Family finds baby birds in RV grille stopped in Naples

As the months get warmer, baby animals will be more abundant in our area.

A family found baby birds in the grille of their Winnebago RV while they were stopped in Naples and delivered them to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

“They stopped in Naples just to have a pit stop and realized that there were sounds coming from the front of their vehicle,” said Jonee Miller, manager of von Arx Wildlife Hospital. “Looked in there, and there were three baby birds in the grill of their car.”

The family had been stopped in Homestead in South Florida and were making their way back home to the Midwest when they found the little birds during their stop. The conservancy said wildlife like to go into tiny spaces.

The birds were identified as northern mocking birds. They all survived the two-hour trip across the state. The family brought them to the conservancy for safe care before they continued their trip out of the state.

“These babies wouldn’t have made the trip up there,” Miller said. “Just all the force of the wind, starvation, not having a mom. They were completely nest bound and dependent on parents.”

So how did the babies even get there? The Conservancy told us the RV was parked for at least three weeks, allowing the bird parents to make a nest, incubate the eggs and hatch the babies.

“Wildlife is so resourceful,” Miller said. “They’re going to get in all those little tiny spaces and just try to raise a family.”

It’s also sea turtle nesting season on local beaches, and more animals are nesting, including rabbits and osprey. Keep your distance from hatchlings, and fill in any holes you may have dug in the sand.

“Spring is in full force right now, so we just have to be careful,” Miller said. “And you have to be aware. There are ways that we probably could’ve either moved the nest or made a fake nest. And the parents could’ve continued to take care of them in Homestead if the couple had realized the nest was in there before they got this far.”