Where to get help for nestling or fledgling songbirds

Wildlife Rehabilitation

Baby songbirds should receive care from a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Wildlife rehabilitators are trained to provide care for wild animals. They are licensed to do so by provincial and/or federal governments.

Baby songbirds need a specialized diet, species-specific housing, and medical treatment that you cannot provide at home.  A permit is required to keep a wild animal in your care. Please contact a wildlife rehabilitator right away for help with the baby songbird you have found.

Help for baby songbirds in King Township

If you are a resident of King Township and have found a baby bird, please fill out our online Request Assistance Form and we will respond as soon as possible. Our hours are 9am-6pm, seven days a week (yes, even on holidays!).

Toronto Wildlife Centre currently has a contract with King Township to provide wildlife services.

Help for baby songbirds outside of King Township

Please note that due to limited resources, Toronto Wildlife Centre is not able to admit baby songbirds from municipalities with which we do not hold a contract (all municipalities with exception of King Township).

After reading the information on this website, if you determine that the baby songbird is injured or if reuniting is not an option or has failed, you will need to seek assistance from another wildlife rehabilitator – please see the OMNRF list of authorized wildlife rehabilitators and/or the map on our website for more information.

If you cannot reach a wildlife rehabilitator right away

Keep trying. Wildlife rehabilitators are very busy, especially during the spring and summer. If you get an answering machine, leave a message and make it easy for them to reach you. Call around to others in the area. Be willing to arrange transportation for the animal once a rehabilitator is found. Remember that there is no government funding for wildlife rehabilitation in Ontario, and all rehabilitators are funded almost entirely by donations.

While you may be tempted, you cannot keep the baby bird or care for it yourself. The vast majority of information on raising wildlife found on the internet is incorrect and, even worse, harmful to baby wild animals. Learn more here.

If you cannot find a wildlife rehabilitator able to admit the baby bird you have found, and you have had the baby for 24 hours or more, and reuniting the baby with their mother has failed, unfortunately options are limited. In most cases, you will be referred to contact your municipal animal services agency. Learn more here.