We asked Patrick Comins, director of bird conservation for Audubon Connecticut, for his perspective. Here's some advice for Sir Patrick and anyone else who encounters a bird, baby or adult, in need of help.

If it's all downy feathers and no real adult feathers, it's prematurely out of the nest. One exception is the great horned owl—it moves out of the nest earlier than some birds. And some birds, like sandpipers, as soon as they hatch are running around on their own. In an urban area, a killdeer chick running around is perfectly normal. Turkeys are another bird that can do that.

Birds have a bad sense of smell with a few exceptions. Turkey vultures have an