Wildlife Clinic
Found an animal?

Your answer

A fledgling on the ground is a bird doing its job.

Songbirds leave the nest several days before they can fly properly. They spend that time on the ground and in low cover, calling, while both parents feed them and watch from a distance. The stubby tail is the giveaway. Removing a fledgling interrupts the only period in which it learns what food looks like and what a hawk looks like.

What to do right now

  1. 01Watch from indoors or from at least thirty feet for a full hour before doing anything.
  2. 02Keep cats inside and dogs leashed. This is the single most useful thing you can do.
  3. 03If it is in a driveway or a road, lift it into shrubbery within about ten feet.
  4. 04Expect the parents to scold you. That noise is evidence they are present.

What not to do

  • Do not put it back in the nest. It left on purpose.
  • Do not feed it bread, milk, worms, or water.
  • Do not take it indoors "just for the night".

Change your mind if any of this is true

Any one of these changes the answer above. Call a rehabilitator instead.

  • A cat or dog touched it, however briefly.
  • It is cold, wet, or covered in insects.
  • A wing hangs at a wrong angle, or it cannot stand on both legs.
  • No parent appears within a full hour of quiet observation.

Get professional help

Showing rehabilitators permitted for songbirds and other birds.

Accepts songbirds

This list is not complete. Some licensed rehabilitators choose not to publish their details, and the state list is updated quarterly. Always call ahead: a rehabilitator may be full even when listed.

All 6 rehabilitators permitted for this animal.

Choosing a county puts the nearest first. It never hides anyone — someone further away may still be the one who can take it.

  • Cindy Ganues

    Cobb

    Accepts: Talking Rock RVS, raccoons only

    404-660-7989

  • Aware Wildlife Center

    DeKalb

    Accepts: All species including RVS , (no birds of prey, songbirds, or waterfowl) or email

    678-418-1111

  • Wild Nest Bird Rehab, Inc.

    DeKalb

  • Philema Animal Clinic

    Lee

    Accepts: small mammals, fawns, songbirds, raptors, RVS

    229-439-2266

  • Philema Animal Clinic

    Lee

    229-439-2266

  • Suzanne DeGrasse

    Madison

    706-255-7395

Understand the animal

Knowing why this happens is what makes the next one easier to read.