Dear friends,
Over the weekend we drove from the Daytona Beach area to the west coast of Florida to visit a seriously ill family member. On the evening of Monday 4/27/09 we began our trip home from Hudson and were traveling the back roads to access highway 52. I was riding along, looking out the passenger window allowing the conversation between my mother and my sister to flow around me when I noticed a little bird along the side of the road that appeared to be injured.
I immediately asked my mother to stop and I ran back to approach the little bird who was flopping around on the ground. As it was near dusk, I couldn't just leave it to it's own defenses. I was able to pick the bird up and I noticed that she was bleeding under her left wing. (Being a woman, I am naturally assuming it is a female) I returned to the car and we continued our trip home.
I put my finger over the top of of the straw of my glass of Arizona Rx Stress herbal tea and offered a drink to this poor little bird and she readily began to drink as though she was without liquid for a long period of time. We also had bread in the car and began tearing off tiny pieces and offering them to our little patient. She hungrily devoured them. She was also urinating and deficating, so it appeared that everything was in good working order, except for her little wing. We stopped at a Wal-mart and purchased a bag of wild bird seed, but she seems very disinterested in it as she seems to prefer the bread.
This morning I went online determined to identify what species of bird she was and learned from your site that she's a cedar waxwing. I even played the birdsong on this site and Microsoft Encarta for her. Boy, did she perk up at that. She really responded to the cedar waxwing song on the Microsoft Encarta, answering back. It was precious.
I offered her water which she took, but didn't seem to like, so I went back to the tea that she prefers. I offered her the seed, but she prefers the hamburger buns with sesame seeds. Could someone please tell me what else we can feed her that will help her to survive her recovery from her injury and provide her the nutritional vitamins and minerals she would require to mend and stay healthy. She is a smart little thing and seems to acknowledge that we are here to help her and protect her.
I live in Ormond Beach, Florida, so what can I forage for, or purchase that will give her the nutrition that she needs. She seems strong, and I speculated that her injury may have been caused by her flying across the road too low and possibly hitting a vehicle antenna. Her injury is under the left wing, so I don't imagine that she was attacked by a dog or cat.
Any information offered will be gratefully and sincerely appreciated. I want so badly to help this baby and keep her healthy and strong. We have already fallen in love with her and look forward to the day that she can be rereleased here in our yard. Incidentally, our lot is surrounded on three sides by conservation. We love and care for the wildlife that make their homes here. We hand feed various litters of raccoon babies that mothers who were fed by us bring by for their daily ration of dog food. We have 3 does, two who have recently fawned and a young buck who drop by twice a day for a meal of corn mixed with sunflower seeds. We have a cardinal couple, Byron and Bridget, who nest around here and LOVE the sunflower seeds in the corn, we also have squirrels who eat pecans from our hands on a daily basis. We love nature and live in harmony with all who visit us.
I'm sorry to make this so long and drawn out. I am very anxious for some advice on caring for this little bird who needs our help.
Oh, also...should we attempt to treat her wing? Should we try to apply neosporin to the underside where there is a visible injury? How can we treat her if she is in pain? etc...?
Thank you in advance for your timely consideration and prompt input in this matter.
Deborah White (wkwj@bellsouth.net)
