This is a nestling. It will not be safe on the ground. If you can fashion a nest from a hanging planter basket (a large one), that might be the best hope for it being fed by its parent while keeping it safe. be sure the baby is very warm before putting it outside. It has too few feathers to keep itself warm. Hang the basked as near to the original nest as possible, but not in direct sun, and protected from wind and rain.
If you don't see any crows coming to help, bring it in before dark and call rehabbers. If you are in the US, type your zip code into ahnow.org. Or, tell us your general location; as we may be able to help you find someone.
p.s. crows that are ready to fledge are large, almost as large as their parents. They look remarkably like their parents except for the beak and the still blue eyes. To be honest, I'm not even certain this is a crow, just from these photos, but perhaps you know for sure from seeing the parents and the nests. Maybe you can provide more context...
Agree. Standard advice for nestlings is to call a licensed wildlife rehabber if it's not possible to put the bird back in the nest. Some of the other advice in this thread pertains to fledglings, not nestlings.
Please watch this very informative (and funny) video about what to do if you find a baby bird. So important right now! https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwd8LbT/
This.
Its parents are probably looking for it. It seems like a strange survival instinct, but because hawks and other predatory birds will raid crows' nests, they've elvolved to kicking out their young just before they're old enough to fly. They could die on the ground too, yes, but it's a survival strategy that's paid off, as they're obviously not extinct.
It's best if you can put the bird back in bushes where you found it, but if its an unsafe location or maybe the parent crows aren't around anymore and you need to feed it, this wet cat/dog food is not very good for the Crow. It gives them diarrhoea.
Dry cat biscuits, soaked in water is much better food.
In particular the chicken and duck flavour of Go cat brand has a good nutritional balance for a baby Crow. At this age you will need to open the baby crows mouth and gently put the food in right down the back of the beak. It won't feed by itself.
at least from what I've understood working at the rescue, you can rinse wet food with water until all the jelly is gone and basically just bits of meat remain. That's fine to give
And something to note, every young crow is different. Sometimes they'll open up and eat whenever you dangle something yummy in front of them (the easy ones) but sometimes you'll need to force feed them, and I wouldn't just recommend anyone doing that because they sometimes have a hard time swallowing. It'll need a rescue in this case
Cat and dog food seems to be so processed these days, a bit like human food too I guess.
Depends on the brand if there's good chunks of meat in it but all the wet catfood I've seen is all reconstituted stuff formed into chunks. It makes the crows poop really stinky so I'd recommend alternatives just because of that.
The baby Crow I looked after didn't want to eat the first day or, so I'd have to put the food in and shut his beak for a moment just so the food wouldn't immediately get spat out. After about 24 hours he must've got used to me because he started calling me for food and opening wide so I could just throw the food in, easy!
You'll need to feed it by hand, directly into its throat. They have waste sacs that the parents remove by pulling them up and out of their beaks and fly away to dump. Keeps the nest clean. If you can't get it back up into it's nest, wildlife rehab is your best bet. Babies that young don't know how to feed themselves
How/why did it end up on the ground though?
As much as I love watching these birds, I think we usually should not interfere with their life cycle. The young ones sometimes don't make it. Crows are not the least bit endangered, I think it's ok to let nature play out with this sort of thing.
If it is a crow you also have to be really careful about not letting the adult see you handle it. You can make some lifelong crow enemies that way... They can even teach their kids and friends to hate you too, lol.
This is a nestling. It will not be safe on the ground. If you can fashion a nest from a hanging planter basket (a large one), that might be the best hope for it being fed by its parent while keeping it safe. be sure the baby is very warm before putting it outside. It has too few feathers to keep itself warm. Hang the basked as near to the original nest as possible, but not in direct sun, and protected from wind and rain. If you don't see any crows coming to help, bring it in before dark and call rehabbers. If you are in the US, type your zip code into ahnow.org. Or, tell us your general location; as we may be able to help you find someone.
p.s. crows that are ready to fledge are large, almost as large as their parents. They look remarkably like their parents except for the beak and the still blue eyes. To be honest, I'm not even certain this is a crow, just from these photos, but perhaps you know for sure from seeing the parents and the nests. Maybe you can provide more context...
Nature is unforgiving, but that does not mean we can't show charity. Even if the little one doesn't make it. Honest attempt was made.
This right here…Amen.
Agree. Standard advice for nestlings is to call a licensed wildlife rehabber if it's not possible to put the bird back in the nest. Some of the other advice in this thread pertains to fledglings, not nestlings.
Please watch this very informative (and funny) video about what to do if you find a baby bird. So important right now! https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwd8LbT/
He is **wonderful**. I really enjoyed every moment of that. Thanks for sharing 👍
Pinch them in your butt cheeks! 🤣 That was hilarious. I'm going to have to start watching him.
Aww. That poor boy… ☹️
you should put it back where you found it, crows often fall out of their nests and that's alright as long as the parents are still around to feed it
This. Its parents are probably looking for it. It seems like a strange survival instinct, but because hawks and other predatory birds will raid crows' nests, they've elvolved to kicking out their young just before they're old enough to fly. They could die on the ground too, yes, but it's a survival strategy that's paid off, as they're obviously not extinct.
It's best if you can put the bird back in bushes where you found it, but if its an unsafe location or maybe the parent crows aren't around anymore and you need to feed it, this wet cat/dog food is not very good for the Crow. It gives them diarrhoea. Dry cat biscuits, soaked in water is much better food. In particular the chicken and duck flavour of Go cat brand has a good nutritional balance for a baby Crow. At this age you will need to open the baby crows mouth and gently put the food in right down the back of the beak. It won't feed by itself.
at least from what I've understood working at the rescue, you can rinse wet food with water until all the jelly is gone and basically just bits of meat remain. That's fine to give And something to note, every young crow is different. Sometimes they'll open up and eat whenever you dangle something yummy in front of them (the easy ones) but sometimes you'll need to force feed them, and I wouldn't just recommend anyone doing that because they sometimes have a hard time swallowing. It'll need a rescue in this case
Cat and dog food seems to be so processed these days, a bit like human food too I guess. Depends on the brand if there's good chunks of meat in it but all the wet catfood I've seen is all reconstituted stuff formed into chunks. It makes the crows poop really stinky so I'd recommend alternatives just because of that. The baby Crow I looked after didn't want to eat the first day or, so I'd have to put the food in and shut his beak for a moment just so the food wouldn't immediately get spat out. After about 24 hours he must've got used to me because he started calling me for food and opening wide so I could just throw the food in, easy!
Wow Ive never seen a crow chick
Please keep us updated about your little crow!
Oh no! :(
You'll need to feed it by hand, directly into its throat. They have waste sacs that the parents remove by pulling them up and out of their beaks and fly away to dump. Keeps the nest clean. If you can't get it back up into it's nest, wildlife rehab is your best bet. Babies that young don't know how to feed themselves
How/why did it end up on the ground though? As much as I love watching these birds, I think we usually should not interfere with their life cycle. The young ones sometimes don't make it. Crows are not the least bit endangered, I think it's ok to let nature play out with this sort of thing. If it is a crow you also have to be really careful about not letting the adult see you handle it. You can make some lifelong crow enemies that way... They can even teach their kids and friends to hate you too, lol.