Injured Red Breasted Nuthatch

[greeneggsnsam]

Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping to find some advice to help an adult male red-breasted nuthatch that had a run in with a window about 24 hours ago. He is alert and breathing normally now but is unable to open his right eye and struggling to move his right wing. I do not think it is broken as I have seen some movement and he does not seem in distress or pain. His biggest issue right now seems to be that he is unbalanced whenever he tries to move. His right eye is not swollen or externally injured in any way that I can see. I am trying to limit my interactions with him and was hoping he was stunned and would recover on his own overnight. Currently he is in a paper towel lined box with the top open inside a large unused dog house in my yard. I wanted to keep him away from any stimuli to recover and also give him a chance to avoid predators as much as possible. I have called our local fish and wildlife centre and they have a very "let nature take its course" attitude, which I completely understand. They said his eye issues could be neurological if there is no external injury in which case he will either heal on his own, pass away in time, or adapt to having use of only one eye but will most likely be an easy target for predators. I am awaiting a call back from the only vet in my city that will look at birds, however, wild birds are not something he usually deals with. There is an avian vet 2 hours away from me, again not sure if they will deal with a wildlife case. My goal is not to have a new pet, I would like to see him recover and be able to fly off on his own. My question is how much assistance should I be providing? I have left him alone other than checking to see if he was indeed still alive once last night and once this morning. Fish and wildlife suggested a little lump of snow (we had an early winter storm here) on a leaf in the box to provide water should he want it which he did initially investigate and taste but moving is a struggle for him.

Does anyone have any advice? Am I on the right path? I am hoping maybe the local vet will at least see him. He works with a birds of prey centre nearby and has some experience with wild birds... I'm just concerned that this particular species wont be something they are too concerned about treating. Should I just leave him completely alone now and hope for the best? I'm trying to find the balance between leaving nature alone and also wanting him to survive and recover.

Thank you in advance and I apologize if this post is breaking any forum rules. I did try to look around before posting for anything similar or advice.

 

[Donna turner]

I feel your pain. I rescued a coo coo bird theat flew into my window. She couldn't hold her head up so I put her in a shoe box and propped her up with tissues. To my surprise she was better the next day so I syringe fed her water. The next day she could hold her head up and move around so I got her some webworms which she was excited over. She chomped them and then shook them before swallowing them (green gunk all over my bathroom) . Unfortunately she died that nite. I think the shaking restarted bleeding in her brain. I tried to console myself with the fact that if I'd set her free the same would have happened. Your little guy probably has brain damage that may or may not resolve. The question is do you feed him to give him time to see. He can't recover with out food.

 

[Birdbabe]

The best you can do is keep him warm dark and quiet, it takes a day or two to recover from an injury like that, unless it's worse than you see. Is there a wildlife rescue near You? Fish and Game,,,blah,,,wildlife refuge, yes.

 

[SandraK]

Are you anywhere near Illinois? I can put you in touch with one or two vets and wildlife rehab places that might be3 able to help you, give you advice or possibly have contacts in your area who could help.