Do not give anything by mouth until you are told to do so. If you have found that the fledgling has injuries, call a wildlife rehabilitator. Keep checking, and should it truly be abandoned, then call a licensed rehabilitator. If it's getting to be nightfall, you may want to put the fledgling in a box to keep it safe from predators overnight. If you don't see other birds approaching right away, keep watching and make sure that you can't be seen.

They should find the bird and will almost certainly feed it. You should move away and see if the parents come back. Place the fledgling in bushes as high as possible or in the nest if you can locate it. If, after your exam, the bird appears uninjured, it should be returned, or left in the area where it was found. A bird generally breathes fast, but it should not appear labored. Look for blood around its beak, closed or unfocused eyes, rips or tears to its skin, or obvious broken bones. Birds don't have a keen sense of smell so it's safe to touch the fledgling. If you find a fledgling, fully feathered, with other adult birds making a lot of noise around him, give him a cursory check to see if he has any visible injuries.

The importance of returning a healthy baby bird to its parents to be raised can't be over-emphasized. Too often, well meaning folks will find these fledglings and pick them up, bringing them to a wildlife rehabilitator to raise. A fledgling is a young bird that has all its feathers, is almost ready to leave the nest, and has crash-landed during its first flight or has been pushed out by its siblings. During the spring and early summer, many baby birds called 'fledglings' are discovered.

Man takes in rescue birds