How to Help an Injured or Orphaned Bird
Virginia Rail chick Image credit: WRC
As spring migration hits its peak, more and more birds will be passing through the Twin Cities en route to their summer breeding grounds. Birds encounter all kinds of threats on their journey north, and it is not uncommon to find an injured bird in need of help or medical care. I spoke to Tami Vogel, Communications Director at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota (WRC) about how WRC cares for its avian patients and advice for anyone who comes across a bird who is sick, injured, or orphaned. Her interview is below, you can find answers to other frequently asked questions about injured birds, animals, and WRC here. Follow them on Instagram and Twitter @wrcmn.
What are the most common bird injuries you see at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center?
Injuries from pet interactions, mostly dogs and cats, including feral cats. For adult birds, we see a lot of window collisions. With juvenile birds, it’s mostly birds that have fallen out of its nest, the nest has fallen on the ground, or they were attacked by a crow or some other animal.
What kinds of birds does the WRC see the most?
Robins—we admitted more than 800 in 2020.
People often find fledglings that spend time on the ground before they fly and think they need to be rescued. Since robins are so common, people see them a lot in this situation. People have a hard time leaving a bird alone that seems so helpless. They will bring them in, even though they are perfectly healthy, and WRC will tell them to put the bird back in their yard. Robins, bluejays, sometimes cardinals. If a robin fledgling is hopping around and not lethargic or losing balance, leave them on the ground.
Robin, bluejays, cardinals, and sometimes crows leave the nest before they can fly. They don’t have enough room in the nest to grow tail and flight feathers, so they go through a ground fledgling stage. The young bird will be on the ground between 5–7 days before being able to fly off. Cavity nesters–chickadees, nuthatches, bluebirds, wrens, and woodpeckers never fledge to the ground. So, if you find a fledgling cavity nesting bird on the ground, you should bring it in.
[Watch a short robin fledgling PSA video from the WRC here]
What should someone do if they find orphaned ducklings?
A lot of people don’t realize that mama Mallards don’t nest next to water all the time, unlike geese. They might nest up to a mile and a half away from water. When the ducklings hatch, mom will walk with them down to the water. Sometimes, a duckling emerges later or gets separated, possibly by traffic or something else. If [someone] finds a baby duckling at a very young age, bring them in right away. Stress can kill ducklings in a heartbeat. Do not hold them, put them in a box with a towel and tape the box shut to give them darkness (make sure there are air holes) and then bring the box in. If you see a lone duckling wandering down the street, scoop it up and bring it in. If you see a flock of nearby ducklings swimming in a pond, keep an eye on them for a few hours. If you see signs of lethargy, bring them in as soon as possible. Newly hatched ducklings are not waterproofed and if their mom is not around to guide them out of the water, they can be in danger.
Mallard duckling Image credit: WRC
I found unattended goose or duck eggs. What should I do?
People worry about moms on nests and put food and water out for them, which attracts predators. Do not put food near a nesting duck, you will end up with a dead mom and broken eggs. Moms go through the nesting process of sitting on eggs without moving and it is perfectly natural. Leave nesting moms be. If something does happen to the mother duck or goose, the eggs are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which means people may not legally be in possession of eggs. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center does not incubate eggs and the best course of action is to leave them to nature.
Should I try to raise a baby bird that I found myself?
It’s illegal to rehabilitate wild animals without a permit. In the state of Minnesota, you have 24 hours to bring it to a licensed rehabilitation facility. Ducklings go downhill rapidly after 4–5 hours and other species, like songbirds have even less time. Other kinds of baby birds get fed every 15–20 minutes so their window of survival is even shorter. Feeding baby birds people food like hot dogs or cereal can kill them. Once a bird has people food in its GI tract there is very little WRC will be able to do for them. If you find a naked baby bird on the sidewalk and cannot find the nest, bring it in right away. If the baby bird is feathered, watch to see if it is being fed by the parents.
Any wild animal that has been in a cat’s mouth should be brought to WRC immediately, because of the bacteria in cats’ saliva, it will need a course of antibiotics.
What are some common misconceptions people have about sick and injured birds?
The most popular misconception is that a mama bird won’t take a baby back if she smells human scent on her. My Grandma told me this and I think everyone’s grandma did. People ask me all the time if they have to wear gloves when they put a baby bird back in the next in order for the parent to accept the baby. Birds are programmed to raise their babies, so they will absolutely take care of a bird that gets put back in the nest.
What’s one thing you wish people knew about being good neighbors to and helping wildlife?
I wish people would take more personal responsibility in the space they share with wildlife. What that means is, I totally understand if you have a fenced yard and you want your dog out there.
That means your dog is going to find fledgling robins and bunny nests. We [WRC] cannot take those animals out of your yard just because you don’t want it there. It is the pets owner’s responsibility to know that the dog is going to get to the bird or bunny nest before you know it is there and accept that. This carries over to cats, including your neighbor’s cat coming into your yard. Sometimes, you need to have honest conversations with your neighbors. We create things that interfere with wildlife, so it is our responsibility to mitigate negative outcomes for wild animals. Using ultraviolet strips on your windows [to prevent collisions], it is so easy and it works. You have to apply it on the outside of your windows and change it occasionally, but it can prevent so many bird deaths from window strikes. I wish people would take the time to make it safer for the wildlife that live where we work and live.
One morning, WRC got 6-7 birds from the same intersection in downtown Minneapolis that had all collided with a single building. So I wish businesses put forth more effort taking part in Minnesota’s Lights Out Program.
A Trumpeter Swan is examined at WRC Image credit: WRC
What should I do if I find a hummingbird?
If you find an injured hummingbird, keep the bird drinking nectar until you can get it to WRC. Hummingbirds can develop hypoglycemia really fast, which is very difficult to reverse. Before bringing it to WRC, gently pick up the bird, carry it to a hummingbird feeder, and place its little beak directly into the nectar port. Give it some time to start drinking and hold it there—after a few minutes it may drink some nectar, feel better, and fly away. If the bird has not flown away within 10 minutes bring it to WRC with the hummingbird feeder with it, accessible to the hummingbird in the car if driving more than 30 minutes. The nectar must be in the feeder, not in a cup or jar, which can spill. Sugar water on feathers is a nightmare to remove.
Is there anything else you want people to know about WRC?
WRC is the busiest wildlife hospital in the world. What I find so humbling about our work is that we have more patients than anywhere else because Minnesotans care about wildlife—we don’t go out and pick up anything, people bring them to us. We don’t get funding from the government, people donate enough to keep us running. The people of Minnesota have really made us who we are today.
Golden-crowned Kinglet WRC patient with dime for scale Image credit: WRC
2020 WRC Facts & Figures:
In 2020, WRC admitted 17,926 patients
Of those, 7,233 were birds or 40% of the center’s caseload
4,748 were nursery birds; 66% of all admitted birds are nursery birds, mostly songbirds and waterfowl.
WRC treated 144 species of birds, including:
13 species of raptor
10 species of sparrow, including a Nelson’s sparrow (mortally wounded from a suspected cat attack)
15 warbler species
4 vireo species
7 species of special concern, including peregrine falcon and purple martin
The WRC recorded a state record for the latest hummingbird sighting in state history, when one was admitted on December 24.
Marian Weidner is an Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis board member
