Every spring, well-meaning gardeners and bird lovers accidentally harm nesting birds without realising it. From checking on nests too often to trying to “rescue” baby birds, common garden habits can put eggs and hatchlings at risk.
To learn how to safely coexist with nesting birds this season, we spoke with Holly Grant, project assistant at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch program.
Below, she shares the vital need-to-knows if you find a baby bird this season, with other helpful advice too...
What is the #1 threat to nesting birds?
According to Holly, it’s most likely nest disturbance since pets and humans can scare birds off their nests, which risks nest abandonment. According to Holly, “too many ‘scares’ and the adults will move on to try nesting somewhere else.”
Keep your distance from nests
Holly says: “Not only can birds be scared off their nest if humans get too close, but if folks are spending too much time near a nest, such as sitting out on a patio, using a BBQ, or otherwise actively spending time too close to a nest, the adult bird might be too nervous to return to their nest, which could be catastrophic to eggs that need to be incubated or young that need to be fed.”
Also, Holly says to never move a nest to a less-trafficked area. “Birds won’t understand that the nest has moved – they just see that it’s not where they left it and assume a predator got to it,” says Holly.
Know when to intervene and when to walk away
The first thing to do is to figure out if the baby bird is a nestling or a fledgling.
Holly adds: “Fledglings are feathered and capable of hopping or flitting, with toes that can tightly grip your finger or a twig. These youngsters are generally adorable and fluffy, with a tiny stub of a tail.” While fledglings may look helpless, they are still under the care of their parents and are typically doing just fine.
“Nestlings are sparsely feathered and not capable of hopping, walking, flitting, or gripping tightly to your finger,” Holly says. These are birds that are too young to be out of the nest.
Know when to put the bird back in the nest
If you know that it’s a nestling and you can find the nest nearby (they are often well hidden), put the bird back inside as quickly as possible, says Holly. If the nest is destroyed, you can make one (find out more here) and monitor to see if the parents come back.
When should you contact a wildlife rehabilitator?
According to Holly, only contact a wildlife rehabilitator if you find an injured bird or if it is a nestling and you haven’t seen an adult visit the bird within an hour or two.
How to safely keep tabs on a nest
“If you’d like to keep tabs on the nest, such as recording data for NestWatch, research shows that visiting the nest once every 3 to 4 days at most (about 1 to 2 times per week) is just enough to collect meaningful data while keeping disturbance low,” per Holly.
Holly says: “Always minimise the time you spend near the nest to reduce stress and to help keep the nest from being noticed by predators. Crows and jays, which eat nestlings and eggs, are smart and may get curious if you’re spending too much time in one area of your garden!”
A few other pointers include: when checking on a nest, approach it from a different angle every time; check in the afternoon, never in the morning; don’t check the nest when it’s raining or cold; never spend more than 1 minute at the nest on each visit; and never handle the eggs or nestlings.
Keep pets leashed and cats inside
Holly explains: “Research published in 2015 found that cats were the #2 cause of bird loss, behind habitat loss and degradation. While bells on collars do help, the best way to help birds is by keeping cats indoors or creating an outdoor ‘catio.’ Any pet that is off-leash during fledging times may also chase after fledglings, which hop and flutter around on the ground like toys.”
And if you are worried about other predators, like foxes or squirrels, getting into your nesting box, Holly recommends using a cone or stovepipe baffle or a pet's cone of shame for birdhouses that are mounted on poles.
Noel guards and entrance hole extenders can also help, but Holly notes that there is no design that is 100% predator-proof. Predators are a normal part of life for birds, but these measures can help increase nesting success for nests in boxes.
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Charlyne Mattox is the Food and Crafts director with over 20 years recipe development, recipe editing, and crafting experience. Prior to starting at Country Living in 2014, she worked in the crafts department at Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Kids before attending cooking school at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She was nominated for a James Beard media award while a senior editor at Real Simple magazine and authored a cookbook Cooking with Seeds.
When not in the kitchen she loves to garden, focusing on growing flowers and kitchen herbs (of course), watering her 25 house plants, and knitting scarfs or hats she will never be able to wear in the always hot and steamy Alabama.
