Wildlife Clinic
Found an animal?

Your answer

This bird needs to go back in the nest, or to a rehabilitator.

A nestling cannot regulate its own temperature and cannot survive on the ground. If you can find the nest and reach it safely, replacing the bird is the best outcome available — birds do not reject young that have been handled. If the nest is destroyed or unreachable, this is a genuine rescue.

What to do right now

  1. 01Look up. Nests are usually within a few feet of where the bird landed.
  2. 02Warm your hands, cup the bird, and place it back in the nest.
  3. 03If the nest is gone, punch drainage holes in a small container, line it with dry tissue, wire it to the same tree in shade, and put the bird in it.
  4. 04Watch from a distance for an hour. If no adult comes, call a rehabilitator.
  5. 05While you wait, keep the bird warm, dark, and quiet in a ventilated box.

What not to do

  • Do not give food or water. Aspiration is the usual cause of death in well-meaning hands.
  • Do not use a heat pad on high, or a lamp directly on the bird.
  • Do not keep it more than a few hours.

Change your mind if any of this is true

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

  • It is cold, wet, or has insects on it — go straight to a rehabilitator.
  • A cat or dog was involved.
  • It is gaping and calling constantly, which means it has been unfed for a long time.

Get professional help

Showing rehabilitators permitted for songbirds and other birds.

Accepts nestling 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.