Care of orphaned baby birds

The tiniest of baby birds are all mouth.... and stomach! Parent birds are kept quite busy keeping all these chicks well fed. Without the parents to care for them, the volunteers of Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center step up to fill that role. Trained volunteers will care for these birds at home, feeding them carefully formulated baby bird food as often as every 15 minutes for the youngest birds with the time interval increasing as the birds grow into self feeding fledgings. Fortunately, they do sleep at night! Once feathers are completely grown they spend time in our outdoor flight cages to build strength to prepare for their ultimate release back into the wild. There are various reasons nestlings are orphaned: cutting down the nesting tree, predation of the parents or a nest blown down in the wind.

The Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center cares for any injured, orphaned or sick wild birds. In addition, we house non-releasable education ambassador birds who visit the public handled by our trained volunteers. These programs are very popular with schools, tourist groups and at fairs.