The RSPCA has prepared a helpful downloadable poster on what to do if you see a baby bird out of the nest after it received 1203 calls from people in the South West concerned about baby birds found away from their nest in 2018.
The RSPCA’s wildlife centres care for over a thousand ’orphaned’ fledglings each year, picked up by well-meaning people. But many of these birds are not orphans and are often better off if they are left in the wild.
If anyone spots a nestling (a bird with no feathers or very few), they need assistance and should be taken to a vet, a local rescue or they should call the RSPCA. Fledglings, which have all or most of their feathers can usually be left alone but if a fledgling is injured or has been attacked or appears to be orphaned or separated from their parents, people should call the RSPCA for help.
The animal charity has produced a useful printable step-by-step guide explaining the types of situations where the babies of common garden birds might genuinely need helping, and when the young bird is purely exhibiting natural behaviour as part of its development, in which case it is usually better to leave well alone.
The guide can be found here: