Injured Swift

Occasionally I receive a question by email about what to do with injured birds. Field of View, a blog maintained by the magazine Birder's World, offers one way to deal with the situation:

I decided to take it to the Wisconsin Humane Society. (Last month, Chuck, Ernie, Jessica, and I participated in the society's Avian Odyssey to support its Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.) Thanks to the center, I knew what to do.

The good folks at the center coordinate a program in Milwaukee each spring and fall that rescues birds that hit windows. They call it WIngs: Wisconsin Night Guardians for Song Birds. At a training session for volunteers, wildlife manager Scott Diehl described how to transport an injured bird: Put a cloth towel in the bottom of a paper grocery bag, put the bird inside, and close the top of the bag. (The towel gives the bird something to cling to.) And on the drive to the rehab center, turn the radio off to avoid further stressing the bird.

Read the rest.