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Hatchling songbirds are naked, featherless, and helpless; their eyes are closed during the first few days of life. These birds are 0-3 days old and will be in the nest, not on the ground. Typically,  the female parent will brood the babies to keep them warm because at  this age, baby songbirds are not able to thermoregulate (maintain their  body heat). Parents deliver food to their babies at  regular intervals throughout the day, approximately every 15 minutes  from sunrise to sunset. At this stage they will quickly die of hypothermia and starvation without parental care. 

Nestling songbirds are still nest-bound and very dependent on their parents for care. Their eyes are open and they are vocal. Older  nestling are preening (grooming) themselves and beginning to exercise  their wings. In general, young nestling songbirds have pin feathers  (feathers which are just developing and still covered in a keratin  sheath) and older nestlings have mostly feathered bodies, but are still growing in their tail and wing feathers. 

The length of the nestling stage varies from species to species,  Many common backyard birds, such as mockingbirds, robins, and towhees SWALLOWS, swifts, cavity-nesting species and others  remain in the nest until they are approximately 20 days of age. Nature’s plan for baby songbirds is for them to grow quickly so they can leave their nest quickly. As prey species, the longer they’re in the nest, the more vulnerable they are to predators.

 This is the stage of development that we receive the most calls about during the baby bird season. It is important to know that most songbirds leave the nest BEFORE they’re able to fly. In  much the same way human toddlers must crawl before they can run,  songbirds hop and walk around a few days before they’re able to fly. The only exceptions to this are SWALLOWS and SWIFTS – these birds are fully feathered AND flight capable when  they are ready to leave the nest on their own.  Fledgling swallows and  swifts that cannot fly must be rescued.  There are also a number of  cavity-nesting species which are also flight when they fledge the nest.

The  majority of fledgling songbirds are well feathered on their body with  short wing and tail feathers; they’re able to stand, walk and hop; they  may be able to make short flights from branch to branch or from the  ground up to low branches; and they are vocal and still dependent on  their parents for care. During this stage they are commonly observed on the ground, out in the open, on branches and in bushes - all over the place! 

Although the parents may not be with their fledgling every second of the day, they remain in
vocal contact at all times. Additionally, the  location where you observed the baby is the parents' territory, so they  are always nearby.  It will take a few days to more than a week before  fledgling songbirds can fly well enough to attempt to keep up with their  parents and evade danger.  They are vulnerable and naïve  at this stage of their development.  If you have outdoor cats, the  kindest thing you can do for the birds is keep your cats indoors.   Remember, keeping cats indoors is safer for wildlife AND cats.