There's a baby bird on my back porch

[flex]

He/she is too young to fly.  Must have fallen out of its nest somehow.  Is there anything I can do for it?  I don't see the parents anywhere.

[TR]

Just leave it. Babies are fledging about now. The parents will tend to it until it can fly.

[flex]

May 20, 2018 20:26:39 GMT -5 TR said:

Just leave it. Babies are fledging about now. The parents will tend to it until it can fly.

Thank you--that's what I was thinking--leave it alone.  I just now spotted one of the parents looking around for it.

[mcmel]

Yes! Its mom will take care of it. Any idea what kind of bird?

[flex]

May 20, 2018 20:35:28 GMT -5 mcmel said:

Yes! Its mom will take care of it. Any idea what kind of bird?

It's a western scrub jay.  There is one known nesting pair in the lot next door, and I suspect there's another pair in my neighbor's side yard.  I think that's where the baby came from.  It hopped back over on to the other side of the fence just now.  

[sarahsays]

PP's are correct that the parents will care for it on the ground. If you knew where the nest was and it was in danger (like from a pet) it is okay to put it back.

[mich1]

How tiny? Does it look like a small bird, or an ugly bird wannabe?

The reason I ask is that I used to have a bird nest in the ceiling of my balcony...multiple times/season, multiple years, so I used to watch their development. A few got tossed out of the next, and died. It was sad to watch, and I tried to return it to the next but it got booted out again.

I always thought it was pretty cheeky of the birds to nest on the balcony where my cats sunned themselves. The cats pretty much ignored them, until mama took the babies out for flying lessons. Then mama would line the birds up on the balcony railing, and escort each out for a lesson. About 2 days later, the birds would be gone from the next until the next round. I got some incredible pics of the process.

[flex]

May 22, 2018 10:35:12 GMT -5 mich1 said:

How tiny? Does it look like a small bird, or an ugly bird wannabe?

The reason I ask is that I used to have a bird nest in the ceiling of my balcony...multiple times/season, multiple years, so I used to watch their development. A few got tossed out of the next, and died. It was sad to watch, and I tried to return it to the next but it got booted out again.

I always thought it was pretty cheeky of the birds to nest on the balcony where my cats sunned themselves. The cats pretty much ignored them, until mama took the babies out for flying lessons. Then mama would line the birds up on the balcony railing, and escort each out for a lesson. About 2 days later, the birds would be gone from the next until the next round. I got some incredible pics of the process.

It was definitely a baby scrub jay.  It was able to hop under the fence and go into the neighbor's yard so I know it wasn't injured.  The parents have been keeping a watchful presence in the general direction the baby went so I'm fairly certain it hasn't been abandoned--so I'm just going to let nature take its course.  My cousin, who is in Fish and Game, said I made a good call.  : )

[mich1]

May 22, 2018 13:08:43 GMT -5 flex said:

May 22, 2018 10:35:12 GMT -5 mich1 said:

How tiny? Does it look like a small bird, or an ugly bird wannabe?

The reason I ask is that I used to have a bird nest in the ceiling of my balcony...multiple times/season, multiple years, so I used to watch their development. A few got tossed out of the next, and died. It was sad to watch, and I tried to return it to the next but it got booted out again.

I always thought it was pretty cheeky of the birds to nest on the balcony where my cats sunned themselves. The cats pretty much ignored them, until mama took the babies out for flying lessons. Then mama would line the birds up on the balcony railing, and escort each out for a lesson. About 2 days later, the birds would be gone from the next until the next round. I got some incredible pics of the process.

It was definitely a baby scrub jay.  It was able to hop under the fence and go into the neighbor's yard so I know it wasn't injured.  The parents have been keeping a watchful presence in the general direction the baby went so I'm fairly certain it hasn't been abandoned--so I'm just going to let nature take its course.  My cousin, who is in Fish and Game, said I made a good call.  : )

If you could tell it was a baby jay, then it was a bit older.  By the time my baby birds were ready for flying lessons, they looked like a tiny version of their mama.