I found an orphaned baby bird. What should I do?

Every year in the GTA, thousands of people like you find baby birds. Although some of these birds are in need of help, many are in normal situations where human intervention is not required.

In order to determine the best course of action, you must first determine what kind of bird you have found. Exact species identification is not usually necessary, but to know what is a normal situation and/or behaviour for the baby—and what is not—you will need to know at least whether the baby is altricial or precocial. These terms describe two different ways that baby birds develop.

Is the baby precocial or altricial?

Precocial bird babies are born fully covered with a soft downy coat and are walking or running within hours of hatching. They follow their parents around on foot. Examples of some common precocial birds are Canada Geese, Swans, Mallards and Killdeer. Precocial birds can eat from the ground or water from a very early age. Their parents do not feed them.

Baby Canada geese are precocial	Killdeer are precocial - this baby is a few days old

If the baby is able to move around independently on its feet, take a close look. If the baby is fully covered in down (has no actual feathers but the skin cannot be seen at all through the down) and is running or walking (one foot at a time) as opposed to hopping (both feet leave the ground together), you have likely found a precocial bird. A clue: all birds in Ontario with webbed feet are precocial except Double-crested cormorants.

How can I tell if this precocial baby needs help?

 

Altricial bird babies hatch out of their eggs naked, blind, and helpless; they have no feathers when first hatched (though occasionally have sparse down or patchy “fluff”), their eyes are usually sealed shut, they can move little more than their heads and mouths and are totally dependent on their parents for care. Most songbirds are altricial. Hawks, owls, doves (including pigeons), crows, woodpeckers, cormorants, and herons are also examples of altricial birds. Some altricial birds “gape” for food – they open their mouths widely in response to movement in front of their beaks (though older birds will sometimes not do this for humans out of fear).

Baby Starling	Baby Owl	Baby Pigeon
Examples of altricial birds

How can I tell if this altricial baby needs help?