My Wren Adopted an Orphan: A Baby Bird Rescue Story

by Jim Kelly
(Monticello, Ga., USA)

The Fallen Bird

One day, my daughter called in a panic. She had found a fallen baby bird that had fallen from its nest, and her cats were threatening it. Desperate, she turned to me for help.

She said she looked everywhere to find the nest the bird had fallen from but had no luck. "Daddy, you've got to do something!"

As all daddies know, those are the words that put us in high gear.

A Friendship Forged

A few weeks prior, I had befriended a Wren building a nest in my shop.

I provided her with wood shavings, and as soon as I would move away, she would take each shaving and diligently use them to line her nest.

She became accustomed to my presence, even greeting me each morning with a cheerful chirp. This bird nesting behavior fascinated me.

She eventually laid her eggs and hatched three babies. Now she was feeding her nestlings.

An Unlikely Adoption

Since the fallen baby bird's predicament looked pretty grim, I decided to see if Mother Wren just might take on this addition.

I brought the fallen baby bird to my place to see if she would adopt the new nestling. When I got there I discovered it was much larger and of a different species.

This presented a unique challenge to my wildlife rescue experiment.

A Mother's Surprise

To my astonishment, Mother Wren, after an initial shock, accepted the new addition and lovingly cared for all four babies until they fledged.

I was ecstatic! I called my daughter to tell her the good news and she wept with joy.

The adult wren never exhibited any fear of me or my presence as she went about her tasks, even when I would peek in to see the progress of her babies.

This touching story about nature demonstrates the unexpected compassion found in the wild.

A Year Later

The following year, the Wren returned to my shop, seemingly recognizing me and the location of her previous nest.

She looked up at me and chirped several times and flew to the box where she had nested the year before.

I got out my wood plane and a nice piece of wood and started cutting shavings.

Cross-Species Adoption from wild-bird-watching

While this story has a happy ending, it's crucial to understand that cross-species adoption in birds is generally not recommended.

Nutritional Needs: Different bird species have unique dietary requirements. A foster parent may not be able to provide the necessary nutrition for a baby of another species.

Stress and Rejection: The stress of raising a different species can be significant for the foster parent, potentially leading to neglect or even abandonment of all the young.

Disease Risk: There's a risk of transmitting diseases between different bird species.

If you find a fallen baby bird, the best course of action is to contact a local wildlife rehabilitation center.

They have the expertise and resources to properly care for the bird and ensure its survival.