Wildlife Rescue Advice

If you have found a baby bird in your garden, click here to view the flow chart to find what to do next. If you have any doubts do not hesitate to call us on 01903 247111 for advice.

Please NEVER try to feed a baby bird you have found. If you have picked it up and are waiting to transfer it to Wadars or a vet, ensure to keep it warm but do not offer any food or water. 

If you ever see a fluffy duckling, gosling, cygnet or moorhen chick alone without any parents or siblings nearby please contact us on 01903 247111 or during out of hours call a 24-hour vets or contact the RSPCA helpline on 0300 1234 999.

We often get calls about pigeons that have been hanging around in a garden for a while. It is likely to be a racing pigeon and will generally look a bit different to a wild pigeon/will have a ring on its leg.

It is most likely that it that has got lost or blown off course and come down to recover enough energy to continue its journey. This will normally take 3 – 5 days. In this case it is best to leave it well alone, as whilst it may not be able to fly home it will be able to get itself out of danger by flying into a tree or onto a wall or fence.

If you do feed it, you should give it bird seed or uncooked rice or lentils, and also provide water in a deep dish. You should not feed bread to a racing pigeon. Once the bird has been fed for at least 3 days stop feeding it, which will encourage it to fly home.

If all these steps have been taken and the bird has not flown away you can report it as a stray on the Royal Pigeon Racing Association website. You will need to get the ring number from the bird’s leg-ring and go to www.rpra.org/stray-reporting

Injured racing pigeons will need to be put into a box and taken to a vet. You shouldn’t have any problem catching it as they are used to being handled and quite tame!

If you are unable to take it to a vet, then please call Wadars on 01903 247111 and we will arrange collection. This advice complies with advice given on the RPRA web-site www.rpra.org

If there is a gas fire in place, the first thing you need to do is call Transco to come and disconnect it. The Transco number is 0800 111 999.

If there is not a gas fire but there is a board or air vent over the chimney breast, can it be easily removed? If so, it is possible that a member of our Animal Welfare Team will be able to come out and remove it/release the animal.

If the chimney is bricked-up, you will need to make a hole so that the bird/animal can be let out - unfortunately this is not something that Wadars would be able to help with.

If you do manage to remove the bird or animal but it is injured, then again it will need to be taken to a vet. If in doubt please call Wadars on 01903 247111 and we will be able to advise you on next steps.

If a bird has found its way into your property, the first step is to darken the room that it is in, leaving only an 'exit route' illuminated. For example, open one window as wide as possible and draw the curtains on any other windows/doors, leaving only the window with the light coming in visible.

Nine times out of ten the bird will see the light or feel the air coming in through the window and make its own way out. It is important to leave the room for a while so as not to frighten the bird.

If you are still unable to get the bird out then contact Wadars on 01903 247111 and where possible we will ask a member of our Animal Welfare Team to come and take a look

We often receive calls from people who don’t want foxes in their garden. If it is a case of the fox just visiting the garden on its way to somewhere else, then there are a couple of things you can do to discourage them.

You could put extra hot chilli pepper/curry powder around the perimeter as they don't like the smell. You could also move garden furniture and/or flower pots around as this lets the fox know that the garden is being used and might help to make them avoid it in future.

We are unable to relocate foxes as it against the law for us to do so unless it is sick or injured (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981).

Young gulls at this fluffy stage can sometimes find their way onto the ground, especially if there have been high winds and they have been blown off the roof. If it is reachable and accessible, they should be put back in the nest. If not they will probably need to be brought in to be looked after.

If older nestlings come out of the nest and find themselves on the ground, we can, if they are old enough, get them back on the roof and they can make their own way back to the nest.

Alternatively, if there is a flat roof on the property, e.g. a garage or something similar, they can be put on there as long as we know that the bird came from that property’s roof

We do not encourage members of the public to handle young gulls as you could be putting yourself at risk of conflict with the parents. However, if it is essential, then use an opened umbrella over your head to protect yourself from being attacked by the parent birds, who may deposit vomit and other undesirables on you!

Please call our office on 01903 247111 for advice on this – where necessary, if you are in the Worthing area we will try to trap the fox so that it can be treated and then released again. Further advice can be obtained from The Fox Project www.foxproject.org.uk

Probably not. All birds their nests and eggs are protected by law: the Wildlife & Countryside Act of 1981.

This makes it an offence, with certain exceptions, to deliberately take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built. It is also illegal to take or destroy the egg of any wild bird - taken from RSPB website www.rspb.org.uk