How to help a wounded or frozen bird

How to help a wounded or frozen bird

In cities, birds face many dangers - from collisions with cars to attacks by dogs and cats. Wounded birds need competent medical care: inept actions can cause them serious harm. In this article we will talk about the basic rules for helping birds.

1. Do not know how - do not handle

It is easy for birds, especially small ones, to cause injury, so if you find a wounded animal and want to help it, it is important to remember the main principle of the medical ethics “Do no harm”. If you are not a doctor and did not take first aid courses, you are unlikely to be able to cope on your own: it is better and safer to contact specialists. As a rule, private veterinary clinics deal exclusively with pets. Wild animals are assisted by state veterinary stations.
If you find a wounded or frozen bird, try to contact the nearest veterinary station and consult about your further actions.
Alternatively, you can call the regional wildlife rehabilitation center. But there are quite a few such institutions - their list is given at the end of the article.
You can also find out the contacts and the location of rehabilitation centers and specially trained volunteers helping wild animals with the help of an online map. It will be replenished in 2019.

2. Be careful

If the veterinarian asked you to inspect the animal over the phone, or if you are ready to do the inspection yourself, remember the safety precautions.

Wear tight gloves if possible. Birds are very fragile creatures, so you need to be very careful with them. Do not squeeze or squeeze the feathered: tight fixation can lead to injury and even death of the animal. Keep the bird follows the paws. Capture should be done gently and simultaneously for both limbs in the area of ​​the foregut (part of the bird’s foot between the fingers and the joint) or lower leg, and not for the joints. Correct grip ensures that there is no injury not only to the bird, but also to you. Take care of your eyes if the bird has a large beak.
During the inspection, check the position of the head, the condition of the wings, legs, trunk and tail. Remember the place where you found the bird: you will need to release it here. Report the results of the examination to a veterinarian or evaluate whether you have enough knowledge and skills to provide independent assistance to the bird. After inspection, be sure to wash your hands to the elbow, even if you put on gloves: wild animals can be carriers of dangerous diseases.

3. Transport correctly

It’s better to carry the bird not in the hands, but in the box - so it will be calmer. Make small holes in the drawer for ventilation, and lay a soft cloth on the bottom. Cover the top of the box with a towel if it does not have a lid so that the box is dark and the bird is not nervous.
If the bird is large, you can use a carrier for animals. But not a metal cage - it can injure a feathered bird. Keep the bird in a calm place and do not let pets in the box.

4. Where to put the bird?

The bird can spend a couple of days in a large cardboard box, on the bottom of which newspapers or paper are stacked. It should be noted that the bird can easily get out of the temporary dwelling, therefore it is not recommended to leave the pet unattended for a long time. In the future, it is necessary to provide the pet with a decent home. At least a meter dog cage. Ideally, a spacious aviary.
The cell must have additives located at different levels. Hemp, thick branches, driftwood with bark (not of oak or conifer), or poles upholstered with a rug or artificial grass. It is important that the additives are not smooth, and the bird can grasp them no more than 2/3.
It is convenient to cover the floor of the enclosure with a piece of linoleum.
Over time, the bird will master, and it can be released for walks around the room.

4. Is it possible to get infected from a bird?

You can, but you have to try very hard.

It should be noted that immunity is very well developed in corvids, they practically do not suffer from ornithosis. Salmonellosis, Newcastle virus (hemp), fungal diseases can be in birds with poor health. Most wild birds have helminths (worms) for the human body that are not dangerous.

5. Self help

Warming
 The normal temperature of the body of the bird ranges from 40-42 degrees Celsius. In severe frost, a feathered bird may not have time to make up for heat loss. In this case, the temperature drops, leading to a slowdown, and in critical cases - the cessation of vital processes.
If the bird froze, it trembles, its plumage is disheveled, it often sleeps and can be in a twisted position.
The first aid to a frozen bird is to place it next to a source of dry heat: near a heater or under a lamp. In no case should you put the bird during warming up on your back - in this position it is hard to breathe.
You can also put the box with the bird on the heating pad, turning it on at minimum power, or pour hot water into the bottle and wrapping it with cloth, put it in the box. Another option is to put two bottles of hot water in parallel, at a distance from the palm of one hand to help large or medium-sized birds, half of the palm for small birds. Cover the containers with two or three layers of loose fabric (bedspread, sheet, sweater). Next, put the bird on its stomach and cover it with cloth, leaving its head open. The heat from a heater, lamp, heating pad or bottles can be controlled with your hand - if your hand is comfortable, then the bird will be comfortable.
After the bird warms up and ceases to tremble, it should be fed.

Feeding 
The bird menu depends on whether the bird belongs to a particular group. Note that to determine the type, age and physical condition of the bird, you may need to consult a veterinarian, zoologist or specially trained volunteer.
Wound Treatment
With bleeding: try to stop the bleeding by gently pressing on the wound with a cotton swab moistened with 3% hydrogen peroxide or ethamylate (dicinone).
Without bleeding: flush the wound with an antiseptic (chlorhexidine 0.05%, miramistin 0.05%) and cover it with a bandage (preferably hydrogel, especially if tendons or bones are visible).
If larvae of flies, their eggs or larvae of other insects are present in the wound, they should be removed immediately by washing the affected area with water or treating it with Nitenpiram spray (mix the product with water and spray it). After processing, the insects will die - it will become easier to get them. Be sure to rinse and treat the wound with an antiseptic.
Cleaning the plumage
If traces of pollution are present on the feathers (oil, dirt, excrement), it is necessary to completely remove the pollution using warm water and detergent. It should be remembered that such a procedure should be carried out in a warm room, where the bird should remain until completely dry. Next, the feathered need to give activated carbon dissolved in water, enterosgel or another sorbent.
Important: the amount of medicine should be determined by a veterinarian or zoologist.
The fight against poisoning.
If vomiting and diarrhea are observed in the bird, it is necessary to give the animal activated carbon, enterosgel or another sorbent dissolved in water in the beak, as well as a complex of B vitamins.
Important: before treatment it is necessary to consult a specialist.
Warning care
      If you notice a lone waterfowl (swan, duck, etc.) on the surface of the reservoir or near it, then it is quite possible that it has health problems. Try to scare away the bird by clapping your hands. If it flies away, then the animal does not need help. If the bird remains in place or tries to swim away or run away, but will move with apparent difficulty, it is necessary to contact the staff of the veterinary station or the center for rendering assistance to wild animals. Specialists will tell you how to act in this situation.

Where to bring the wounded bird? Large regional rehabilitation centers

• Moscow Region: Wild Birds Assistance Center “Swamp Bottom”; regional branch of the center for the rehabilitation of wild animals "Phoenix".
• Leningrad Oblast: the Sirin Center for Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Wild Animals and the Veles RCC Center.
• Vladimir region: center for the rehabilitation and reintroduction of wild animals "Moonlight".
• Bryansk region: a private shelter for birds, “Wings of the World”; Blackwood Bird Care Center; Animal Rehabilitation Center Irina Ptitsyna.
• Kaluga Region: regional branch of the Phoenix Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
• Irkutsk Region: “Irkutsk Zoo Gallery”; Ust-Ilim rehabilitation center.
• Voronezh Region: Finist Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.