Injured bird in front of my house

[SithMaster]

I get home and as I'm about to walk through my front door I notice a black bird in front of the garage door.  It's just standing there looking at the handle in front of it.  When it notices me it lifts its wings a little but doesnt fly off.  I decide to get it some bread and when I checked on it a little while later (20 minutes) it doesn't appear to have eaten any and is on the ground (on its side) crying.  Then another bird that was watching it flies over to my handrail and looks at me then flies off followed by two sparrows who land near the bird and then fly off.  It looks like a blackbird but wikipedia says they are not native to the US so I'm not sure what it is but I'm worried.  I'm almost positive a possum or raccoon is living somewhere near my house and I don't want this thing to die.

Help.

[ahofle]

Is it a baby?  Can you tell what is injured?
I had an injured bird in my backyard a year or two ago.  It was not a baby, and it would periodically flap it's wings and just generally act crazy.  It appeared to be poisoned or something.  I tried to put it in a shoe box with some towels, but it would eventually flap its way out.  I wanted to put it out of its misery, but I just couldn't bring myself to hit it. 

[SithMaster]

It seems bigger than a sparrow so I want to say it's an adult but I can't be sure since I don't know the subspecies.  I was thinking of building something so it could be outside and leave when/if it ever got better, but I have a feeling it is sick or now that you mention it someone tried to poison some birds and got this one.

I want to say its the wings since it didn't fly away.  Yeah I can't bring myself to ending it either and I can't bring it inside the house since we have a cat.

edit-I checked on it again and while it was on the ground its leg was bent weird so I'm thinking broken leg.  It might have been scaring it everytime I looked at it because it flapped its wings and moved behind the parked car.

[ahofle]

Maybe try putting it in a small box of some sort with soft towels in your backyard (use leather work gloves in case it nips at you) so at least it can be comfortable as opposed to flailing around on the concrete.   I know exactly how you feel -- in fact I have that pit in my stomach just thinking about it.

[ahofle]

edit-I checked on it again and while it was on the ground its leg was bent weird so I'm thinking broken leg.  It might have been scaring it everytime I looked at it because it flapped its wings and moved behind the parked car.

Oh man that sucks.  I'm wondering why it can't fly though.  I've seen wild birds (crackles mostly) with one leg so maybe it can recover.

[SithMaster]

edit-I checked on it again and while it was on the ground its leg was bent weird so I'm thinking broken leg.  It might have been scaring it everytime I looked at it because it flapped its wings and moved behind the parked car.

Oh man that sucks.  I'm wondering why it can't fly though.  I've seen wild birds (crackles mostly) with one leg so maybe it can recover.

It kinda did when it moved out of sight so it might just not want to fly so it doesn't have to land (avoid putting weight on its leg).

[Dartful Dodger]

Possums and raccoons gotta eat, same as worms.



There's been a wounded goose living on the pond near my house.  It doesn't fly and it's the meanest goose I've ever seen.  I've been hoping for weeks that a coyote would get it.

[leapinlew]

Just last week there was a similar situation at my place. A baby bird was in the patch of grass outside my front door. The apartment complex landscaping company came by to mow the grass. When I got home, there was pieces of bird all over the fence.

I should have killed that bird myself.

[RTSDaddy2]

My wife, the animal trainer, says call a local vet and ask them if they know of a wildlife rehab center close.  If you can get the bird into a cardboard box, take it to the rehab center.

Lots of those places do really good work.  The squirrel we rescued whose little back legs didn't work overcame the temporary paralysis thansk to ours.