Found a Bird? Answers to Wellington's Most Searched Bird Rescue Questions

Every day, people all over Wellington type urgent questions into Google with a bird in a box beside them. We see the same searches again and again, so here are the real answers, all in one place. Bookmark this one.

The golden rule, before anything else

Whatever the situation, the first aid is the same. Put the bird in a ventilated cardboard box lined with a towel, put the lid on, and keep it somewhere warm, dark and quiet, away from pets, kids and noise. Do not offer food or water. Then contact a rescue or vet for advice. Warmth, darkness and quiet do more for a shocked bird in the first few hours than anything else you can offer.

"A cat caught a bird, but it looks fine"

This is the most urgent scenario on this list, and the most commonly misjudged. Cat saliva carries bacteria that cause a fatal infection in birds, usually within 24 to 72 hours. A bird can escape a cat looking completely uninjured and still die two days later. Any bird that has been in a cat's mouth, or even swiped at, needs antibiotics as soon as possible, ideally within a few hours. Box it, keep it dark and quiet, and get it to a rescue or vet the same day. Please never watch and wait with a cat caught bird.

"I found a baby bird on the ground"

First question: does it have feathers?

• Fully feathered and hopping about? That is a fledgling, and it is meant to be there. Fledglings spend days on the ground learning to fly while their parents feed them nearby. Unless it is injured or in immediate danger, leave it be. If it is on a road or in reach of cats, you can move it into a nearby shrub. The parents will find it.

• Bald, patchy or fluffy with closed or barely open eyes? That is a nestling, and it needs to go back in the nest. It is a myth that parents reject chicks touched by humans, so pop it gently back if you can reach the nest. If the nest is destroyed or unreachable, contain the chick and contact a rescue.

"A bird flew into my window"

Window strikes are one of our most common admissions. Box the bird and leave it somewhere dark and quiet for an hour or two, then check on it outside. If it is bright, upright and flies off strongly, job done. If it is still fluffed up, wobbly, holding a wing low or just not right, it needs assessment. Head knocks and internal injuries are not always visible.

Kererū deserve a special mention here. They are big, heavy birds and they hit Wellington windows hard. A grounded kererū always warrants a proper check. We can stabilise kererū and arrange their transfer to a facility permitted to complete their rehabilitation.

"A strange seabird landed in my street"

After big southerlies, Wellington gets grounded seabirds such as prions and petrels turning up in gardens, carparks and streets far from the coast. These birds cannot take off from flat ground, so they are stranded, not resting. They go downhill quickly on land and often need specialist care, so box them and contact a rescue straight away. Do not put them in water and do not release them off a beach without advice, as many need assessment first.

"The bird can't fly but I can't see an injury"

A healthy wild bird does not let you pick it up. If a bird cannot or will not fly, something is wrong, even if nothing looks broken. Internal injuries, head trauma, poisoning and illness are all invisible from the outside. Box it and get advice.

"There's a bird sitting all fluffed up and it won't move"

Fluffed up feathers, closed or half closed eyes, and letting you approach are all signs of a very sick bird. Birds hide illness until they cannot anymore, so by the time a bird looks sick, it is usually seriously unwell. Contain it and contact a rescue the same day.

"What should I feed a rescued bird?"

Usually, nothing. The wrong food does real harm, and a cold or shocked bird cannot digest anything anyway. Never drip water into a bird's mouth, as it can easily go into the lungs. No bread, no milk, no rice. Focus on warmth, darkness and quiet, and let the rescue handle feeding once the bird is stable.

"A bird is tangled in netting or fishing line"

Do not cut the bird free and release it on the spot. Line and netting cause constriction injuries that look minor at first, then the tissue dies days later. Cut the netting well away from the bird so it comes with you, keep everything attached, and bring the whole tangle in so it can be removed properly and the bird checked over.

"Ducklings on the road" and "duckling separated from mum"

Duck families cross roads in spring and summer, and mostly they manage. If it is safe, you can slow traffic and let them pass rather than intervening. A lone duckling is a different story, but watch from a distance first, because mum will not return while you are standing over her baby. If no adult appears after a good long wait, or the duckling is injured, cold or in danger, then it needs help.

"Who do I call about an injured bird in Wellington?"

You can reach us at Flock Birdcare Wellington through our website. We are a DOC permitted native bird rehabilitation facility based in Korokoro, and if we cannot take a bird ourselves, we will point you to someone who can. For protected wildlife emergencies you can also call the DOC hotline on 0800 362 468, available 24 hours. The SPCA and most local vet clinics will also accept injured wildlife for initial stabilisation.

One last thing

Every bird in this post, from the cat caught silvereye to the storm wrecked prion, costs money to treat. Flock is a registered charitable trust and we never turn a bird away for financial reasons. If this guide helps you help a bird, you can help the next one by making a donation. Every dollar goes directly to patient care.

Want to go deeper on some of these? Read about what really happens when a cat attacks a bird, what to do if you find a grounded seabird, or what to do if you find an injured kererū.

Related reading: what to do if you find a seabird in Wellington and what happens when a cat attacks a bird.