Spring brings fledgling birds to GSPCA’s door
DUCKLINGS, baby doves and robin chicks are among the young birds being cared for by the GSPCA, as spring warms up.
But islanders are being advised to leave the young birds in the wild where possible so they can be looked after by their parents.
GSPCA animal care supervisor Yvonne Chauvel said the mild weather had seen the number of birds in its care increase.
‘We’ve had a lot of ducklings, baby doves, robin chick, young blackbirds and a variety of others,’ she said.
‘A baby bird has a greater chance of survival in the wild than being hand-reared as they learn how to forage for food and fend for themselves from their parents.’
From hatching, most birds take, on average, two weeks to learn how to fly.
‘If they can be returned to the nest or be put in a safe place and monitored to see if their parents are caring for them if they have feathers then they will have the ideal upbringing,’ said Ms Chauvel.
As a general rule, it was best to leave baby birds alone, she said.
Most young birds found outside of their nests at this time of year are probably fledglings, which are almost fully feathered, able to walk, run and hop on to low branches, and will try to hide in undergrowth where they are fed by their parents.
Parent birds are not usually far away and are probably collecting food, but will not return until people have gone.
Within a day of leaving the nest, fledglings can usually fly enough to keep up with their parents and escape predators.
People should only move them or encourage them to move a short distance to safety if they are in immediate danger.
Do not try to return a fledgling to its nest as that may disturb other young birds.
GSPCA manager Steve Byrne said: ‘It is a worry when baby birds are seen with no parents in view, but this simple advice can mean they can have the best start in life.
‘We are very lucky to have intensive care units at the shelter to help raise these very fragile young, but it is never easy with the number of feeds and the fact that many arrive injured or very cold.’
The charity cared for more than 2,000 injured and sick wild birds last year.
If, after monitoring, a fledgling is genuinely orphaned or sick call the GSPCA on 257261.
