You may find a fallen nest of baby birds, a nest of small mammals displaced by a predator or a young raptor separated from its parents. There are several important things to realize in these situations. Parents do not abandon their babies because a human has touched them. Parents normally leave their youngsters while they forage. The young are not abandoned.
Young birds learn how to forage after they learn to fly.
They are dependent on their parents for about two weeks after their first flight. Meat eaters may take much longer. Young mammals may spend as much as a year with their parents, learning the skills of the wild. This may be because they are naive, extremely dehydrated, or in shock. If a nest with no eggs is disturbed, the parents will find a new location.