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Please don't do this. Habituating wildlife to humans is not doing them any favors, it usually leads to their early demise. First make sure they are truly abandoned, most of the time mom is nearby. Second, if mom is truly not around, take the animal to a credentialed wildlife rehabber as soon as you can.

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I’m often curious about situations like this, as I had similar thoughts while reading. Assuming the bird was truly abandoned, is it better to imperfectly raise them yourself or to leave them to die? Not everyone is going to want or be able to track down a wildlife rehab expert.

Tracking down a rehabber is far less effort than raising a wild animal. Most of the time there is not much difference in outcome between leaving it to die vs taking it in and raising it yourself, except the suffering is prolonged. Find a wildlife rehabber or find someone who will. I know that is not nearly as fun as raising a wild animal, I always dreamed of having a pet raccoon as a child, but it's the responsible thing to do.

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