Ask Lafeber

How to help a bird that hit a window with no professional help available ?

Hi, I hope you are doing well.
24 hours ago, we picked up a bird, a turtle dove, that had hit a window. It fell on the ground and was unable to sit upright for a few minutes before settling, its head at an angle. Its eyes got all puffy and it barely moved.

There are no wildlife rescue center where we live to take it to, so we looked up online what we could do. We found it a cardboard box, made some holes for air circulation, put in some paper towels and placed the bird in a separate room for it to be in a quiet and dark space, as advised online.

We have checked on her a few time since then and it has gotten more reactive since yesterday morning. It holds its head normally now, no longer bent at an angle. It has pooped a bit, and the poop looks normal. It also moved a bit when we got some water into the box for her and drank a tiny bit. One eye’s puffiness has decreased, but the other is still puffy and there is now a liquid oozing from that eye (it is not blood, it is amber in colour).

We wonder if there is anything else we could do to help it recover, so we would appreciate any advice you could have for us.

Thanks.

Hi,

Ideally you would take it to a Vet, or a wildlife rehabber. It sounds like the bird is recovering, since there has been so much improvement in 24 hours. Some birds are OK within a few minutes or hours. Some need more time and just need protection from predators, along with supportive care like food & water. If this is a native bird, then you can release it once it can fly again. If this is one of the ring necked doves, those are feral and should not be turned loose. It is OK to keep those as a pet. I’m glad you came across it because usually a cat will get an injured bird.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda