What to do if you find a baby bird on the ground?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency explained the do's and don'ts of rescuing a young bird.

The first thing you should determine is if the bird has feathers or not. If it doesn't, it has hatched recently and is very young and vulnerable.

First, it is important that you put on some gloves. Then, if you can reach the nest, put the baby bird back into it. What if you can't reach the nest?

Barry Cross, TWRA Communications and Marketing Manager for Region 2 explained what you can do then:

"If you can't reach the nest, you can take a plastic tub or a plastic bowl, put some grasses in there, kind of like a nest," Cross said. "Then place the bird back in there and put it up in the tree that the bird came from or attach it to the tree with a nail or something."

If the mom and dad are around, they will likely take care of it.

So what if the bird has feathers?
    
"If you do find a baby bird and it has a lot of feathers and mom and dad are around, leave it where it is and just watch," Cross said. "It will probably be fine. If you have animals, and you are worried about your animals getting to it, you can pick that bird up, and remember, always use gloves, put it in a tree on a branch that's a safe area and watch to see what mom and dad do."

In either case, if the mom or dad don't appear to be around, then you should call one of the designated wildlife rehabilitators. You can find one in your area by going to the TWRA's website, tnwildlife.org and clicking on the "Wildlife Bio-Diversity" tab. There you will find Animal Rehabilitator. Once you have contacted them, you have to transport the bird to them as they do not come to pick up the animals.

And remember where you found the bird, so when it is healed, you can return it to the same environment.

See more specific instructions here.