Unless the parents are known to be dead, attempts should be made to re-nest the babies as long as they are NOT INJURED OR INFESTED WITH FLIES OR ANTS. The caller should warm the babies while they return the nest to the tree. They can warm the birds by placing them in a towel-lined box with a heating pad under it set on LOW. After the babies are sufficiently warmed, they can be replaced back into the nest. The caller must then watch the nest hourly and check the babies until the parents return. If the parents have not returned in 2 hours or by dusk, the caller should retrieve the birds, place them back into the warmed box, and call the WRI rehabilitator that you refer them to initially.
It is essential that you stress the fact that these babies need to be warmed. If it is cold, rainy, or late in the afternoon and the parents don’t return, the caller should bring them to a WRI rehabilitator that takes Songbirds.
Nestlings (see General Information chapter on identifying stages of songbird development) should never be left in a nest alone, or be put in a container away from the main nest as the mother cannot brood two separate nests at night. If the nestling cannot be replaced in the main nest, the caller must bring the nestling to a WRI rehabilitator that rehabilitates Songbirds.
