I Found an Injured Bird, Now What?
Adult songbirds can become injured and sick for a multitude of reasons. The most common reasons include getting attacked by house cats, being hit by cars, window strikes, becoming entangled, bacterial and viral illnesses contracted at bird feeders and many more. Any songbird you find on the ground who is an adult, rather than a fledgling, and who does not immediately fly away from you is more than likely in need of help.
Birds that have collisions with windows or cars can suffer concussions and internal injuries, even though they may “appear” fine at first. We no longer advise waiting to see if the bird recovers. We ask that the bird be brought to a rehabber as soon as possible so they can help prevent a potentially fatal injury due to brain swelling. Birds go into shock very easily when injured and often die from the shock.
If you have determined that an adult bird needs rescuing, follow the instructions below for catching and transporting the bird to a wildlife rehabilitator. Keeping the rescued bird in your possession for longer than an hour or two should be done only in emergencies, such as very severe weather in which it would be dangerous to drive. Taking the animal to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator quickly will give the bird the best chance of recovery and release.
Characteristics of an Adult Songbird in Need of Care:
On the ground not moving
Does not fly away when approached
Easily picked up
Extremely fluffed up feathers
Eyes closed, squinted, crusty, weepy, swollen, bleeding
Evidence of blood or wounds
Obvious injured limb (dangling leg, drooping/hanging wing, wings not symmetrical)
Tries to fly but can’t
Situations You May Come Across
What to Do If You Find an Adult Bird with an Injury
It's important to act quickly to contain a bird before it moves out of reach or something harms it.
Place the bird in a clean unwaxed paper bag or cardboard box of appropriate size, with paper toweling flat on the bottom. Poke small air holes at the top of the bag or box lid.
Fold the top of the bag down 1 inch, then fold again and secure the top with a paper clip. Secure the lid of the box with tape.
Place the bag or box in a safe, dark, quiet place, away from extreme heat or cold.
If you have found a wild bird or a wildlife animal that is bleeding, has an open wound, or appears injured please bring it directly to Kensington Bird and Animal Hospital at 977 Farmington Avenue, Berlin, CT 06037 – there is no charge for this service.
DO NOT put food or water in the bag or box.
NEVER open the bag or box to check on the bird.
NEVER take a bird that is not in a closed bag or box into a building
AS SOON as possible, transport the bird to a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center.
Do not attempt to rescue a raptor (hawk, owl, eagle, falcon) or large wading bird (heron, egret, bittern) on your own. These birds can inflict serious injuries with their beaks or talons. Please call A Place Called Hope if you find an injured raptor or large, wading bird.
What to Do If You Find a Bird Stuck on a Glue Board
Glue boards (also known as glue traps) are trays coated with an extremely sticky adhesive. The glue trap doesn’t instantly kill the animal — the glue is not toxic. Instead, the animal stays stuck, dying over the course of several days from starvation, dehydration, and suffocation.
Glue boards might seem like a safe and easy solution to pest problems but in fact, they are one of the cruelest and most dangerous.
Smaller birds such as finches and hummingbirds also get stuck in flytraps hanging from patios or tree branches. These traps are harming more than their intended victims and are doing so rather inhumanely.
The birds take a long time to rehabilitate since they get too cold to survive if bathed all at once. Larger birds such as scrub jays take several days, requiring many bathings to remove all of the glue from the feathers.
IMMEDIATELY call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
What to Do If You Find an Egg On the Ground
Sometimes people find an egg on the ground or come across a nest they believe is abandoned, and want to know if they can "rescue" the egg(s) and incubate them. It is actually illegal to possess the eggs of a native bird (under the Migratory Bird Act) without a permit, in part because people used to collect eggs.
The nest may not be abandoned!
Most cavity nesters lay one egg a day, and wait until they have a full clutch before they start incubating the eggs, so they will all hatch at the same time. After laying an egg, the parent(s) may stay away from the nest to avoid drawing predators to it.
Some birds actually nest on the ground, and intentionally lay their eggs there.
What CAN You Do Instead?
If you find an egg on the ground, it is unbroken and you know where the nest is and can safely reach it, you can try to gently place it back in the nest (note that eggs are very fragile.)
Do not "foster" eggs into another nest.
Birds are at their most vulnerable when nesting. Any disturbance could cause death or injury to wild birds and their young - or cause them to abandon their nests, eggs, and young.
Birds' eggs are also legally protected, so please don't touch or move them even if you want to help the birds, as you might be breaking the law.
What to do BEFORE Picking up the Bird. Preparing for Transport
Before attempting to capture the bird, you’ll need to prepare a box in which to transport the bird. Here are the steps:
For most songbirds, a shoebox is a good size.
A couple of paper towels will do fine. You don’t want to use terry cloth because the bird could catch its beak or toes on the loops.
On top of the paper towels in the bottom of the box, roll a second small towel (this needs to be a cloth one, but not a terry cloth) into a doughnut shape. Place the bird lying down (if he will lie down) inside the “nest.” If he doesn’t stay there, that’s OK. Although adult birds do not use nests except when they have babies, an injured adult bird may need one.
Put several small air holes, each about the diameter of a pencil, in the top of the cardboard box. More small air holes are better than a few big air holes. Be sure to make the air holes before placing the bird in the box.
After placing the bird in the box, tape the top to the bottom of the box. Usually, one or two pieces of tape will do. However, if the bird is very small and very lively and could slip out between the top and bottom of the box, that’s a problem you’ll need to resolve — with more tape or a different box. When placing the bird inside the box, be very careful that he does not fly away. This can happen very easily, and he can re-injure himself that way. Don’t assume that the bird can’t fly; he may regain his ability to fly unexpectedly.
If you have a heating pad, set it on low, place a towel over the heating pad, and then set the box with the bird in it on top of the heating pad. A good temperature for an injured songbird is 85 degrees.
NEVER PUT THE HEATING PAD IN THE BOX
WITH THE INJURED BIRD.
Put the cardboard box in an area inside the house where the bird will be away from pets and children, an area that is quiet and in the dark, not air-conditioned, and not in the sun. Then leave him alone.
Important: Do not give the bird any food or water unless a rehabilitator specifically instructs you to.
What To Do If You Find a Bird Entangled
If birds become entangled in something such as twine, string, some type of garden mesh that restricts their ability to move and fly, they are essentially trapped and cannot free themselves without assistance. They are prevented from flying, walking, feeding, and avoiding predators. Prolonged entanglement can cause permanent physical damage to skin, feathers, muscles, nerves, or bones.
Call a wildlife rehabilitation center for help and advice if you encounter a bird in an entanglement situation (particularly if it involves a bird that would be dangerous to safely handle (e.g. herons, bitterns, cormorants, owls, hawks). If you are unable to reach a rehabilitation center, call the DEEP hotline for help: 860-424-3333.
How To Safely Untangle A Wild Bird
Do not just cut a bird free! Capture — then cut!
Critical! Always hold the bird while you cut/untangle the material that is restraining it. It may seem the most urgent thing to get the bird free from restraint but containing the bird is more important. If you cut/remove only enough material to free the bird — it may escape with hooks and string still attached to its body which will continue to harm it and in many cases eventually cause the bird's death.
If the Entangling Material is Embedded in the Bird's Skin or Wrapped Very Tightly
Do not attempt to remove it yourself. Doing so may cause even greater damage to the bird. Cut away enough of the material to get the bird loose and transport it to a wildlife rehabilitation center where trained staff can safely remove the entangling material.
If a Bird is Small Enough and Reachable
Wrap/cover its body in a towel or pillowcase to contain it while you unwrap netting or cut string/line.
If the Tangled Bird is Suspended Out of Reach
Be ready to catch the bird if it falls after the restraining material is cut. Do not allow a bird to drop into an area where it may sustain further injuries, get away, not be able to be reached, or even drown if it falls into water still tangled!
DO NOT LET THE BIRD GO!
Once you have contained the bird and cut away the entangled material, do NOT release the bird. It is likely that the bird has sustained an injury from the string, netting, or hook, and needs to be taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center for evaluation. The bird should be examined and treated for any damage that the entanglement may have caused (lacerations, infections, nerve or tissue damage). Birds can be safely transported by placing them in a closed paper bag or covered cardboard box.
How To Pick Up and Handle an Adult Songbird
Once you have the bird in hand, do not let it go; keep a firm (but not tight) hold on the bird. Don’t ever pick up a songbird by a wing, or by both wings, by the head, or by one or both legs — only by the body.
Support the body of the bird and the bird’s feet with one hand. (The feet should not be dangling, but should be just underneath the body of the bird, in the palm of your hand.) If the bird fits easily in the palm of your hand, then place your other hand over the top of the bird and hold the bird securely in both your hands. Don’t leave spaces between your hands that the bird may wiggle through.
If the bird is bigger than the palm of your hand (a pigeon, for example), hold the bird in one hand, as described above, and put your other hand around the shoulders of both wings of the bird, so that the wings are held folded in their normal, at-rest position against the body of the bird.
Here are some things to be aware of as you handle the bird:
Be Aware that the Bird
is Very Frightened
He/She is injured; he/she is in an unfamiliar situation; he/she is being separated from her mate or her flock, and he/she is being held by a large predator (you). He/She is not aware of your good intentions.
The Bird May Be
Extremely Still
..but that does not mean that he/she is calm. Birds adopt this still state when they feel their lives are threatened; it is a defense against being noticed by predators.
Injured Adult Songbirds May Very Easily Die of Stress
Do not hold the bird any longer than you need to. Don’t stare at her, try to examine her, or attempt to assess her injuries. You want to handle her as little as possible because he/she will be frightened, not comforted, by being “petted.”
How to Catch an Injured Bird
There are a great many situations in which you may find an injured bird. Here’s how to catch a bird in different situations:
Bird is in the mouth of a dog or cat or is caught in a fence
Extricate the bird as carefully and quickly as you can. Try to maintain your hold on the bird so that he does not fly away, only to die later of his injuries.
The bird can fly
a little
You may be able to catch the bird after dark, or by maneuvering it into a corner. Again, a bird net may help. If the bird can fly well, you may be able to catch it the next day, when it may be weaker from its injuries.
Bird is on the ground and unable to fly
Approach the bird from behind quietly and slowly, then reach down quickly and precisely, and without hesitating, put your hand around the bird’s shoulders, holding the wings folded against the body, and pick the bird up. If this does not work in the daytime, try again in the early evening, when it is almost dark.
The bird is flying well, but has
an injury that you can see
It may not be possible to catch the bird. Do not get into a situation in which you are chasing the bird with no possibility of catching him. That will accomplish nothing, and the bird may die of stress. Your best plan of action is to contact DEEP Dispatch
(860-424-3333).
Bird is able to run,
walk or hop
Try to maneuver him into a corner or against a wall, so that you can pick him up, or ask one or two other people to help you. A bird net may be useful.
Legal considerations for helping wild birds
This information is meant for use only with injured or ill adult songbirds. There is no reason, and it is also illegal, to catch an adult bird who is not injured or ill. It is legal to take a native wild bird directly to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, but not legal to possess such a bird otherwise.
How to Transport the Bird to a Wildlife Rehabilitator:
STEP ONE
Your goal is to get the bird to a rehabilitator as soon as possible, ideally within an hour. On the drive, keep the box with the bird in it out of the sun and air-conditioning. If air-conditioning is necessary to maintain a temperature of 85-90 degrees, protect the bird from the breeze. The box needs to be out of any breeze, including a breeze from slightly opened windows. The bird will need quiet, but soothing music at a low volume is fine. DO NOT transport the bird with other animals in the car.
STEP TWO
Carry and place the box gently in the car. Young children should not hold or sit next to the box; they are not able to hold the box level and steady enough to avoid re-injuring the bird. If possible, it is better not to bring children with you.
The rehabilitator might be a wildlife center or more than likely is doing rehabilitation out of his or her home. Don’t be alarmed by the latter. Many rehabilitators operate out of their homes, and they are just as qualified as those in wildlife centers.
STEP THREE
Be prepared to provide some information, such as your name, your address, the time and the exact location where you found the bird, and a description of the incident, if you saw what happened to the bird. If you wish to, ask the rehabilitator if you can call later to find out how the bird is doing.
Consider a donation to your rehabilitator if you can. Did you know the typical cost to rehabilitate just one wild bird can be $80 to $250? Expenses vary based on season, medical needs, and length of stay at the facility, but all birds require daily care.
