What happened to this chaffinch?

sineadom

Last Sunday I spotted this little chaffinch unable to fly and carrying her left wing very awkwardly as she ate seeds under the feeder. When the others flew off she could only hop but was still pretty nimble and quick to disappear off into the bushes across the garden. I thought her wing looked broken but knew I'd never catch her and thought I'd just upset her by trying. Next day (Mon) was amazed to see her under the feeder again several times during the day, she'd survived the night! The following day, Monday, she was back again, but her feathers were all ruffled up and she looked quite puffy. I spotted her drinking from the water I had left out but only once. Next day, there was no sign of her and there hasn't been since. Since she was all puffed up I feel like she mighta died of dehydration? Or at least gotten so weak from that that she couldn't get away from predators. I feel really bad for her, she was trying so hard to survive and keep herself fed and out of danger. Anyway, just wondering if I shoulda done something else for her, I rarely see birds drinking from the water I put out, is there anything I can do to make it more noticeable?? It's just in a shallow lunch box on the ground, should it be in a different container. Also, can anyone tell if her wing is broken? I wonder if she could have survived longer would it have healed itself..?

cuddlycavies

You did what you could so dont feel bad about it. Looks like she might have had a bad encounter with a sparrowhawk or cat. Not unusual in Dublin suburbia. Who knows? she may have recovered and flew off or maybe the hawk came back. Hawks have to eat too! It's just a natural process.

Antiquo

sineadom wrote: »

Anyway, just wondering if I shoulda done something else for her, I rarely see birds drinking from the water I put out, is there anything I can do to make it more noticeable?? It's just in a shallow lunch box on the ground, should it be in a different container. Also, can anyone tell if her wing is broken? I wonder if she could have survived longer would it have healed itself..?

Your lunchbox may be too steep/deep for the birds to access. You'd be better off with a shallow dish which gently slopes from nothing to about 5cm deep. Like an old dustbin lid buried in the ground for example.

This way they can stand on the edge and drink also they will bath in the shallow water at the edge.

cuddlycavies wrote: »

You did what you could so dont feel bad about it. Looks like she might have had a bad encounter with a sparrowhawk or cat. Not unusual in Dublin suburbia. Who knows? she may have recovered and flew off or maybe the hawk came back. Hawks have to eat too! It's just a natural process.

The fact that the bird was all puffed up meant it was cold and probably suffering from the trauma to the wing which does look broken. As CC says above it is part of nature, nothing you can do if you can't easily capture the bird and bring it to the vet.

Just be sure that any water/bathing area or feeding area is not near an area which could be used by the local moggie to ambush the birds, i.e. away from bushes and sheds, etc. where cats can hide and pounce on them.