:

Good to know there was a happy ending.

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Agreed

CB

It´s a young House Sparrow. Well done, UmmWhatDoIDo! It´s normal for them to leave the nest when not able to fly like their parents.

Nice to read!! Well done!!