Baby seagull

Hi, Does anyone know anything about seagulls? A baby has been outside of my window all day crying. The parents seem to be close by but they haven't come down to feed it. It is very unstable and cannot fly at all. I've chased a cat away twice and now it is dark. I feel very worried for it but I don't want to interfere either. Here is a link to a photo that looks to be about the same age as this one. http://www.pbase.com/ethicalheretic/image/51513335 Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[edit]
Actually the parents don't seem to be around anymore :(

The only thing I know about birds' nests is that if you touch them, the parents won't come back... I don't think that helps anything here...

Where are you located?

I am on Vancouver Island. I called Wild ARC earlier, our wild animal rehabilition centre and they told me to just leave it but that was when the parents were around. I didn't get a chance to tell them any details. They are closed until 9:00am tomorrow.

[edit] This is very frustrating I need to go to sleep but I doubt I will with this helpless creature just outside my window I need to decide if I should trap him and bring him in or possibly let something snatch him up over night. I'm surprised the little thing has lasted this long outside:(

How is the baby? Nothing triggers that nurturing instinct faster than a seemingly helpless little one. He looks too young to be out of the nest.

same thing happened to me a couple years ago. A baby bird got left behind in my parents' back yard and as night came the bird parents left and the baby stayed and waited on the patio table. It wasn';t doing much so my mom took him and put him in the shed to protect him for the night and in the morning she and my dad went to release him in case the parents came back and they were there hiding. They knew their baby was "locked" away and made a huge fuss, screaming and flying about, when my parents went to the shed to release the baby bird.

I wonder why some birds do that. Maybe it's some sort of life lesson they're trying to teach their offspring???


So maybe the seagull parents will come back in the morning

I think what happened is that the little guy somehow ended up on the ground to soon. The parents never came down but it seemed like maybe they were calling to it and the baby calling back, it was hard to tell because there are lots of seagulls busy around here on top of the apartments and going in the dumpsters. It was so sad hearing it calling to the big birds and none coming down. I totally thought that this was some sort of lesson or voice training. Around 4:30am the gulls start their racket and so did the baby but still no parents, so I went out and wrapped it up in a towel and brought the poor thing to the rehabilitation centre. There was another one around the same age at the centre that needed a buddy so it worked out well. I should have done something much sooner because my first instinct was that it was helpless and I was right. I guess because people interfere with wild life often when they shouldn't, the wild life centres tend to be quick to caution not to do anything when you call? Anyway, I'm so happy nothing horrible happened overnight and it ended well. I'm imagining what a nice life it will have now out in the country like seagull heaven :angel:

That warm glow you feel right now is sooooo much nicer than the worry all last night! Good job!:thumbs up

Yes it most certainly is!! :)

In case anyone is interested, links about assisting wild birds. I can't help but wonder how many baby birds are not helped because of the belief that they won't be accepted by the parents after they or their nest is touched.

I hope this helps someone decide what they should do if they find a bird that really needs help. I realized i'm a bit unbalanced being more of a cat person so this is quite a learning experience!!

This is interesting, turning birds before placing back in nest!
http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/ornithology/faqs_qa.php#nestling

http://www.wildbirdcarecentre.org/english/rescuer.html

http://www.wildarc.com/emergency/index.php

http://www.talkingtalons.com/found_bird.html

Thank you for the links!

You are welcome. I'm sorry things didn't turn out better with the birdies.

On a happier note I got the status of my gull rescue and he's healthy and with the others. It's to bad we can't save them all, I guess we can just keep trying and hoping for some happy endings.

Is it possible he came back? The strangest thing just happened. A very young gull landed outside my window acting very curious, walking toward the window looking in and tilting his head, almost as if he wanted to come in. They never come down here and i've never fed any, just the baby that I gave a water dish to. I wonder if they can remember?

Wow Maya.......that update gave me goosebumps!!! You never know, maybe he came back to say "thankyou".

Now i'm convinced it was the same one. He came back about half an hour later and came right up to the window where I had been watching from and brought him in to. He was cautious but if he keeps coming back I guess i'll have to scare him away.

It really made my day today.:goodvibes:

Little update. I was awoken early this morning to a strange goose like murmuring noise. So I got up and looked out the window to see my gull friend pushing a big yellow apple with his beak. I had put the apple out there to compost in some leaves and wild flowers about two weeks ago but I guess its been cold enough to keep it fresh:P Funny thing is it was totally hidden and I NEVER feed any gulls. I didn't even know they liked fruit. I think the odds of this being a random visitor are quite unlikely.:)