Could this kill him?

rosa1347

Songster
8 Years
Mar 30, 2015
59
46
116
Hey everyone,
Before i begin, let me say that i have read all the aviary sites advising against trying to help wild baby birds and to go to the local wildlife office or call... and where i am, that isn't an option, they don't take or care for birds here and i can't drive all the way to the city just to have them put the poor baby down. I have been caring for actual orphaned or injured babies sense i was 14 and had many many sucesses but this is something i wanna ask about because i've not faced it before.

I was walking with my family up on a wooded property my husbands family owns and we heard a peep. looked down and realized just what was making the noise was a little baby bird. long story short, he took a nasty 30ft drop to the ground from his nest during the wind today and was so hungry he started presenting his open mouth as soon as i approached him. I realized he was hurt and didn't have the heart to just leave him there to die, because lets be honest here... even if mom fed him, he couldn't walk or hop to get away from the snakes, fox's, hawks and other numerous predators out there that would take a quick snack... so we brought him home.

now i can already see so many of you getting antsy and i understand why but let me reassure you this is not my first baby and surely won't be my last. I pride myself in the several babies i managed to raise to flying age and release with no issues at all. This little one tho.. i just wanna be sure.

Took me half the afternoon to figure out he is a baby flycatcher bird. He is not that far from fledgling stage, he's started to get his big bird feathers, still has some bald patches, no tail feathers and some down around his head, so he's young but not super young. I have fed him five times, he has been sleeping well, shows no sign of dehydration, and has no issues going potty at all. He does however have a bruise at the base of his body where his leg joint starts. That being said, he still moves his leg, he doesn't act hurt when i move it, (he gets it caught in his wing) but i imagine its uncomfortable, but nothing is broken, its just this bruise. He still has proper blood flow to his leg though guys, its not lost color, its not cold, but he limps, and you can tell he's new to this whole walking concept so that doesn't help. I just wanted to ask and see if this could kill him. the bruise is black in color, and i honestly don't know how long he was out there on the ground and hurt for.

Any info will help me with him, thank you so much!


UPDATE: He did indeed have a break :( but luckily it was a clean one, and i got it in place easy, and got a splint on him. Needless to say the extra support must have done a great deal for him because he was trying to hop! tough little guy! I removed the scabs on his back, properly cleaned the area with alcohol and then put an anti bacterial ointment on the spot to keep an infection from happening. He must of got nicked on the way down because they weren't deep wounds just little ones but i know how fast bacteria can wreak havoc on a babies body so i wanted to be sure to get it cleaned up! all in all i think he's got a really good chance of making it. he's eating beautifully, still hydrated and his little peeps got stronger :)
 
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Hey everyone,
Before i begin, let me say that i have read all the aviary sites advising against trying to help wild baby birds and to go to the local wildlife office or call... and where i am, that isn't an option, they don't take or care for birds here and i can't drive all the way to the city just to have them put the poor baby down. I have been caring for actual orphaned or injured babies sense i was 14 and had many many sucesses but this is something i wanna ask about because i've not faced it before.

I was walking with my family up on a wooded property my husbands family owns and we heard a peep. looked down and realized just what was making the noise was a little baby bird. long story short, he took a nasty 30ft drop to the ground from his nest during the wind today and was so hungry he started presenting his open mouth as soon as i approached him. I realized he was hurt and didn't have the heart to just leave him there to die, because lets be honest here... even if mom fed him, he couldn't walk or hop to get away from the snakes, fox's, hawks and other numerous predators out there that would take a quick snack... so we brought him home.

now i can already see so many of you getting antsy and i understand why but let me reassure you this is not my first baby and surely won't be my last. I pride myself in the several babies i managed to raise to flying age and release with no issues at all. This little one tho.. i just wanna be sure.

Took me half the afternoon to figure out he is a baby flycatcher bird. He is not that far from fledgling stage, he's started to get his big bird feathers, still has some bald patches, no tail feathers and some down around his head, so he's young but not super young. I have fed him five times, he has been sleeping well, shows no sign of dehydration, and has no issues going potty at all. He does however have a bruise at the base of his body where his leg joint starts. That being said, he still moves his leg, he doesn't act hurt when i move it, (he gets it caught in his wing) but i imagine its uncomfortable, but nothing is broken, its just this bruise. He still has proper blood flow to his leg though guys, its not lost color, its not cold, but he limps, and you can tell he's new to this whole walking concept so that doesn't help. I just wanted to ask and see if this could kill him. the bruise is black in color, and i honestly don't know how long he was out there on the ground and hurt for.

Any info will help me with him, thank you so much!
How big is this bruise? Is there any abrasions? I can’t think of any reason that this would cause harm. I’m sure it is sore and that maybe the reason for the limping. As long as he eats, drinks and poops (normal poop no blood) then I think just some tlc is what he needs.
 
A bruise won't kill anyone.

If you are sure it isn't a dislocation or break, he is eating and drinking, and warm enough then he will probably be fine.

If he can move well enough... and putting him back in the nest is an option (even though leaving him on the ground wasn't for you), mom might come back. You can often hear their song. I was successful at returning one the following day. They don't get rejected if a human touches them the way we were taught as kids.

If you put your location in your profile, it might help people to make better suggestions. Many of those rescue places have volunteers that will come to you. There were 2 birds my dogs found that time one was returned successfully. The second one didn't seem as mobile. The volunteer drove from 40 minutes on one side of me and another 2 hours past me... I didn't leave my driveway.

Hope the little fly catcher recovers strong! :fl
 
How big is this bruise? Is there any abrasions? I can’t think of any reason that this would cause harm. I’m sure it is sore and that maybe the reason for the limping. As long as he eats, drinks and poops (normal poop no blood) then I think just some tlc is what he needs.

he does have two small scabs, the bruse is about the size of a penny i would say just spread out a little bit, and the scabs i did check to make sure they weren't bones, and although i hated to do it being he's sore there, i checked and his bone wasn't out of place and i couldn't feel any breaks anywhere along the leg.
 
A bruise won't kill anyone.

If you are sure it isn't a dislocation or break, he is eating and drinking, and warm enough then he will probably be fine.

If he can move well enough... and putting him back in the nest is an option (even though leaving him on the ground wasn't for you), mom might come back. You can often hear their song. I was successful at returning one the following day. They don't get rejected if a human touches them the way we were taught as kids.

If you put your location in your profile, it might help people to make better suggestions. Many of those rescue places have volunteers that will come to you. There were 2 birds my dogs found that time one was returned successfully. The second one didn't seem as mobile. The volunteer drove from 40 minutes on one side of me and another 2 hours past me... I didn't leave my driveway.

Hope the little fly catcher recovers strong! :fl

i meant to put that in my post sorry. the nest was, like i said, about 30 ft in a very young mulberry tree, there was no getting to the nest. that tree wouldn't support a ladder and we don't have anything that could reach it otherwise, It was literally on a forked limb with no other branches. he was on the side of the road in a pile of leaves, it took us a second to spot him. I've tried to call the wildlife places around me before. i'm in northern Missouri and every place i call tells me the same thing.. put it where i found it and the mom would come, which even at 14 i knew better than to take a baby that had a chance of surviving while mama came, but my alternative was trying to get my parents to drive me to Kansas. the vets don't touch wildlife around here. they just put them to sleep which i feel is wrong when they have a fighting chance. I wanted to be a vet when i was little so i researched thoroughly and i only take a baby if they are injured and are in danger of being eaten, or if mama hasn't come back and visiably fed them the next day, or if they look sickly and dehydrated. I tried to rescue a fallen nestling a couple weeks ago and the heat did so much damage to the poor baby he didn't have much of a chance. i put him in a basket and hung him in the tree his nest was in and by morning he ad passed away sadly :( he had a hurt leg as well, and didn't have much of a chance. I promise i educate myself as best i can on these things, i even research the feeding habbits of each breed of bird i happen to get so i can properly feed them as much as they need. I take these things pretty seriously, i love animals, and i love being able to save them when i can. I've saved birds, bunnies, kittens, puppies and even a turkey one time! its a bit of a passion but i also educate people when i do this so they know just in case they call me about an animal that doesn't need saving, like baby wild rabbits.
 
I promise i educate myself as best i can on these things, i even research the feeding habbits of each breed of bird i happen to get so i can properly feed them as much as they need.
That's awesome! Just identifying the baby can be a challenge. My babies that got rescued last year were Cedar Waxwing, and I literally had never seen those birds before and they were right there nesting in my back yard. Now I know their song! :love

I have had bruised muscles and bones before. They can take a little while to really start recovering and moving comfortably sometimes.

Sounds like this little one will have its' best fighting chance since you found it. :highfive:
 
Did you say you cleaned the wound with alcohol? Alcohol can be rough on sensitive tissues, saline is better.
Good luck

I was extremely gental and didn't scrub, it was the only disinfectant that i had but after i treated the wounds, the bruise started to go away. This is day 3 of me having him and his back looks so much better, he's trying to walk more which i think now he's officially a fledgling! he's gained more feathers than he had a couple days ago and is trying to hop around but he's still eating super well and he's a happy little baby and loves to be held lol
 
I hope ir heals up. Poor little thing!

He is healing beautifully! After i got the splint on his poor leg and he had a night with the extra support he's been perking up more and more! i put the splint in place sunday night immediately realizing his leg was hurt and sense then, not only is he moving his toes more but he's hopping all around the padded bin i have him in! He is eating so well too! :)
 

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