Expert: Roger Lederer - 7/23/2007

Question
Thank you Mr. Lederer for being a great expert. On the broken leg in baby birds...why is it that they usually die? Do they quickly go into shock? Also what about adult birds. I am deeply saddened because a male Eastern Towhee broke his leg in my backyard.  I am not sure how it happened, but I saw the bird sort of run/hopping on Friday after a rain storm. (It forages daily in my yard and I have enjoyed watching him.) On Friday evening I noticed that the bird was sitting in one spot for a long time.  I thought that it was looking for a worm.  Then later I went out and it ran from me into what we call our "island"...lots of native GA plants.  I thought to myself...bird you can't hide from me, I will just go in another direction and ignore you.

Then, on Sat. morning, I found the bird just sitting and floundering.  It could not walk.  I put it in a box on plain brown paper, with plenty of holes in the box and went in to call the wildlife #'s...No offices open on Sat. Then I called 911 to see if they could give me an emergency #.  Nothing.  During this time, the adult bird died.

I have just felt awful.  I wondered if I did the wrong thing by placing it in a box. Had I left it in the yard, one of the feral cats or a hawk or falcon may have gotten it.

I am sad because usually we don't get to see Towhee's "in action."  When I lived in another city, I used to hear them all the time, and only once or twice saw one.  But this bird was in and out of the yard all day.  After I buried the bird, I could hear its mate calling.  The female sort of whistles, but it is similar to the "drink your tea" song of the male towhee.  Since he will not rejoin her, what does the female do?  Will she remain in the woods by my yard?  If they had babies, can she take care of them alone?

I am really sad. I didn't realize that its eyes were red.  Now I have read all about the Eastern Towhee, but I know that I get too close to nature...to personal, and I call myself a "citizen scientist!"

Sincerely,

Maxine


Answer
When a bird's leg breaks, it tends to shatter, unlike a mammal bone. This shattering tends to break blood vessels and the birds bleeds to death internally. Although I have seen some one-legged birds, they are the type that do not perch, ever, but live on the ground. Towhees, Robins, and many others have to perch in a tree or shrub and with a broken leg they cannot find or catch food effectively, and eventually starve. If you put it in a box and did not feed it the proper food, it will die, as you observed. You did  the right thing by trying to get expert help, but I have found the same problem with animal rescue people - they are not well funded and not available at times. The female may or may not take care of the nest or eggs is she has one or may find another mate or neither. She might hang around for awhile, I can't say. They are pretty birds. Bird mortality is very high in nature, so this is not unusual. Thanks for your concern.