FINCHforum

Two weeks ago we found a lone chick on our drive way. We took him in and he was starving. After some researching we found out that you can place the baby back in its nest. Couldn't find the nest but two days later were able to locate it in one of our trees.

There were two other babies, way bigger by the way, and so we placed him back into the nest with it's siblings. I checked on them a couple times before going to bed. Well low and behold a cold front and rain came in that night. When I checked on them in the morning two of them, one being the runt we found, were almost dead. They were barely moving and so cold. I pulled them out and decided that the one healthy one would probably find the same fate. So now I had 3 babies. Two have been returned to the wild but the runt is still not flying. Also, he is totally bald on its underbelly and legs. Why?

Most likely it's because he wasn't fed the nutrients the parents would have offered. When chicks develop if they don't get enough nutrients, like say protein, the little bit of nutrients go to more vital organs, feathers are last. And the feathers that are least important develop last, they will develop flight feathers first.

hdumas
So sad...but so good of you to rescue them. Hopefully the littlest one will improve with time and additional protein. Best of luck...What kind of birds are they?

Thanks! I believe hem to be house finches