I **REALLY** hesitate to post this in this forum.

But for those nice people who enjoy a non-violent form of preserving life ... here's a C3D story. :-)

He had an accident.

He was flying across the street without looking both ways first and was struck by a car. Luckily the people in the very next car witnessed the accident and stopped to pick up the unconscious Robin. They placed him in a box and immediately brought him to see me. Having recovered somewhat, the Robin was fluttering in a panic and perhaps he ~could~ fly be I needed to make sure all was well before he could be released.
Well ... CRAP!

He had a slight head tilt to the right, his right eye was closed and he was breathing very rapidly. Upon closer examination, his right pupil was the size of a pinpoint and the other eye appeared normal. That is a sure sign of brain trauma. There is a *slight* dent in the top of the skull too. I could find no other fractures. His head drifted to the side a few times as he lapsed out of consciousness but I told him to hang in there ... and he did.

He was given intravenous steroids for the control of shock, brain swelling and pain control, some fluids and was immediately placed in an oxygen tank to get a higher concentration of oxygen. That is the most important part of the therapies for brain swelling and concussion. The system had added heat to keep the little beat up Robin warm.

And we waited....

Within 20 minutes he was able to keep his head up without falling over. Within 30 minutes his right eye opened and I could see the pupil was not as contracted as it had been.
RAH!

He's doing better! And then he started to move around his toweled enclosure. I covered the oxygen tank with a towel so he would not flutter and further stress himself. The lady who brought him in asked if she could see him and she was happy to see him standing and walking around.

"What's his name" the lady asked?

Barry! His name is Barry.

Barry continued on oxygen through the day. Later in the afternoon he was given a bowl of water, chopped grapes, pine nuts and mealworms. He did appreciate the grapes and went to sleep .........

Later in the day he finished the mealworms, the grapes, had a drink (and a poop) in the water. The right eye was intermittently closed. I brought Barry home and continued the oxygen supplementation, the heating pad for added warmth and more food. He ate many mealworms, waxworms and earthworms.

Barry has had medication for his pain, concussion and antibiotics plus the oxygen for three days. The supplemental oxygen concentration was slowly decreased yesterday afternoon and today he has been without the added oxygen for four hours now. He continues to do well.

In a few days I'll take him to the avian specialist and the ophthalmologist to have a more thorough exam and evaluation.

She types with fingers crossed .... I believe Barry will survive his trauma. The only issue would be if there was damage to the eye. I saw no bleeding within the eye as we did with Mr. Cardinal so maybe he'll be OK. Hopefully once his skull fracture is healed and his eyes are verified as healthy, Barry can once again go outside and do what Robins do.

~*~*SIGH*~*~

And so the struggle to help the birdies, or whoever, continues...... Here's Barry within hours of his arrival in the oxygen tank.
{{gwi:167936}}

Barry is doing OK so far. I'm worried about his right eye though. He keeps it closed more often than not and the pupils aren't ~quite~ the same size. He seems to be a good example of why it is so important to have an injured anyone checked by a vet rather than just checking with a rehabber over the phone. Lots of vets will check on wildlife for free for the good Samaritan who brings them in.

We had a Starling fledgling for at least 8 months before she was released. She flew into a store window and was initially in a coma and then semiconscious for 10-14 days! We tube fed her and all that good stuff.

Then as she was regaining consciousness she was fluttering around and we thought she would hurt her wings. She was put into an orthopedic stocking .. a birdy straight jacket (LOL!) for about 5 days until she stopped endangering herself. After an 8 month recovery she was released into the Camp Nappy garden. She returned the following spring to show off her family of speckled children. LOL!

I'm just doing the initial emergency stuff but will leave it to the avian specialist and, in Barry's case, the ophthalmologist to make sure when he's able to be released.