Sometimes, as quickly as they grow from the time they hatch, hummingbirds and other birds may not be quite ready to leave the nest when they fall to the ground.
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Check PriceAccidents happen, and people often wonder what they can do to help when they see a baby bird on the ground. One TikTok user was in for a surprise after picking up a bird found in just such a situation.
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TikTok user badhawkfamily posted a video holding a hummingbird in their hand in a parking lot, which attracted millions of views and over a million likes.
@badhawkfamily They call me the bird whisperer #hummingbird #fyp ♬ original sound – The Bad Hawks
The aerial hummingbird comes in with a series of swoops, making contact with the bird in the hand. We can’t be 100% certain of the bird’s intent or whether it was the bird’s mother, but TikTok users had their theories.
Some said the bird looked like it was scolding the youngster for leaving the nest.
User Luke Johnson wrote: “‘WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT TALKING TO STRANGERS!?’”
While sikasfoolio wrote: “She wasn’t trying to pick him up she smacked him for going out.”
Others theorized that the bird was trying to pick up the baby.
Hummingbirds are also known to be extremely territorial birds despite their diminutive size, so it’s possible that those kicks were less loving and more hostile.
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Part 2
We did get an update after the interaction. Hopefully, this should give viewers at least some hope that the bird was eventually able to make its way back to the nest.
“UPDATE: First flight off my hand was a no go. It tried again and then flew off,” the poster stated, posting a video of an attempted departure flight that landed not far away.
@badhawkfamily Sorry guys this is all I had 🥺 #babyhummingbird #flying ♬ original sound – The Bad Hawks
The fact that it was able to fly away, even after failing originally, offers something of a positive ending. If it’s a fledgling, it’s likely still figuring out the whole flight thing, or if it’s an adult, it could have been recovering from a window strike or other collision.
Hummingbirds grow up quickly, and there’s a lot of learning to cram into just a few short weeks. For example, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, ruby-throated hummingbirds’ incubation time of 12 to 14 days is followed by a nestling period that isn’t much longer: 18 to 22 days.
Other hummingbirds are similar. The rufous hummingbirds’ nestling period is more like 15 to 19 days and black-chinned hummingbirds take about three weeks, to name a few more common species in the western United States.
Sometimes, hummingbirds may leave the nest a bit prematurely despite that quick turnaround.
Another update we did get from the user was concerned with whether it was true or not that picking up a baby hummingbird would make its mom reject it. Let’s dive into what you should do if you find a baby hummingbird — or any baby animal — on the ground.
“Wildlife rehabilitator here. That’s a fledgling. Parents feed them from the ground until they learn to fly AND the human scent thing is a myth,” wrote TikTok user Groovystacia in the comments section of the original post.
The idea that a human’s scent will cause a hummingbird to reject its young is a myth likely derived from deer, which require babies to be so scent-free that they will lick the fawn’s rear clean after the fawn defecates so that predators don’t notice them.
That doesn’t mean that you should necessarily pick up baby animals. In most cases, it’s advised that you keep wildlife wild and do not pick them up, though you may be well-intentioned.
If you know where the nest is, you could try placing the bird back in its nest, but otherwise, you may just have to hope for the best if it doesn’t take off like it sounds like it did following this video. Don’t try to raise a baby hummingbird on your own, however. It’s a job best left to a wildlife rehabilitator. Search online to find one near you.
All’s well that ends well in this case. The hummingbird was able to get back on its way after a short rest, and the video poster gained a unique experience in nature.
