It isn’t uncommon for us to encounter an injured bird that can’t fly or take care of itself due to its injuries. Of course, it is one of our moral duties to make sure that we nurse the bird back to health until it is capable of taking care of itself once more. Part of nursing an injured bird is to make sure that it still eats well enough because of how eating can help it regain its strength. But what do you feed a wild bird that is injured?
When injured, seed-eating birds should be fed high-protein cereals and commercial seeds; carnivorous birds should be fed chopped baby mice, lean meat, or chicken; insect-eaters should be fed any kind of insects or mealworms; fruit-eating birds should eat soft fruits; and game birds can eat insects or mealworms.
Different wild birds have different requirements they need to eat whenever they are injured. After all, eating the right food will ultimately allow them to recover faster. That’s why you have to first determine what kind of bird you are nursing so that you can provide it the right kind of food it needs to regain its strength and hopefully get back on track.
What to feed an injured wild bird?
Birds are delicate animals that have soft bones. This means that they can easily get injured whenever they somehow crash into something while flying or whenever they end up falling from their nests. That said, it isn’t uncommon for anyone to find an injured bird that is struggling to take care of itself or even fly.
So, if you manage to find an injured wild bird, you need to make sure that you nurse it back to health until it is able to once again fly and take care of itself. It is your moral obligation to try to take care of it instead of allowing it to die due to possible predator attacks or because of how it couldn’t find anything to eat in its condition. This means that you need to be the one to take care of it until it is capable of once again standing on its own.
That said, while nursing involves making sure it gets enough rest and that its wounds are mended, the biggest part of nursing an injured bird is to make sure that it gets to eat enough food. After all, the only way for any animal to regain its strength and fully recover is to allow it to eat enough food so that its body will have enough fuel to heal itself.
However, the problem here is that you probably don’t know what to feed a wild bird that is injured because of how different birds have varied diets. That means that you must first determine what kind of bird you are taking care of so that you can tell which types of food it prefers. After determining the kind of bird you have, you need to look at our list to know what kind of food to feed it so that the bird will be able to quickly regain its strength.
That said, take a look at this list to know what to feed the injured bird depending on what type of food it prefers to eat:
Seedeaters
Seed-eating birds are most probably the injured wild birds you will encounter because they tend to be the most common out of all of the birds on this list. That’s because birds such as pigeons or doves, which are seed eaters, tend to be quite common in populated areas in comparison to other types of birds that you might only see in less-populated areas. As such, the first thing you need to know is if you have a seed-eating bird with you so that you will know what to feed it.
If the seed-eating bird you have is still a younger one, it should be able to do well on a high-protein cereal mix that you can find in the supermarket. Make sure that you grind the cereal mix into smaller pieces so that it will be easier for the bird to eat it. Meanwhile, foods such as biscuits, eggs, and soft fruit can also be good choices.
On the other hand, adults should be given a diet primarily composed of commercial seeds that depend on how big the bird is. The smaller the bird, the smaller the seeds should be. That said, seeds such as sunflower, flaxseed, or chia can be good options. But you can also mix its food up with fruits and chopped greens for some added vitamins and minerals.
Carnivorous
Carnivorous birds such as magpies, falcons, eagles, or hawks might not be as common as seed-eating birds are but there might be moments when you do actually encounter injured carnivorous birds if you are in a less-populated area or if you happen to be in the outdoors.
Juvenile carnivorous birds can do well in diets that are primarily meat-based such as chopped baby mice, chopped chickens, strips of lean meat, or soaked cat biscuits. As long as you are providing the bird with something that is meat-based but is soft enough to eat, you will have no problems.
On the other hand, adults require the same kind of diet but you may want to focus more on strips of lean meat and on mice or chicken meat. You probably don’t need to chop some pieces of meat as long as the bird is big enough to eat them.
Insect eaters
Insect-eating birds also aren’t that uncommon because they can also be found in populated areas. So, if you do happen to encounter an injured insect eater such as a crow or a magpie, you need to know what kind of insect to feed these birds to nurse them back to health.
Smaller insect eaters that are still quite young can do well on a diet that is composed of insects and mealworms. Don’t worry about the kind of insects you feed them because most insect-eaters tend to eat any kind of insect so long as the insect doesn’t come with stingers.
Adults generally have the same diet that their juvenile counterparts have but you can also feed them egg, cat food, and biscuits on top of the mealworms and insects that you feed them.
Fruit eaters
Fruit eaters can also be quite common because there are plenty of different seed eaters that are also fond of eating fruits. And if you happen to live in a place where there are plenty of fruit trees, you might end up encountering an injured wild fruit-eating bird.
So, when feeding an injured juvenile fruit eater, you need to give it soft fruits that may have to be chopped and crushed a bit so that they can end up becoming softer. Bananas are good choices because of how naturally soft they are. While adults can do well on the same diet, you may be able to feed them fruits that aren’t as soft but are still soft enough for them to eat without any trouble.
Game
Finally, we have game birds, which can include birds such as chickens or turkeys. These birds are much more common in rural places where there are plenty of farms.
It is quite easy to feed game birds as they are not too picky with their diet. You can give them insects, mealworms, or even game starter packs. Juvenile and adult game birds tend to require the same types of food.
