This board reunites escaped pet birds with their owners. A native wild bird needs something different — and posting it here won't help it. Here's what actually will.
Keep reading — the steps below are for you.
Not sure? Treat it as wild until someone qualified tells you otherwise. A wildlife rehabilitator can identify it from a photo in seconds.
You cannot legally keep it. In Canada most native birds are protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, and it is an offence to possess a protected migratory bird without authorization. Caring for wildlife is licensed work — hand the bird on rather than trying to raise or treat it yourself.
Escaped pets are almost always parrots and their relatives — budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, conures, ringnecks, African greys, macaws, cockatoos — plus canaries and finches. They are usually brightly coloured in a way that stands out against Canadian scenery, they often approach people rather than fleeing, and many have a metal or plastic band on one leg. A robin, sparrow, starling, gull, crow, duckling, pigeon or bird of prey is wild.
No. In Canada, most native birds are protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, and it is an offence to possess a protected migratory bird without authorization. Beyond the law, wild birds need species-specific care and a release plan that a licensed rehabilitator can provide and a well-meaning finder cannot. Contact an authorized wildlife rehabilitator instead.
Usually not. A fledgling — feathered, hopping, short-tailed — has normally left the nest on purpose and its parents are still feeding it nearby. The best thing you can do is keep people, cats and dogs away and watch from a distance. Only intervene if it is injured, cold, covered in flies, or in immediate danger such as on a road. A nestling with little or no feathering that has fallen can often simply be placed back in its nest.
No. Feeding the wrong food, or pouring liquid into a bird's mouth, is a common way that rescued birds die before they reach help. Put it in a ventilated cardboard box lined with a towel, somewhere dark, quiet and warm, away from pets and children, and call a rehabilitator.
Do not handle it with bare hands. Sick and dead wild birds should be reported to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, which monitors for diseases including avian influenza, through their online tool or their national information line.
Sure it's a pet after all? Posting takes about two minutes and its owner is almost certainly searching right now.
Report a found pet bird