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Not usually! If you’ve heard that birds can smell if a human’s been around, that’s just not true—birds have a pretty poor sense of smell, so they probably won’t even notice your interference.

That said, do be careful if you’re inclined to swoop in and save a baby bird. Predators might be alerted to their location because of your meddling, and besides, not all seemingly abandoned babies are actually on their own—often, the parents are nearby. It’s always the safest bet to call a wildlife rehabilitator before taking matters into your own hands, but if there’s a baby bird in clear danger, it’s totally fine to give it a lift home.

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Eudora Brekke

Lvl 10
3y ago
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Joseph Vigil

Lvl 1
3y ago
Thank you so much for this answer! As I randomly saw it and remembered the old wives tale. It just didn't seem to track with my adult intelligence. 
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Joseph Vigil

Lvl 1
3y ago
I meant to add that there was a chic in my driveway and I decided to leave it alone as it seemed to be calling and receiving a response from a nearby bird. It eventually moved from the garage door, but I did think about the tale. 
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Chris Hawkins

Lvl 1
3y ago
Thanks for the great answer
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Anonymous

Lvl 1
3y ago
thanks for the great answer however the mother bird will go away from the human until the human is completely gone and will try but fail deafending the chick
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mollie14

Lvl 4
3y ago

yes when a mother sees a human touching her chicks the mothers first thought is you have taken them away from her that now you are keeping them, so she runs away and leaves them. [well thats what i think anyway]

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Wiki hater

Lvl 5
3y ago

f there's one thing everyone knows about baby birds, it's that you're not supposed to pick them up. If you do, the mother bird will smell the residue of your stinky human hands on her baby, and leave the piteously crying chick there to die, right?

Wrong, says Miyoko Chu, a biologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "Birds don't have a very strong sense of smell ," she said, "so you won't leave a scent that will alarm the parent."

In fact, contrary to what our parents may have told us, most bird parents are unlikely to abandon their chicks over a little human fiddling. "Usually, birds are quite devoted to their young and not easily deterred from taking care of them," Chu said.

But before you put on your Bird Rescuer costume and start saving the day, Chu suggests you shouldn't go around picking up every baby bird you see. Baby birds may look stranded when in fact their parents are hiding close by. In fact, it's very common for young birds to leave the nest before they're ready to hit the skies.

"If you back up and watch them," Chu said, "in a lot of cases the parent will come back and feed the young and protect it."

And your handling of the bird might be doing more harm than good, said Tom Hahn, an ornithologist at the University of California in Davis. "A much bigger risk to the babies, if humans mess around with them, is that the activity of the human around the nest may attract the attention of predators, which may subsequently come get the babies," he says.

If the chick is clearly out of the nest too soon, the rescue-minded should call a local wildlife rehabilitator before trying to relocate the bird themselves. But, Chu said, if the bird is in a highly unsafe area, such as on a road or in a neighborhood full of cats, it's fine to gently pick the baby up and put it back into its nest.

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Richard Ranoe

Lvl 2
3y ago

Well if to approach the baby bird when it comes to dark and take it home then make sure to how what to feed it and comfort it. Then day after day leave the baby bird outside so the mother could start to familiarise with once again and also get used to you but whatever you do make sure there are no predators about that could harm the chick or the mother. If you are still not sure do not come close to the nest as depending on the bird it could harm you or fly away. If you are still not sure then contact specialists.

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Goblin_Sh4rk

Lvl 2
3y ago

Nope! I am far from a bird expert, but if the chicks appeared to be dying to the point where they need your help, then the mother might not come back for a while to help. Help those little birdies with no fear!

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Victoria Evans

Lvl 2
3y ago

Myth. Not true. The mother doesn't abandon the chicks until they are grown and can fly on their own.

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Thomas Menapace

Lvl 2
3y ago

No no no I live near a birds nest my neighbor touched the mother went away and came back when the neighbor shut the door.

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gamerx

Lvl 2
3y ago

mobile legends apk

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Mobile Legends

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Jude Francis

Lvl 2
3y ago

I don't think so... but I've seen a number of times is when a bird lays eggs and they've hatched, it abandons the ones that didn't hatch and moves on with the number of chicks produced

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footballstar

Lvl 2
3y ago

no they might not.

it depends on the breed.

you don't have to worry they will be fine.

:)

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