Expert: Roger Lederer - 1/31/2008

Question
A male cardinal injured himself on 1/20 by flying hard into one of my windows, perhaps to escape a resident hawk.  I rescued him from a snow drift, warmed him, and tried to release him but he could do little more than flop around.  The following day, I took him to a rehabber near me, who examined his wings and pronounced them unbroken.  She suggested I release him.  I returned hom and tried to do so, but he still couldn't fly at all.  On the advice of a veterinarian, I considered it best to keep him in a cage for a couple of days to heal.  He eats and drinks readily and is quite energetic, but still cannot fly well - no more than five or six feet distance or 18 inches vertical.  I have lately (for the past five days) given him free rein in a large bathroom, providing him with a number of levels to perch and practice flying.  He's doing better, but has also lost some (about half) of his tail feathers.  A local vet told me that the feather loss may be related to his injury, and that 10 days is not too long to expect him to heal from any severe bruising he might have incurred.  Is there anything additional I can do to help him in his recovery?  I hesitate to return him to the rehabber because of the bad advice (the vet's opinion) she gave me initially.  I am in the process of obtaining a rehabilitator's certification, so am not entirely a novice at this sort of thing.

Answer
You are doing the right thing. Too bad the rehabber gave you bad advice. I've had the same experience. There is no consistency with them. Glad you spoke to a vet. It sounds like you are on the right track. If he's eting and drinking readily, that's a very good sign. Depending on the loss of the tail feathers, that might be why he can't fly well. If the feathers were broken off it will be several weeks or more before he grows them back. If they were yanked out, they will start to ogrow back soon. Keep doing what you are doing and go to www.ornithology.com/rehab.html for links to more advice.