Injured Wild Common Starling

2 posts / 0 new
Last post
rootdirectory
rootdirectory's picture
Injured Wild Common Starling

I found an injured starling by the side of the road, and for better or for worse I took it home (and put it in a cardboard box with a t-shirt and a metal grate with a towel covering it). It doesn't seem to be able to move either of its legs; one is curled up and tucked in and the other looks pretty limp, but its wings and head move just fine and it has no other visible injuries. I think it went into shock for a bit because it was breathing pretty heavily with its beak open and its feathers fluffed up, but it's calmed down a lot and seems alert (I set up a bird nanny cam so I could leave it alone). It tried to push itself up with its wings a couple times and ended up flipped on its back, so I put another t-shirt next to it so it will stay put.

I've called about 50 wildlife rehabilitation centers and a handful of vets in my area and have come up empty-handed so far; most of them went straight to voicemail. It's probably been about 5 hours now. I don't think I'm likely to get a response from anyone until tomorrow, since it's nearly 8pm here now, so I need help with what to do until I can get it into some more capable hands. I read that I'm not supposed to feed it or give it water, and I'm not sure it could eat or drink by itself anyways since its movement is so limited/it's probably really stressed, but I'm worried about how long it's going to take to get it to a rehab center.

Worst case scenerio, if I can't find anyone to take it, would humane euthanization be the best option, or is there anything I can do myself to help it survive? Starlings aren't protected under any conservation laws here and are legal to keep as pets; I'd be willing to set up an aviary for it and take care of it if it can't be fully rehabilitated but would have decent quality of life.

Woko
Woko's picture

While you have displayed commendable caring for a creature, alas, humane euthanization is the way to go, rootdirectory. Unfortunately you happen to have rescued a serious pest species which is a huge danger to a number of Australia's native bird species. Not only that but the Common Starling is a destructive pest in our horticulture industry. There is huge money spent on preventing Starlings from entering WA. They certainly don't want it there. 

 and   @birdsinbackyards
                 Subscribe to me on YouTube