How To Tell If a Baby Bird Is an Orphaned or Has Fledged?

Baby birds are hatching inside of their nests all around us right now.

“Fledglings,” are baby birds that fly out of their nests and are beginning to learn how to be an adult bird with mom and dad assisting when help is needed. They are beginning their new life outside of the nest!

So how do you tell whether or not a baby bird is of need of assistance or if it has just fledged the nest? Here are a few ways that you can tell the difference! (Remember if you think that the bird needs human intervention call The Georgia Department of Natural Resources they will tell you what to do next.)

One of the easiest ways to tell if a bird has just fledged the nest is by its feathers! Nestlings normally often have bare skin exposed or are only covered in fuzzy down while fledglings are most of the well feathered and are hopping around on the ground while trying to fly.

You may think that this sounds dangerous for the baby bird to learn how to fly but don’t worry as mom nor dad take their sights off of their baby during this time.

Another way that is easy to tell the difference between a fledgling and a nestling is a nestling has wing feathers that look very similar to tubes. This is because the feathers have not broke through their protective sheaths yet. Fledglings have short tail and wing feathers.

I hope that these tips were helpful! Happy birding everyone!