Bird rescue shows the importance of taking quick action

By Joanna Fitzgerald | Director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital

A yellow-throated vireo was among the 50 animals admitted to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida this past week. Other admissions include a white-tailed deer fawn, a blue gray gnatcatcher, three common loons and a gopher tortoise.

The yellow-throated vireo was found by a family enjoying themselves at a local park. It was late afternoon when the vireo’s rescuer called the wildlife hospital for assistance. While discussing the situation on the phone, the rescuer mentioned they had been holding the bird for over two hours, during which time the bird had been “well-loved” by many children at the park. The rescuer knew she needed to find help for the vireo since so much time had passed and the bird was still unable to fly. The description of the bird’s condition (increased respiratory rate and effort, disorientated, unable to fly) indicated the vireo had suffered head trauma.

A wildlife hospital volunteer was immediately dispatched to retrieve and transport the vireo to the hospital for treatment. Upon arriving at the Conservancy the vireo was showing signs of shock and stress. Hospital staff administered arnica tincture and placed the vireo on oxygen in a darkened animal intensive care unit to rest.

The following morning the vireo was slightly more responsive, yet continued to show increased respiratory effort when handled. The vireo was moved to a quiet area of the hospital and provided a diet. With an animal that is easily stressed, like the vireo, the goal is to get the animal to self-feed so handling, and therefore stress, can be kept to a minimum. Thankfully the vireo has been self-feeding since being offered a diet ad lib. The vireo continues to rest and recover in the bird room at the wildlife hospital.

While the vireo ultimately received the medical care it needed, the prolonged handling and attention the bird endured from park-goers was misguided. The reason the vireo “allowed” itself to be handled was because it suffered a mild traumatic brain injury which left it incapacitated and unable to respond appropriately.

Please, if you find an animal in distress the best, and kindest, action you can take is to place the animal in a quiet, dark, well-ventilated box and get it to the wildlife hospital as quickly as possible. A delay in care can literally mean life or death. Stress can kill, particularly when an animal is severely injured or impaired.

Recent Releases

Five brown pelicans, a mottled duck, an eastern cottontail, a royal tern, two laughing gulls, two mourning doves, a peninsula cooter, six grey squirrels, a chicken turtle, a Florida red-bellied turtle and an anhinga were released this past week.

Opportunities to Help

Please visit the Conservancy website at https://www.conservancy.org/get-involved/volunteer to view all of the amazing volunteer opportunities at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Your volunteer time, memberships and donations are vital in helping us continue our work to protect Southwest Florida’s water, land, wildlife and future.