This afternoon I was putting my bins out for collection and there was a baby butcher bird sitting on the grass footpath just looking at me. It still has down and only just growing flight feathers. It must have fallen out of its nest. I have befriended it and it is currently alive and seems okay sitting in a little spare cage in my loungeroom, and surprisingly my cats didn't eat it before I found it. I can't put it back in its nest because the tree is too high for a ladder and too brittle to climb up. I am just wondering if anyone knows how and what to feed them? Seems a bit odd for a budgie breeder to be harbouring the enemy I know, but nevermind that!

I think most of us would have tried to do the same thing. I have no advice, I just want to say it was a nice deed and good luck!

The best bet would be to contact your local wildlife care number, not only is it illegal to raise them without a permit they have quite specialised diets.

I would ring your local wildlife rescue number and try and get hold of a career for it.

You could feed mice, meal worms, earth worms etc. in the meantime

 

Good luck

Edited September 28, 200816 yr by **Liv**

I have no idea sorry mate ..

 

but MB and Liv are on the right track about calling the wildlife people ... The last thing you want is to be

doing the nice thing and caring for it then getting fined later down the track ..

 

Best of Luck DrNat ... Good on ya for saving it -

A little off topic but I had a butcher bird land in the tree above me yesterday arvo with a baby blue tongue in it's beak, he would have eaten well last night, it was about half as long as he was! I assume it was probably feeding chicks as well.

From what I understand the best thing you can do is leave them alone because they are probably trying to fledge and if they did fall out the parents will continue to feed the baby on the ground, this is what our wildlife tell us here in the states.

 

You can still put it back outside out of your yard I bet the parents are still looking for it and will feed it but if not call wildlife so they can take care of it properly.

 

Most wild birds die if not in the hands of the parents or wildlife specialist because of their diet.

From the description it sounds like it is not quite ready to fledge yet, often they are second or third babies and get pushed out by an older sibling.

Again though wildlife does say to leave them because the parents will feed them and take care of them on the ground.

Yes that is true.

 

If you can get an icecream tub and put it up somewhere where the parents can see it in the morning, then they will possibly still feed it, it doesn't have to be back in it's own nest

ground meat, mashed vegies, protein in whatever form. All my life on the farm crows were the enemy, now I have a baby crow mum and dad are still around and they sit in the tree out the back and chat to him every morning so I know next week when he s released he will be looked after still, we have him until he gets enough feathers to fly- between the butcher birds and the blackfella kids in the street he didnt stand a chance without those flights

He gets ground meat and chunks of meat, ground meat mixed with mash pumpkin, vegies, mashed egg- this I mix all together and roll into edible size balls/pieces. He also gets some soaked dog biscuits to pick at in between.

Although not ideal to hand raise wild birds... to put it back would be a certain death sentence (in my neighborhood anyway-cats, dogs, cars, people...) I agree with the early suggestions to call a wildlife career... Good luck to you and the bird!