I Found an Animal

For all birds EXCEPT hummingbirds

If you have found a naked or partially feathered baby bird, try to get it back to the parents. If you cannot reach or find the nest, make one from a small container like a margarine tub. Poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage in case of rain, pad it with shredded tissue, and nail it to the trunk of the tree under which you found the baby. Make sure it is placed high enough to remain in the shade during the day. The parents will hear the bird and resume normal care. Watch from a hidden place for a few hours to be sure the parents find it again. Please know we understand that you want to help the babies you’ve found and are anxious to do something right now. However, no one can raise these babies better than their own parents so please make every attempt to get them together again. If these directions don’t work, you may bring the babies to our intake clinic.

Adult Birds: If the bird is an obviously injured adult, bring it to the clinic as quickly as possible. The bird may have been injured and unable to forage for just a little while, or for days. Be sure to protect yourself from whatever defensive equipment this bird may have. Covering the head is the first step to calming a bird and reducing stress. Do not offer food or water.

If you are bringing the bird(s) to the Clinic, find a cardboard box with a lid appropriate to the size of the bird. Line the bottom of the box with a towel, shredded paper or paper towel. Avoid putting straw or hay in the box. Put the bird in the box and the lid on top of the box. Do not offer food or water. There is no need to poke holes in the box as it can breathe through the cracks and darkness will reduce stress for the bird. Put the box in a quiet warm place and leave it alone. This is the best thing you can do for the animal and it can remain like this for many hours or even overnight. Please bring it to the Wildlife Rescue Clinic as soon as you can.

If you have found a bird on the ground that is well-feathered, with wings and a short tail, and which may be hopping, walking or fluttering around, you have found a fledgling which is likely learning to fly. Fledglings rarely need human intervention. Parent birds will continue to feed their offspring on the ground and teach them to fly. If a bird is in immediate danger (for example, if it’s on a sidewalk or road or cats are nearby), place it inside a nearby shrub or bush and leave the area. Don’t attempt to feed the baby— its parents can do a much better job!

For hummingbirds

Place the hummingbird in a small box with a lid. If you have found babies still in a nest, do NOT remove them from the nest. Put the entire nest in the box. Put the box in a warm dark quiet place.

Then prepare some food by mixing 1 part plain white sugar with 6 parts water. If the hummingbird is an adult, mix 1 part plain white sugar with 4 parts water. Only use white table sugar, not honey, brown sugar or any other sugar substitute. Do not add red dye to the mixture. Put some of the mixture in a syringe or eyedropper and place the open end of the tube over only the tip of the hummingbird’s bill. Moving or stroking the bill with the tube containing nectar may encourage the bird to taste the fluid. When the bird understands that this is nectar, it will stick out it's tongue and drink the fluid. Do not try to drop liquid into the bird's mouth. Do not put the sugar water into the box. If you don’t have an eyedropper, dip some kind of tube or straw into the sugar water and use that. Or you can even capture enough fluid under your fingernail to feed the bird.

Offer this food every 30 minutes during daylight hours only. Leave the bird alone and quiet between feedings.

For mammals

Please note: Wildlife Rescue is not able to take injured or orphaned raccoons, fox or any large mammal. Please call NM Game & Fish at 505-222-4700.

Do not offer food or water to the animal. Find a cardboard box with a lid appropriate to the size of the animal. Line the bottom of the box with a towel or paper towel. Put the animal in the box and the lid on top of the box. You do not need to poke holes in the box, it can breathe through the cracks. Put the box in a quiet warm place and leave it alone. This is the best thing you can do for the animal and it can remain like this for many hours or even overnight.

If you have found a baby bunny or bunnies, leave them alone and do not disturb their nest. The babies are likely not abandoned. Mother rabbits feed their babies only twice a day at dawn and at dusk and do not remain with them at other times.