Fauna Rescue of SA Assesing Birds

1.Standard checks

The bird needs to be FULLY assessed, quite often there is more than one thing wrong. It is a good idea to record your observations, including the weight, so that if the bird is passed on to other persons a written report ensures nothing gets missed.

(a) Breathing

Make sure the bird is able to breathe OK, if it can’t do so, then it will be pointless doing further checks. Make sure the airway is not blocked and listen for any rattling noises coming from the chest.

(b) Bleeding

Restrain the bird carefully and control any bleeding by applying pressure to the wound as you would with a human. Another excellent way to stop bleeding is to sprinkle the wound with cornflour. Birds don't have much blood, so this loss should be stemmed quickly. Blood loss can be caused by broken bones sticking out of the flesh, injuries resulting from cat and dog attacks or cuts to the body caused when they fly into things.

Usually birds with broken bones are easily noticed with dragging wings, unable to stand or walk properly. These injuries need to be handled very carefully so that no further injury is caused. If unsure that the wing is broken, check against the other wing for uniformity in posture, size and shape.

If the broken bone has not protruded from the flesh, there is a fair chance that with careful strapping the wound may heal OK. If the wing joint (shoulder or elbow) is badly damaged the chances of the bird flying again are very remote.

For birds with bones sticking out of the flesh you will have to make a decision. Can it be saved and if so, what quality of life will it have after this ordeal. This is also the time where a decision should be made whether to euthanase or not. This will require a trip to the vet or subject to your experience, you may be competent to handle the whole situation yourself.

For a wing injury, strap the wing carefully so that movement is kept to a minimum and in the normal position as much as possible. Check with someone who knows how to do this.

If there appears to be a good chance for the rehabilitation of the bird with the broken bones then it should be taken to a vet for proper attention. Continue checking for other injuries or conditions before moving at this stage.

(d) General condition

The condition of the bird can be assessed by the appearance of feathers and by the amount of flesh on each side of the chest keel bone.
When the chest area is felt, if the keel bone is quite sharp and there doesn’t appear to be much flesh on the chest, then the bird is probably in a fairly run down state. We can assume that the bird hasn’t eaten for some time and /or it may be unable to eat for some reason, have parasites or worms, an injury, or have some other illness.

Feathers should be inspected for lice and other parasites and general condition. Quite often waterbirds in poor condition are heavily infested with unwanted wildlife.

The condition of the feathers also can tell us if it is moulting, a juvenile, or have some other problem.

Weigh the bird with suitable scales and record the results so that you are able to observe just how well your patient is progressing.

Broken or drooping wing, leg damage (no bones sticking out of the flesh)

With the minimum of fuss, place the damaged wing in approximately the normal resting position (copy the other wing) and wrap it with non-adhesive sport tape. This saves ripping out feathers when it is time to remove the bandage later on.

The end feathers of the wing need to be taped together to help hold it in place and the "elbow" of the wing also needs to be taped as well.

The final wrap holding the wing to the body needs to go UNDER the good wing and OVER the injured wing and usually in front of the legs.
When binding the wing to the body you have to be careful that you don’t prevent the bird from toileting and that it is still able to walk and not trip over the bandage.

Treating a broken leg or broken wing (bones sticking out through the flesh)

This bird is in real trouble, it must have vet treatment for antibiotic injections and repair work if possible. Sometimes it is possible to pin the bones successfully, much depends on the species of bird.

Usually it is kinder to euthanase when you consider all the stress, pain and suffering it must endure to hopefully put it right again. Uncommon and special birds would be seriously considered for this treatment.

3 Assessing a rescue by phone call

Often this is quite a task as it is sometimes difficult to determine just what species of bird has been rescued. When talking to the caller try to make sure that you really do know what has been rescued. Here are a few hints to help you make an accurate assessment;

1.....Where did you find it ?

2.....How big is the bird, compare with commonly known species (sparrow, chicken,)

3.....What colour is it?

4.....What type of beak? Short and thick or long and skinny?

5 ....What sort of tongue? Honeyeaters have a long thin licking tongue.

6.....What sort of legs and feet ? Long or short legs, webbed feet, toes, claws, etc.

7..... Are the claws very sharp and does the bird hang on tightly?

8.....Any other special attributes

9..... Has it got any feathers?

Having worked through these questions, now to find out what is wrong!

a.....Do you know what happened to the bird (cat attack, hit by car etc)

b.....What appears to be wrong ?

c.....Can it fly ? (Penguins & Emus excepted)

d ....Can it stand up and walk properly ?

e....Can it grip with its feet to hold onto a perch ?

f....Is it properly balanced (do the wings seem to hang the same) ?

g....Is there any blood on it and can you see where it is coming from ?

h....Feel its chest, is it plump or does it feel like a razor blade ?

i....What colour is its droppings ?

j....What do the feathers look like, is it puffed up and the bird very sleepy ?

k....Check the eyes, is it blind ?

l…..Were there any adult birds nearby which could help to identify the species.

m…Listen to the breathing.

n...Any other special things that you can see ?

Back To Bird Index