Helping An Injured Bird

If you come across and injured bird or a bird that is one the ground the first thing you want to do is take a very good look at it. Just because a bird is on the ground doesn’t mean it’s injured or abandoned. It’s very common for young children to come across a baby bird on the ground and for them to think that it’s been forgotten or left behind but this is rarely the case. Many species of bird leave the nest before they can fly and the parents of these birds often continue their education at ground level. So just because a young bird is on the ground doesn’t mean that it’s injured or that it’s been left alone. If it hasn’t been hurt in some way put it in the nearest bush or undergrowth so that it’s shielded from any predators and then let nature take over and it’s parents will most likely find it and begin to take care of it again.

If you do come across a bird that you believe is injured do some careful examination of it before you touch it. Look to see if it’s limping anywhere, bleeding anywhere, if either of it’s wings are broken or dragging. If you can see signs of actual injury then it may be necessary to give it a helping hand. The most important thing with an injured or baby bird is to keep it warm. Young birds can chill very easily so it’s necessary that they stay warm and be kept in safe and quiet environment.

A lot of people may think that the best way to make a bird feel safe is to play music and put it in water but this is not the best idea. Most birds still need their mothers to provide them with the oils in their feathers to keep them from getting waterlogged. If a baby bird is young enough that it isn’t developing this oil yet it can easily get waterlogged and drown when it’s put in water it can’t get out of. Plus if it has any wounds or sores being drenched in water can cause bacteria to begin to grow and make the wound even more painful. Music isn’t always the best idea either because it can be foreign and frightening to young birds and may induce chaos into their environment causing them to panic and struggle to escape which could make them injure themselves further.

You also want to avoid giving them any foods that will hurt them. Bread is never a good idea because it’s not good for birds digestion and if you give it to them with water it can cause bacteria growth. Young birds also don’t have the kind of grit in their stomach that is necessary to digest most of their food and bred can clog their systems and actually end up killing them. If you do feed your little bird anything make sure it’s ground up very well and that it’s just some corn that they can easily digest.

If you find that your bird is severely injured in any way or has any wounds or broken bones you should take it to a veterinarian or a wild bird refuge right away to be tended to and taken care of. Most places like this will be able to identify the bird, give it treatment and rehabilitation and then release it back into the wild in such a way that it can return to it’s natural way of living. This is also the best option if you aren’t sure about the health of the bird (birds do care diseases and bacteria) or if you are unsure of the type of bird you have on hand. Many birds are protected by laws and cannot be kept or interfered with in any way. A bird refuge center will be able to identify what kind of bird it is and act in accordance with these laws.
The most important thing is that the bird is safe and returned to it’s natural habitat. If you’re unsure call a vet and let them take over so that you don’t do any further damage or injure the bird in any way.