Found Sparrow...what to do???? Help!
 

I found a sparrow fluttering on my driveway on my back from uni 2hrs ago. the poor thing was just fluttering on the ground with its neck in a weird position, it seems it cant hold its head up, its head just rests on the ground???. I felt so bad for it, especially knowing that there a lots of cats that roam around (my own 2 are indoors only and were staring it down from the window) so I put it in shoe box with some bird seed and left it alone in my room for an hour or so.

I just went to check on it - thought it was dead but as soon as I went to hold it it fluttered again. I put some rice in a sock and warmed it up and put it underneath it for heat and made a solution of 1cupwater a pinch of salt and sugar and have started giving it that with a dropper ( it is readily taking it). It is now in one of my cats carriers and I wish there was more I could do. Could it have a broken neck??? A twisted neck? :( I dont know of any societies around other than the KW humane society and they generally dont take wildlife and were closed anyway when I called.

Any help/tips/thoughts on whats wrong with the bird are much appreciated.

Are its pupils equal, onster? It may have hit the garage or a window and taken some brain damage. :sad: Sad, but it happens.

Do you know what kind of sparrow it is?

no, i dont really know much about wild birds and their types. It just looks like a 'regular' sparrow to me..:shrug:

Its pupils are equal and both really dilated. I know it may have brain damage/ some neurological issue...I hope it gets better. The poor thing's neck is twisted like 180 degrees :sad:

Should I just let it be? I dont know what else to do.

It sounds like something neurological. Might have been a toxin, too, if the pupils are so dilated.

I doubt that there's anything to do for it, onster. :grouphug: If you know how to dispatch it quickly, that might be a blessing. :sorry:

:cry: poor little bird.

I 'know' but I can't. I know it may be the most humane thing to do, but its so alert otherwise and..I just couldn't. If its still alive tomorrow morning I think I may take it to the humane society/my vet - to do the deed if nothing else.

Thanks for the :grouphug: hazel

I hope it improves in the night! :fingerscr :pray:

I always feel bad when stuff like this happens. For instance, I always 'save' the toads from the dogs by putting the toads in the hummingbird garden (safely fenced). Unfortunately, the other day I found a very fat snake in that garden eating the toad I'd 'saved' that morning. :sad: It's been bothering me ever since. It was a very fat snake. I'd 'saved' a [I]lot[/I] of toads. Sigh...

:o

Nature sometimes seems so cruel...but it's just Nature's way... I know Snake has to eat, too, but poor Toad! And poor little bird. :sad:

It's like the kitten we found when i was 7 or so, we fed with an eyedropper through the night for 2 days but it then passed away. Looking back I think its because we didnt know we had to stimulate it to pee/poop...Ive never really forgiven myself for that...such a simple thing, if only I knew ...

but yes, sometimes it is just nature and there's nothing u can do about it. At least if it passes now it will be comfy.

I expected you to say that he had died! Sounds like you've done everything right, including the hydration.
Unfortunately, if he was bitten by a cat; he will die, there is a bacteria in a cat's mouth that is 100% fatal to birds.
You could google wild bird forums or something similar, there are often knowledgeable people on those sites.
I would do everything you are doing now, but odds are he will slip away overnight.

I'm in Kitchener/ Waterloo

I do know that there is a wildlife centre in toronto (about 1.5 hrs away) but I know of nothing closer...

I read online on some pigeon site about the sock and hydrating part, but I'm not sure if I should keep 'waking' it up to hydrate it? Should I just leave it now for the night?

Also it said to dissolve the sugar and water in warm water and use that solution to give the bird. Is the warm water just for dissolving or do i have to warm up the water when I give it to it again? And should I keep warming up the sock?

Sure, just leave him somewhere warm. Birds don't drink overnight. Good for you, you've done what you can.

If you have a small clean towel you can put that in the box with the bird--its body heat will be trapped in the cloth and help keep it warm.

ok, thanks hazel and badger. Im gonna head off to bed now and just let the bird be. I'll update tomorrow :pray:

:pray: that little birdie made it through the night, and is all better now:fingerscr

How close are you to woodbridge? [url]http://www.earthrangers.ca/wildlife/[/url]
Or Brantford [url]http://brantford.kijiji.ca/c-pets-animal-pet-services-Beacon-of-Light-Wildlife-Centre-W0QQAdIdZ22891092[/url]

birdie is still alive and as alert as ever. Just woke up gave him some sugar water and now some mushed up bread water with the dropper. His head is still as upside down as ever too.

As crazy as this sounds, i think im gonna take the bird to the vet in a few hours. It looks so pathetic and i mean...either it should get a neck brace or...be put down :sad:. I hate to feel like im just prolonging its death by keeping it alive with sugar water when really its beyond repair. Do they euthanise birds?

Onster,it's heartbreaking when these things happen,you are a good soul for at least making him comfortable and fed.
I have brought birds to our HS,when there is no chance they will survive,I like you,just cannot put them out,by myself,neither can hubby.
A quick death is better than beeing torn apart by a cat or other birds.
I agree with Hazel,he probably flew in to something and is braindamaged,I don't think he would live if his neck was broken.
It's really difficult,once you've held a little creature in your hands,felt his beating heart,but this little guy would not survive out there.:sad:

[QUOTE=onster;485681]birdie is still alive and as alert as ever. Just woke up gave him some sugar water and now some mushed up bread water with the dropper. His head is still as upside down as ever too.

As crazy as this sounds, i think im gonna take the bird to the vet in a few hours. It looks so pathetic and i mean...either it should get a neck brace or...be put down :sad:. I hate to feel like im just prolonging its death by keeping it alive with sugar water when really its beyond repair. Do they euthanise birds?[/QUOTE]

Poor little guy. Yes, they do euthanize birds--if you can find a vet that has experience with budgies, parrots, cockatiels and the like, that would be the best place to go.

Have you tried straightening the head? Does it just flop back the way it was? Are the pupils still dilated?

I took birdie to the humane society where I think they put him down since they said there was nothing much they could really do. :rip: birdie.

:sorry: onster. You did the best you could. :grouphug:

:candle: little bird

:candle: RIP sparrow. the sky is the limit.

sorry to hear onster.

-ashley

i wonder.... where do our winged friends wait for us?? perhaps there is a rainbow in Kitty Hawk NC USA where they wait for us to join them in the sky in the place where the Wright Bro's first flew?

i wonder if there was a collective cry of joy when man made that first step off the earth into the sky or a tremor of horror that we would make a mockery of something they do so beautifully??

-ashley