OK, so about a week ago my son found a baby bird in the middle of the road. As it was about 1:00 in the morning he picked it up and brought it home. Not expecting it to last the night, we put it in a box with bedding and left it in the garage. Next morning, lots of cheeping coming from the box and here we are a week later with a baby wren that seems to be thriving on a diet of meal works and blended suet balls. I'm more than happy to look after it for another couple of weeks until it's ready for fledging but what then? Is there a rescue service that will rehabilitate? Checked with RSPB and RSPCA with the latter only responding to emergencies which I can't see this being.
Anyone raised a bird and released it successfully?
Look for a “wildlife hospital” near you. These are usually independent charities. They may able to advise or take the bird in.
Be wary of picking up baby birds, many are fledglings being cared for by parents.
Edit: bit more detail on that last point
https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/what-should-i-do-if-i-find-a-baby-bird-on-the-ground
You may have done the right thing here, I dunno. But bear in mind for future reference.
I don't know if we've done the right thing either but under the circumstances it seemed the better option. The bird was in the middle of the road and completely exposed, son thought he was making the right choice.
I've done a check of local wildlife rescue but nothing local. I'll carry on feeding and look for options.
Either way thank you on behalf of little wren for your effort to try and do the right thing!
Someone brought us a baby pigeon once, some boy had found it and passed it on to someone else, nobody seemed to know where the nest was originally. Anyway we took it in, brand new chick with its eyes still closed. Pigeon chicks are not pretty!
Anyway I kept it alive for a day with ready brek, then bought some baby bird formula and hand reared it with a syringe and tube down the throat! It lived in a spare room in our house until it was proper pigeon sized and then we handed it off to the local bird rescue charity for rehab, as it was not possible to release straight to the wild.
Another time I left the house at night and there was a baby dunnock huddled by the edge of the house. I left it there, but as it was still there an hour or so later when I got back I brought it inside for fear of cats. The damn thing woke up at the crack of dawn with an incessant LOUD peeping until we brought it into the other room to decide how to feed it... it flew straight out the door into the hedge! We felt cheated. Bet it just wanted a warm bed for the night.
Directory of wildlife hospitals/refuges here:
The general message from rescues is not to try to look after the animals yourself, no matter how tempting it might be. This isn't because there is anything bad in the intent in trying to help, but often there can be more going on with the animal than you will realise and they can in many cases need some form of tweetment (ahem). If you can find a local rescue they will give you advice, but be braced for the majority of the time that advice being "bring it in".
If you enjoy the experience of looking after an animal who needs help you can train as a volunteer rehabilitator with a local rescue. They will then ask you to look after an animal one it has been checked and medicated as needed, until release.