Early fledgling

[flrancho]

One of my baby Javas fledged today. I guessed the fledging date should have been the 19th. It's not even the oldest chick, but one of the younger two. He seems on the small side and doesn't appear to be able to fly. He can stand up fine and hop around ok, just not fly. He's been out of the nest in pretty much the same spot until early evening when I went to take a picture of him. He freaked out when I put my hand in the flight, and spent some time on the bottom of the flight hopping around. He eventually managed to climb the backside of the cage back up to the nest. He's sitting on top of the nest now, but doesn't seem to know how to get back in the nest. It's getting dark out and the other birds (including Mama in the nest with the other babies) were going to roost. Will he be ok if he stays out of the nest all night by himself? Should I try catching him and putting him back in the nest?

I haven't seen the parents feed him since he's been out, but I haven't been home that often. His crop looks full.

[Sally]

Is he fully feathered, so he won't get chilled out of the nest? If he has a full crop, then the parents have been taking care of him. The trouble with trying to put one back in the nest is that sometimes, that scares the others out, and you don't want that right now. He may still go back in by himself, that urge to return to the nest is very strong. Maybe if he doesn't go back in, you could put a small lamp nearby, so that he gets a little heat from it.

[flrancho]

Yes, he's fully feathered, and I just saw both parents feed him a few minutes ago. He's so close to the entrance of the nest, he seems like he just doesn't quite understand how to get from the branch to the nest. He still has an hour before lights out. May consider the lamp... It is fairly warm here though.

[Sally]

You know, it all sounds good--fully-feathered, parents feeding--I wouldn't be surprised to learn he finally made it back in the nest, they want to be with their siblings. If it is fairly warm there, you probably don't even need to bother with a lamp, he will be fine.