Baby bird season is now well and truly upon us and we have started to see a variety of youngsters coming into our aviary.

Ducklings are usually the first species to start hatching, and this year is running true to form and we now have 24 in our care.

But please don’t think that a lone duckling has been orphaned or abandoned - it’s likely that its parents and siblings will be close by, and the best course of action is to watch and wait, and to observe the young bird for as long as possible (ideally for at least an hour).

If it is in immediate danger from a predator or passing vehicles, carefully relocate it to a safe place nearby if this is possible. It is vital that the parents should still be able to see and hear their offspring, and so it needs to be placed out of danger but near to where it was found.

However, if the duckling is clearly injured it will need to be taken to a vet for treatment before it comes to Ard Jerkyll.

When they arrive at Ard Jerkyll young ducklings are kept in heated incubators and, although they can swim from day one of hatching, they are at risk of drowning, and so they have to be supervised when they swim.

The rest of the time they have a bowl of shallow water to drink from.

When they are old enough they are moved to the outdoor aviary pens where they can develop their swimming skills in large water troughs before being released back into the wild.

Ducklings do well when they are reared in captivity, not least because they are fairly self-sufficient as soon as they hatch, but other species of bird are more of a challenge because they need regular hand-feeding.

Members of staff take these birds home with them so that they can be fed from dawn until dusk, as they would have been by their parents, and we are given invaluable support by the Manx Wild Bird Aid volunteers to help us to do this.

They are usually able to take the smaller birds from us (sparrows, robins, blackbirds, etc), and get them to a point where they can go into an outdoor aviary before being released.

The majority of phone calls we receive at this time of year relate to baby birds, with callers concerned about the birds’ welfare and safety.

However, if the bird is uninjured and has feathers, and it is able to hop or run, then it is a fledgling and it should be left alone.

Fledglings are almost always being watched over by their parents, and they need a couple of days on the ground for their flight feathers to develop properly.

The exception to this rule is a baby pigeon, or squab, and a baby rook - neither species will be fed by its parents once it is on the ground.

Rooks want their fledglings to ’branch’ (climb up a tree) and the rookery will call out loudly to encourage the youngster to do this, but some can’t and will eventually die on the ground because they can’t feed themselves.

It’s often difficult to tell the difference between rooks, jackdaws and crows (the corvid family of birds) and so Manx Bird Aid ask for a photograph to be sent to them so that they help identify the species and what help a fledgling may need.

Bird Aid’s contact telephone number is 242777.

If the baby bird does not have feathers (or has very few) then it is a hatchling, and it won’t be able to survive out of its nest.

If you can locate the nest and reach it safely, and the hatchling is uninjured, then gently place it back into the nest, ideally using gloved hands. Do not attempt to give young birds food or water - they need specialist care.

For more information visit www.peta.org/action/how-to-save-baby-birds/