|
Don't 'rescue' downed baby birds |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 17 May 2006 |
Don't 'rescue' downed baby birds, warns animal group
BABY birds learning to fly should not be picked up if they are grounded, members of the public are being warned.
The Scottish SPCA receives more calls about grounded birds than
anything else, and as young chicks prepare to leave the nest for the
first time they are again warning people not to pick them up.
A baby bird can spend up to ten days on the ground during the
transition from a fledgling to a bird on the wing, during which the
parent birds remain nearby, helping to feed and fending off predators.
But last year, more than 600 young birds - mainly blackbirds,
starlings, sparrows and house-martins - were handed in to the Society's
Middlebank Wildlife Centre in Dunfermline after being picked up by
concerned people.
Sandra Bonar, manager of the Middlebank Wildlife Centre, said:
"Although we repeat the same message every year, the circumstances
through which many of the fledglings come into Middlebank are due to
human interference when the birds should have been left to their own
devices.
"Young birds do not emerge from the nest with a natural ability to fly,
and they need to spend time on the ground in order to learn." |
Bird News 