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Vets & Wild Birds

What to do when you find an injured wild bird.

While there are many veterinarians that will care for wild birds, some centres consider some wild birds to be a nuisance and will automatically put them to sleep. In most cases involving birds with injures and even with only very minor injures, the birds will be destroyed in these veterinarian clinics.

If ever a veterinarian says to you to leave the bird with them and they will deal with it, ask them what exactly does that mean? Tell the veterinarian you want the bird to be properly examined, before any decision is made as to what they are going to do with it. They some times might say that its best for the birds to be destroyed because they don't do well kept in captivity, or its injuries are so severe and its the only option.

The wildlife and countryside act of 1981, clearly states: " that it is a criminal offence to kill any wild bird, remove its nest or its eggs" This same law also applies to injured & orphaned wild birds, and how we deal with them.

If its not possible to get the bird to a wildlife rehabilitation centre or a professional avian veterinarian in your own area. The way to go about getting the best treatment for the poor bird, is to take it to a veterinarian and tell them you don't want the bird put to sleep. Instead, you want them to treat the bird as they would if it was your own pet, but you may have to be prepared to pay them for the treatment.

You may want to try to help the bird yourself.

Most bird injuries can be easily treated. If the bird has an injury, you can clean the wound with some antiseptic lotion to help stop an infection developing, and giving them some rest time to recover from their injuries.

If the bird has had the injury for some time, it might already have an infection from an open wound that has turned septic. In this situation you need to take the bird to your veterinarian straight away and ask for some antibiotics to help stop the bird from getting further infection and causing it to get blood poisoning.