Baby Robin's Diet

It is natural to want to help when a baby animal is found, seemingly helpless, but sometimes there may be more to the story than meets the eye. Knowing how to determine if a baby robin needs your help is important and knowing what to feed it and how often if it does require your help is information you must have in order to do more good than harm.

  1. Perch Test

    • If you find a baby robin on the ground, find out if it is a nestling or a fledgling. A nestling is a bird too young to leave the nest, while a fledgling is just a young bird who is out on its own but is still cared for by its parents.
      Gently pick up the bird and try to place it on your finger. If the bird will perch on your finger it is likely a fledgling and should be moved to the branch of a tree or shrub and be left alone, according to Wild-bird-watching.com. If it cannot perch, then it's likely a nestling. Look around and try to find the nest and place it back in the nest. If you cannot find where the bird came from (which shouldn't be too far away) then you may either make a basket lined with tissue for it to sit in and attempt to feed it yourself.

    Frequent Feeding

    • Robins will need to eat very frequently. If you find yourself needing to feed the baby robin, remember that it needs to eat about every 15 to 20 minutes from sunrise to sunset, and they consume earthworms primarily. When they are older and hunt for themselves they also add berries into the diet. Some baby robins can eat up to a total of 14 feet of earthworms on a daily basis. Generally, you should take the bird to a vet or wildlife official because few people will take the time to care for a robin properly and it is also illegal to keep wild animals in captivity.

    Feeding Only

    • If you find yourself in a position where you want to feed a baby robin, making sure it is in a safe nest substitute and giving it the proper food is all you should do. Leave the bird alone otherwise. It is impossible to know whether you are comforting or stressing the animal. As a general rule, wild animals do not like being petted, according to wild-bird-watching.com.