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What should I feed a baby bird I found? How much and how often?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

I found these two baby hoopoe near a road ready to be eaten by a dog. Luckily they were not injured and so I took them home with me . The mother bird was nowhere to be found and things like wildlife rehabilator are not here in our country. If left them there they most probably die in a few hours or mins. I fed them moist royal canin kitten food for now but what should I feed them afterwards? How much and how frequently??

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on May 18th, 2018

Their diet in the wild is mostly insects and berries, so purchasing some live crickets from a local pet store, or some berries from your store and offering them may help get them used to what they would forage for in the wild as they get weaned off the kitten food (and can be fun to teach baby birds how to catch food with live insects.) If there isn't a wildlife rehab nearby (India does have several), you can also see if there is a vet or group in your area that does wildlife rescue that may be better equipped for caring for the birds and releasing them back into the wild once they are old enough.

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