Reporting a collision
If you are on campus and happen to run into a bird that hit a window, dead or alive, here are some things you can do.
- Fill out the incidental report form
- If the bird is dead and you have a bag handy, pick up the bird and drop it off at FFSC 3332 (Lipshutz Lab) or email madison.chudzik@duke.edu to set up a meeting place
How to deal with birds in shock
If the bird is alive, it will be in shock and needs a quiet, dark, safe place to rest and recuperate. If you find a bird on the ground by a building, gently place the bird inside an un-waxed paper bag or a small cardboard box. Handle the bird as little as possible. If you’re using a cardboard box, poke a few air holes so the bird can breathe. Use clean tissues or paper towels, rolled into a donut shape, as a perch for the bird to sit upright. Never feed the bird or give it water.
If the bird recovers after one hour, you will hear it fluttering inside the bag or box. Take the bird to an open green space away from windows and buildings. Slowly open the bag or box and let the bird fly out.
Help us spread the word!!!
If you work or study in a building that has bird strikes, help us inform people about what to do. Download this sign to put up wherever you want! Anyone can help us report birds. The more volunteers we have, the better.
3 replies on “If You Find a Bird”
[…] it lay in front of me, the double impacts too much for its tiny body. After participating in the Bird Collision Surveys last semester, I knew what I had to do: take pictures. Why? Read […]
Love your comments about the birds. I want to ask you a question about a blue jay that has tender loving care since a first hatchling. The eyes not even opened. He/She is now around nine months old. Being fed well and flies 4 or 5 hours a day in house. Does not know the first thing about the outdoors. I feel so bad cause I know he/she belongs out there but afraid to turn out into the unknown and into the claws of other birds or people that will harm it. I love this bird so much. I call it Jbird.
Hi,
We actually do not know much about issues like this. Maybe a wildlife rehab center can be helpful.
Thanks for the nice comments!