Found 2 baby birds - now they wont leave us (1 Viewer)

[QBit]

Hello there, i am new to this forum and i know very little about birds. To cut the story short my brother and his wife found what they think were two baby Robbins and brought them home. So we hand fed them and as they got stronger we let them out. Now they are flying around in our backyard and spending time on our patio.

The problem is that their eating skills are still not developed. I put bird seeds right in front of them and they just dont peck at it. They just want to be hand fed by us as they stay on our patio while other birds are eating the seeds that i am laying in our backyard.

I urged my family from the moment we found them to send them to the SPCA, a professional organization here in Montreal Canada that would take care of them, but nobody in my family listened to me. Even now they are not listening to me.

I am afraid for these two adorable birds because the winter will eventually come and they wont know how to migrate south to warmer weather.

So the question is what do i do?

Should i find a way to teach them how to eat on their own and to be independent of us, or should i keep pushing my family to send them to some professional organization that will maximize their chances of survival?

Any thoughts would be appreciated?

Thank you.

 

[fugl]

Robins are bug and fruit eaters with little interest in commercial bird seed. When you hand feed them what do you give them?

 

[QBit]

Initially they were eating soaked dry cat food. Then we switched them over to seeds. The reason we are giving them seeds is because it says that they eat seeds through a google search. But now that you mention it i am looking at another source and it says they dont eat seeds. So that could be the problem then.

So this just complicates matters even more.

Here is a picture of them. Can anyone firmly identify what they are?

Also, will they learn how to survive on their own or is it mandatory to send them to a wildlife rehabilitation or the SPCA?

 

[fugl]

American Robins both. Yes, I don’t think you’ve hurt their survival chances by “taming” them the way you have. That said, the survival rate of “wild” fledglings of that age aren’t all that good—if they were we’d be swimming in robins! Normally their parents would be feeding the fledglings at this stage but since they’re evidently not in the picture anymore, I don’t see any harm in your continuing to do so. Baby songbird fledglings mature very quickly and in another month or 6 weeks they should be able to fend for themselves (as they may already be doing to an extent). Anyway, good luck and let us know how things turns out.

 

[QBit]

Thanks for the info fugl.

I guess we will keep feeding them and taking care of them for now. But i just feel that they have become too comfortable in our backyard. I also put the food on the ground for them to eat and they just dont peck at it. So i am still concerned.

But i will take your advice and give it more time. I will also start feeding them some berries.

But i do have another question: is there is any way to get them to learn how to eat off the floor more quickly rather than opening their mouth for us to hand feed them?

 

[fugl]

. . .But i do have another question: is there is any way to get them to learn how to eat off the floor more quickly rather than opening their mouth for us to hand feed them?

It’s just a matter of maturation. When they get a little older, they’ll better know what suitable food items look like and will go after them wherever they find them.

 

[QBit]

Ok then. So i will just give it time.

Thanks for the help fugl.

 

[Leviticus Plews]

In my experience, Robins like worms; it's their favorite food. In fact they are attracted to humans digging in the garden with expectation of worms being unearthed.

 

[QBit]

Hi Leviticus.

Thanks for the tip.

However the birds left yesterday afternoon and they have not returned since. I dont know why this is so. They were doing nothing but hiding in the trees in our backyard and then coming to our patio to be fed several times a day. And now they are gone.

One of my neighbors across the street from me said he saw one of them hanging in a tree near his house.

The thing that confuses me is that they still dont know how to find food properly so im not sure how they can manage on their own.

But what can i do but let nature take its course.