By Dr. Scott Ford
I applaud anyone who is willing to stop and show compassion for wildlife. Handling and treating wildlife can be dangerous, both to you and for the patient. In the United States, it also requires state and federal permits to be conducted legally. Here are some steps to follow when you find an injured or sick wild bird:
National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association- Helpful Tips and Lookup Tool
The most common baby birds people find are songbirds (passerines). They stick pretty tight to their nests until they have enough coordination to leap from branch to branch and enough feathers to regulate their own body temperature. This stage is called a “brancher” and is usually achieved when just a week or so old. The babies can’t even fly yet and are still dependent on their parents for food, and they are usually not far away. Baby birds are often fed every 10-15 minutes by their doting parents and they locate each other by calls and remembering where the babies were last perching. For these reasons, if you find a baby bird, don’t move them or hang around or you will make it difficult for their parents to find and feed them. There are exceptions such as if the bird is in immediate danger or you find it with a fallen nest. In those cases, move the baby and/or the nest to a safe place with some concealment. Usually a bush or low branch in a tree will suffice. Watch for a distance for a while to make sure the parents find them again. If a baby bird is injured or looks sick then you will need to deliver it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator (see above).
This video was made by a friend and veterinary colleague, Dr. Laura Johnson, to illustrate how small animal veterinary clinics should ideally receive and initially care for injured birds of prey.
Tags: avian, Find, Help, rescue, Search, veterinarian, wildlife
#avian #Find #Help #rescue #Search #veterinarian #wildlife
I have the flexibility and experience to help you with a bird project most anywhere in the world. I can be on-site to perform surgery, bringing everything necessary or making the necessary logistical arrangements to get supplies there. Where We Go Wildlife research happens where the wildlife is. Working in remote environments and getting stuff […]
Dr. Scott Ford provides veterinary medical services for wildlife. This includes seeing wild bird patients for examination and surgery, providing surgical and medical support for field biologists, assisting in environmental disasters, and providing online or telephone support for veterinarians and wildlife rehabilitators. Injured Wildlife Dr. Ford’s studies and career began with wild birds and he […]
Oil spills require experienced personnel that can quickly triage and correctly treat large numbers of critically sick birds. Similarly, “bird wrecks,” where large numbers of waterbirds are disabled by harmful algal blooms, have increased in the past decade. Dr. Scott Ford has been involved in several of these responses and has the real-world experience the […]
I live on a cold water fishery creek in Bucks County, PA, and every year enjoy mallards who breed successfully here. I’m curious about an oddity that I see almost once each summer … one brood will develop apace with the single exception of a sibling who, while seemingly perfect in conformation and behavior, fails to grow, remains ‘dwarf’ in size. While the others reach 2/3 the mother’s size and feathering, this ‘tiny one’ thrives in miniature. Could it be an orphan from another clutch? I’d love to make sense of what I see. The tiny one eats, drinks, is apparently in radiant good health … just very small and slow to transition from down to feathers.
Hi Sharon: There are several potential reasons for stunted growth. On average, the last eggs in a clutch tend to have poorer quality and may affect growth. A fungal infection caught at hatch can also stunt growth severely, though this is probably much more common in artificial hatcher/brooders. Another possibility is, as you mentioned, recruiting orphans, sometimes even of other species, which could be smaller. Nice to hear of someone paying such close attention to their local ducks. Keep up the good work!