Re-nesting

If you find an animal do not give it any food or water. Keep warm, dark, and quiet and call a rehab.

If at all ever possible it is always best to keep the animal with its family. However, there are lots of situations that also make this a bad choice.

What a good re-nesting area looks like

In order to re-nest the animal there needs to be enough shade and coverage for the animal to have protection, it needs to be in a somewhat quiet location, and preferably in an area that’s not using poison. The animal also needs to be healthy, active, and uninjured.

Do not try to re-nest animals in an area where the habitat has been destroyed. These would be busy commercial parking lots, in an HOA that just completed a massive pruning during nesting season, or within a busy park.

Injured animals cannot be re-nested

Injured, lethargic, dehydrated animals cannot be re-nested. If it’s been caught by your dog or your cat it most definitely needs a rehab. Small punctures and large bruises stay hidden and get worse after release if not treated properly.

Do not re-nest fledglings

We also do not re-nest fledglings. Fledglings are birds old enough to fly out of the nest but not yet smart enough to know how to get back in. They are at their most vulnerable time at this age and should be left alone. Chances are there are multiple siblings in the same area and as each one starts to jump out the situation will repeat. Please keep pets restrained during these times so the birds have a chance to learn how to fly. Low lying shrubs provide the best protection from predators and the elements during this time.

If the bird is a nesting, does not have all his feathers yet, is active but not mobile because of his age and doesn’t look injured it is best to re-nest.

How to re-nest open cup nesting species

The most common species to fall out of nesting are doves but they are also the easiest to re-nest. Some of the other species may need a bit more care. However, re-nesting for all open cup nesting species is pretty much all the same.

Take a bread basket or a cool whip container, give it drainage, put some soft grass clippings in there, wire it to a shady tree or ledge within 25 feet of where the babies were originally found, and let the parents take back over.

How to re-nest cavity nesting species

If it’s a cavity nesting species or one from a palm tree it gets a lot more complicated.

Some hawks and owls can be re-nested similarly. However, larger predator birds and cavity nesting birds should only be re-nested under the guidance of a licensed rehab facility for best chance of success.

Successful nests tend to be in areas not heavily maintained. Quail like big unpruned bushes. Owls like huge unpruned palm trees. Hawks love 50 year old cottonwoods. If you have a maintenance crew landscaping regularly and/or your community is pruning heavily in the warmer months it most likely having a negative affect on habitat.

Advocate for wildlife by helping preserve habitat. Try to minimize large landscaping outside of nesting season and speak to your neighbors and city maintenance crews to do the same.