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Enhancing Recovery:
Helping Bird Rescuers Help Birds
The tiny brown oval with a whisper of orange
sits, silent and still, on the cold
pavement.
Suffering from head trauma after a
brutal
encounter with Toronto's illumi-nated
towers,
the little Ovenbird is in shock.
Human hands close gently around her body
and she is lifted up. Suddenly she
is face
to face with a huge mouth that opens
and
closes, seemingly predatory noises
reverberating
from its depths. Terrified at this
new, perceived
danger, weakened by cold and shock,
the bird
slips quietly into a comatose state.
Saddened at this turn of events, the volunteer
lowers the bird into a paper bag. Sometime
later, a flutter in the bag heralds
the renewed
possibility of survival, but only when
all
the noises stop and the air warms around
her will the bird calm down and sleep.
Finally,
true recovery begins.
It helps to understand what's happening here.
The stress from traumatic injuries,
confusing
environments and rescue can send a
bird into
shock. Shock is a life-threatening
syndrome
resulting from a loss of circulating
blood.
This can be from actual blood loss.
Or it
can be the body's response to trauma
that
prevents blood from circulating effectively
to all body parts (in an emergency
blood
is shunted to vital organs). The severity
of shock depends on the extent of the
injury,
the individual bird's responses and
resources,
and the timing of intervention and
treatment
.
Here's how we can minimize stress:
1) Safe & minimal holding - Take the
bird's head between your first and
index
fingers, gently surrounding the body
and
wings with the rest of your hand (the
Bander's
Grip). Assess the bird's status, try
to determine
the species and place the bird inside
a clean
paper bag. Do this as quickly and quietly
as possible.
2) Warmth - Brown paper bags provide some
insulation. A warm building or car
is better.
Please note: Holding a bird in our
hands
might warm it, but remember that the
birds
see us as potential predators and our
close
proximity is frightening to them. Likewise,
blowing on the bird places our mouth
terrifyingly
close!
3) Dark - Again, the paper bags provide this.
Just make sure that the bag is securely
closed
either with a paper clip or by firmly
scrunching
up the top.
4) Quiet - Hard to provide, especially since
we find it safer to work in teams.
Still,
it helps the bird enormously if we
can keep
noise to a minimum.
5) Motion - The gentle sway of the volunteer's
walk seems to reassure some birds (maybe
it reminds them of sleeping on a swaying
branch!), but violent movements have
the
opposite effect.
6) Time - Sometimes a couple of hours in
a warm, dark, quiet place is all the
bird
needs to recover. Where there are obvious
injuries, however, timely transport
to a
rehabilitation centre may be crucial
for
recovery.
7) Comfort - Passerines (perching birds)
are more comfortable, and therefore
less
stressed, when they have something
to grip,
even if it's only a tissue. Be careful,
if
you decide to use a piece of cloth,
that
it's not made of a fabric that could
entangle
the bird's claws.
8) Knowledgeable assessment - Check for obvious
injuries (bloody or bulging eyes, a
drooping
wing, a dragging foot) or obstructions
to
flight (spider webs wrapped around
legs or
wings). Learn to recognize more subtle
signs.
If you have any doubts at all, call
in a
more knowledgeable volunteer or take
the
bird to a rehab centre at your first
opportunity.
A final note: some FLAP volunteers are trained
in the administration of dexamethasone,
a
steroid given to birds in severe shock.
However,
necropsies (animal dissections) have
shown
permanent muscle damage to some birds
that
have received injections. With the
help of
a holistic veterinarian we are now
exploring
alternative treatments such as homeopathy.
We all care deeply about the birds. And we
have had many successful rescues. Let's
combine
common sense with concern and we will
save
many more.
Maureen Flynn
Maureen is FLAP's Volunteer Coordinator.
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