Please help identify this bird

[amniko]

Hi,

I found this little thing (it can fit in my hand) stuck to the asphalt on the road few hours ago. It is a miracle that he/she wasn't run over.

Not sure if it's a grown up version or just a young one. No sound so far so hard for me to tell. After being picked up it attempted to fly but couldn't find it's balance. Wanted to move it to another location but we have plenty of foxes in the area and didn't want to leave it...

Will get it to the vet tomorrow but wanted to know what bird it is so I can perhaps feed it something. It was drinking water so I think it's a good sign. I can see it's quite hungry as it keeps opening his mouth from time to time.

Thank you for your help.

[Picidae]

Its a Swift.

Take it outside ASAP and gently throw it up in the air to give it a lift off. They can't take off from the ground. You may have to try a few times. It should be able to fly even if it's a youngster (they can fly from the nest) but it's obviously fully fledged anyway. Try and do it in the area you found it as it will still be relying on it's parents to help teach it to catch insects in flight.

[Dogghound]

Its a Juvenile Swift.

[amniko]

Thank you guys, going outside now. Will update you with the progress.

M

[RKB]

Originally Posted by Picidae

Try and do it in the area you found it as it will still be relying on it's parents to help teach it to catch insects in flight.

I *think* swifts start feeding themsevles immediately. But I'm not 100% (don't think anyone is).

[amniko]

Ok, I left in the garden close to the road I've found it on so hopefully his parents will pick it up. It climbed immediately into a place full of spider webs, dead flies, etc. so it must know what it's doing.

I've tried several attempts (from different heights) but it didn't fly or at least not long enough. Became quite stressed so left it to feed. Maybe it was too hungry, who knows how long it was stuck on that road. I've given it a lot of water so should be ok.

Do you think I should take it back to my house instead?

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Jonners]

Hi amniko. Almost everything a swift does is done whilst flying (feeding, sleeping, mating). They can't take off from the ground... when they do land, it will be somewhere elevated, like a roof top, or gap therein so that when they need to fly again they can launch themselves and start to fly from the drop. That's why Picidae suggested throwing the bird up into the air. It's parents won't be able to help it while it is on the ground, as it needs to be flying.

[amniko]

Just checked and he is no longer in that fence. There was a difference between levels so hopefully it managed to fly off.

I've looked everywhere for 20 min and there was def no sign of the little one.

Thank you all for help.