This cuckoo flew into a window and lay on the ground, stunned.
I picked it up and placed it on the table.
It lay there awkwardly for some time. I picked it up a few times and it seemed to be able to use its claws again, so I gave it a stick to sit on. It continued to sit there quite awkwardly for well over half an hour. I plucked a few loose feathres off it from time to time, but apart from that there didn't seem to be much damage. In all this time its eyes seemed bright, which gave me hope.
At one stage it flew weakly into the bushes and sat there for another 15 minutes or so, until I picked it up and put it back on the table perch. Immediately after that it flew up into the trees. I stayed there for quite a logn time then disappeared.
It is a young one; I believe I saw it earlier in the day being fed by a small bird (possibly a robin). I hope it's OK now!
- soakes
Good luck to the poor little guy!
I usually cover the birds with a dark, but light towel. It calms them down and gives them enough time to recover . Sometimes it takes more than 30 minutes, but when they have recovered from the shock, they will fly off. Sorry to say though, that doesn't mean they will survive. The impact on the brain when they hit the window, would compare to you hitting a brick wall at the speed of a very fast car. But you would NOT be sitting in a car, your head would hit the wall without protection. So, more often than not the bird's instinct will make it fly off to get away from danger. But the damage caused by the impact on the tiny brain, will cause bleeding and swelling, and the poor bird will simply go somewhere else to die.
M-L
I do the same Araminta. I bought a bunch of collapsed file boxes so I can make up a box anytime (used to keep one in the car too). Best not to handle the bird too much as that will cause extra stress but place it somewhere protected, dark and quiet (this is where the lightly covers box come in) and then it has the best chance for survival, not that there are any guarantees but it is amazing what they can survive.
Three weeks ago, a neighbour who is a bit of an "animal whisperer" saw a young magpie that visits him get hit by a car and he thought it was dead when he picked it up (limp body and lolling neck). So he put it in dark and dense shrub while he went to the shops as he intended taking it home and burying it. It wasn't there when he returned but it turned up about 4 days later - it is still alive but seems a little "simple" as he puts it!
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."