How to Help an Injured Bird

Have you ever had a wild bird hit a window of your home or while you're driving, then fall because the bird is injured? Have you had a bird's nest close to your home, filled with little baby birds and have had one of the baby birds fall out of the nest? Do you just think its best to leave an injured bird alone? Did you know the best thing to do is to scoop up the injured wild bird and bring it to an animal hospital instead of just leaving it to suffer after an injury?

I know I have had many birds fly into my windows and break a wing or get some kind of injury, and I have also had some birds hit my windshield while driving down the road. My first reactions were what do I do? Do I help the bird if it's still moving or do I leave it alone? I was so unsure what to do I called an animal hospital and they told me to take a shoe box and line it with soft cotton, poke holes throw the top of the shoe box lid for air, then gently pick up the wild bird using a pair of gloves, put the bird in the shoe box, cover the box up and then to bring the wild injured bird to the animal hospital for medical attention. I said okay and of coarse I did it.

The reason why they told me to bring the wild injured bird to them was because it's the safest way to help an injured bird and because most injured birds can be healed with medical treatment and returned to the wild to live a happy life. The worst thing you could is to let a bird hit the window and do nothing to help it, and it's not right to let any animal suffer in pain. Most birds the medical hospital received get great medical care and will survive the injury, but you won't know if the injury is server if you don't take the bird to the animal hospital. Some bird I have had hit the window and didn't move at all. I thought the bird was dead and just left it there, but the bird was just in shock from the accident and couldn't move and after an hour or so he started moving. When I noticed the bird was moving, but not really well, I grabbed the shoe box and put the bird in it and off to the animal hospital I went.

The only time you do not want to pick up a wild bird that lying on the ground is if you know for sure its dead and has flies and mosquitoes flying around it. The reason why is because the dead bird might be carrying a disease such as the West Nile Virus. The West Nile Virus can spread to humans and lead to possible death or serve illness. So if you see any dead birds lying on the ground like that leave them alone and let the health people take care of it themselves! If you feel the bird is in the way call fish and game and they will more than likely come out and remove the dead bird from the area.

If you ever have an injured wild bird because they hit a window or windshield, don't just leave the bird to suffer in pain. Pick the bird up with a pair of gloves and stick the bird into a shoe box and bring the bird to get medical treatment at the animal hospital. The worst thing and unfair thing to do is leaving the bird to suffer in pain. I know I wouldn't want to be left to suffer in pain and nor would you. So help those injured birds!

Sources:

http://www.birds-n-garden.com/injured_bird.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_1812_care-injured-bird.html