If you find a small myna bird fluttering about on the ground, you may be tempted to pick it up and take it home. That is rarely best for the bird, and in many places it is illegal. Baby birds of all species sometimes fall from their nests and hop into bushes for cover. The parents are usually near, aware of the baby bird's location, and watching for predators. Initially, remain vigilant, but do not approach unless the bird is in imminent danger of attack by another animal. If the bird is still on the ground after several hours, take action.
Instructions
1. Place the baby bird back in the nest only if you are confident that it is not fledging but has fallen from the nest. You will know the difference by its appearance. Baby birds too young to fledge have few if any feathers. There is no truth to the assertion that the mother bird will neglect or reject a baby bird touched by a human.
2. Pick the bird up gently if you conclude it has been abandoned and place it in a large, clean margarine tub, plastic bowl or other suitable, circular container. Place toilet paper or tissue paper inside and fluff it up, making a soft "nest" for the bird. Place the bowl inside a large shoebox or in a clean, dry, glass aquarium.
3. Make sure you keep the "nest" clean. Replace the tissue paper or toilet paper often. Keep the nest in a room away from household companion animals and children to avoid subjecting the bird to noise, excessive movement or other perceived threats.
4. Monitor the temperature of the bird's environment and keep the bird warm. Its immediate environment must be between 92 and 94 degrees Fahrenheit until it is 2 weeks old, the website Myna Bird notes. Reduce the heat to 86 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit thereafter. Use a 40-watt light bulb set about a foot away from the bird, or place a heating pad set on low-medium under the shoebox or inside the aquarium. Single-use heating pads---available at most drugstores---which heat up when exposed to air, will also work to keep the environment warm, but they last only six to eight hours.
5. Feed the bird very little amounts of food often. Do not give it milk, which can be fatal, according to Marathon Baby Bird Center. Soak a few pellets of bird feed, dog food or ground-up cooked turkey in warm water. Place a pea-sized dab of food in the bird's mouth. Be sure it swallows the food before giving it more. Feed the bird in this manner every 30 minutes until its eyes open and feathers appear. Follow this routine from dawn to late evening. Baby birds sleep through the night.
6. Reduce hand-feedings to about every two to three hours after the bird's eyes are open and feathers are apparent. If the bird does not open its mouth, tap gently on top of its beak.
7. Place the bird in a cage when it is about 4 to 5 weeks old and fully feathered. Use a dog crate or two laundry baskets fashioned into a makeshift cage. Put one on top of the other and provide a branch for a perch. Make available fresh water, moist food and a bowl of myna pellets. Provide a safe place to fly, such as a screened-in porch. The bird is a fledgling when it is fully feathered, eats on its own, and is beginning to try out its wings.
8. Release the bird---only when it can fly---near where you found it, and be sure no predators are near. Watch from a distance to be sure the bird can fly from branch to branch and gain altitude with ease.
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