Injured Blue Tit

[Peter123]

This morning I found an injured blue tit in the greenhouse. The greenhouse is near to a bird house in the garden and my immediate thoughts are that it must have come in through the open green house window. It looks in a bad way, a broken wing or leg, but also a small red patch on its breast and it really looks bedraggled as though a cat has had a go at him. He jumped onto a cane for me and I put him down under a bush in the garden. He has taken a couple of sunflower hearts from a dish. Is there anything else I can do? What should I do about the box? I haven;t seen any other comings and goings from the box today yet. It is an RSPB box, the front lifts down. Should I take a peek? What if he is one of the parents? Shouldn't be so attached, I know.

[eeyore]

first up - he/she needs medical treatment as a broken wing/leg isnt going to heal on its own. If you look on the wab front page there is a link to a map showing loads of wildlife hospitals, so you can find your local one

secondly - whether to risk disturbing the nest is a tricky one , as you could cause the remaining parent to desert the eggs/chicks - If there are eggs then they arent likely to survive , but if they are chicks one parent may be able to raise them alone - my inclination would be not to disturb them but to provide plenty of food (meal worms etc) near the box so that the surviving parent can easily feed the brood and itself.

thirdly its possible that your casualty is as a result of bird strike - ie flying into the greenhouse windows - if so you need to stick some silhouettes onto the windows to stop it happening again

[Jenny W]

If it has chicks that are big enough not to need brooded and the remaining parent is experienced and food is plentiful then they may survive. Eggs or small chicks will not survive, even if the female remains as she will not have a chance to feed them if she is brooding.

To be honest (and many people will not like this but....) there's not really much you can do. Yes you could take it to a rescue centre, but with a broken wing there is not really any chance it's going to survive in the wild again.

(Sorry, I know it seems heartless, but it's just the way I see this sort of thing).

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Jenny W

To be honest (and many people will not like this but....) there's not really much you can do. Yes you could take it to a rescue centre, but with a broken wing there is not really any chance it's going to survive in the wild again.

(Sorry, I know it seems heartless, but it's just the way I see this sort of thing).

true , but its still worth taking it to a rescue centre who have the expertise to check it out as the wing may not be broken but merely have torn muscles , or it may be a simple break from which it can make a full recovery.

before deciding that it is hopeless it is definitely worth seeking proffesional advice.

[Peter123]

Thanks for your advice. Right or wrongly, I don't feel confident in myself catching him/her or that I'm not causing additional distress chasing him/her across the garden - I decided it better to leave him/her. He/she took some water this afternoon from a tray and seemed chirpier. He/she hoppoed ascross the garden to the bottom of the feeders - then climbed up the fence and jumped a good yard to the peanuts. After a good 10 minutes feeding on these, as well as on the fatballs, he/she jumped to the ground. Haven't seen him/her since 5 pm. There have been no ins or outs from the bird box. I wonder if was the female after all? Looking through the bins, his/her tail is bedraggled as is a lot of other feathers. I will get some stickers for the greenhouse nontheless, but I suspect she has been in a fight of some sort.

regards

Peter