Know anything about baby birdies?

[Pool Hall Ace]

I've been watching some nestlings in my front yard. This morning, the two baby birdies were flapping their wings, looking like they may attempt to fly.

A few hours later, my husband was frantically telling me that one of the babies got a foot caught in the nest, and the momma bird was dive-bombing him. He handed me a small box with some packing material, and a pair of scissors. I went out and saw the poor baby dangling. I snipped the string and gently placed the box sideways on the ground. The baby started walking around, chirping and flapping his wings.

Now he's on my front porch looking at his reflection. I assume this is the same baby that I rescued earlier.

My question is this: Is there anything more I should do with this baby? I've never observed birds before, so I don't know how to tell if they are truly in distress. The nest is now empty, so I'm assuming the other baby is flying.

[dropkickpa]

1. They sound to be fledgelings,

so your best bet is to leave them be. Mum and dad will still feed fledgelings, so long as they don't think a giant human will swoop down on them. You could also place him back in the nest if you can reach it. It is a fallacy that birds won't feed their babies because of the smell of human, the vast majority of birds have little to no sense of smell.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Good answer, dropkickpa!

And....

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[dropkickpa]

3. Thank you!

:hi:

[Pool Hall Ace]

7. That's good to know that Mom and Dad are still feeding them.

This is the closest I have been to baby birdies, so I want to do the right thing! I think for now, I will just leave them be.

Thank you for your advice, and welcome to DU! :hi:

[QuestionAll...]

20. thanks for clearing up that old husbands theory...

My first response would have been not to get the stink of human on baby birds.

always learning.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

4. It's a fledgling being a fledgling spaz.

Leave it alone, but if you're worried about it and can reach the nest, put it back. The parents can't smell you on the baby, so don't worry about that.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. I agree. We had fledling mourning doves a few years back

and mourning doves, being some of the dumber birds out there,breed not-so-bright chicks. Eventually they learned to take care of themselves.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. The mother bord was dive-bombing the baby, or your husband?

[Pool Hall Ace]

6. Momma was dive-bombing my husband.

Or I should say one of the parents was dive-bombing my husband, I don't know if it was Momma or not. Nobody came after me!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. Momma knows best...

Do you know what kind of bird?

[Pool Hall Ace]

10. Mockingbirds.

The little ones sure are cute with their fuzzy little noggins, but they don't look too bright! I'm glad the parents are still watching out for them.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. I wondered if it wasn't mockingbirds...

When I was a kid, we had a pair who nested in our cedar tree year after year. They gave our poor dog hell!

[Pool Hall Ace]

12. We have quite a few mockingbird families in the neighborhood.

Our neighbors across the street had some agressive ones that would dive-bomb their cats. Ours have been much quieter.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. I love the way the males will sing all freaking night

just to stake out their turf.

[Pool Hall Ace]

14. Oh, is that what they're doing? My next door neighbor

became very frustrated once and started throwing sidewalk chalk at the singing birds. Truth be told, I would prefer listening to birds over the various noises generated by people. :)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. I once read a book

in which the author described his frustration with his local mockingbird male's constant warbling. He recorded the bird, and played the song back for him. The bird sang louder. He turned the volume up. The bird sang louder still. After continuing in ths fashion, the poor bird finally gave up. He just couldn't compete.

I think the title of the book was "Divorce Among the Gulls".

[Pool Hall Ace]

18. Funny! :)

[Magrittes Pipe]

15. You should put the baby back in the nest.

It will be much safer from predation there.

[Pool Hall Ace]

17. Both babies are flying now.

I have seen and heard both of them. They are aloft! :)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. Yea!

I'm glad they're ok!