There are a lot of depressing headlines in the news, so it’s good for your health to check out positive stories, too. This heartwarming hummingbird rescue is both touching and an opportunity to learn about bird safety.
A TikTok user by the name of adamshoney found a hummingbird stuck in their rain gauge. They took swift action to free it and nurse it back to health, but was it the right action to take?
We here at WildBirdScoop not only love observing birds, but making sure they’re safe and healthy. However, there are good and bad ways to go about this — there’s a reason why animal rescue is a job you have to be trained and certified for!
Let’s take a look at the video and see whether or not they handled the situation safely.
I won’t lie: this image broke my heart. The poor thing must’ve been so scared, but fortunately, they were found just in time.
My first tip is to always make sure the animal actually needs help, but in this case, it’s pretty unambiguous. While some birds are just tired or hiding from a predator, this bird is very clearly trapped.
Many common household items become hazards to birds, ranging from hair dye to nearby windows. Keeping birds out of your rain gauge is easily accomplished with a few tips and tricks.
Let’s take a look at what they did next.
While taking the bird inside is touching, your first order of business when seeing a sick or injured bird is to call wildlife rehabilitation immediately. Professional animal rescuers have studied for years how to save animals and reintroduce them into the wild without causing further damage.
Since this is a short TikTok video, I’m not sure if they attempted this or not. Just keep this in mind any time you see a sick or injured bird — this handy list has all American wildlife rehabilitation and rescue services state by state.
On the positive side, they were correct to contain the animal effectively in a cardboard box with what appears to be a lid. This is vital since you don’t want the animal freeing itself in the house, potentially flying into a window or getting lost somewhere you can’t find it.
Just make sure there are little gaps in the box for air to go through. You don’t want to accidentally suffocate the bird if you have no other choice than to contain it.
They then attempted to feed the hummingbird some water, which is not recommended by wildlife professionals. While it’s understandable to be worried the animal could be dehydrated, you don’t want to accidentally get them comfortable around humans.
A hummingbird that becomes comfortable around humans could linger too long around humankind. This means higher exposure to less-than-decent people or their pets, particularly cats.
You may be asking: “Well, how is that any different from feeding birds with bird feeders or bird baths?” This is a very good question, so let’s break down the difference.
Birds don’t associate a human directly with its food source when eating from a bird feeder or drinking from a bird bath. To them, it’s just another part of the environment that happens to be conveniently high in resources.
When you directly give a bird food or water, they make the connection that humans are responsible for its meal. That, in turn, breeds trust in humans and any environment high in human activity — cute for a video, bad news for the bird.
The hummingbird was eventually able to lift their head, which is a good sign. They were likely dehydrated after being stuck in the rain gauge, so I still understand why they gave them water.
You just need to exercise restraint and leave it to the professionals so you don’t do more damage in the long term. The last thing you want is dooming the hummingbird to a dangerous encounter later because they lost their natural caution of humans.
It’s good they immediately took the bird outside once they were feeling better, though. The longer the animal stays inside, the more relaxed they become in a human space and the worse off they’ll be later.
If you’re tasked with watching the bird, make sure to never take your eyes off it if you can help it. You want to watch closely for any signs of worsening health or if it tries to escape its container.
This tip goes double if you have children or pets nearby!
Then they give the bird some more water. To reiterate: do not feed wild birds.
The biggest risk is them becoming accustomed to humans, which you can already see happening by how calm the bird is.
It may sound mean to resist helping an animal in need, but the animal’s welfare always comes before your feelings. You need to ensure they’re fit not just to get up but to live their best life out in nature.
A better approach to this situation would be to place water near the bird, but not actively attempt to make it drink. This way, they’re not directly associating humans with a life-saving resource.
Basically, the less contact you initiate, the better.
Eventually, the bird dusted itself off and flew away.
On one hand, I’m happy the bird ended up being physically healthy enough to perk up and fly off. On the other hand, I hope it didn’t become too used to human care.
Of course, there is always the possibility of this upload being one of many fake rescue videos. There are quite a few people out there who will pull terrible stunts just to get five minutes of fame.
Either way, this video is a prime opportunity to discuss animal safety habits and how to be responsible birders. While your kindness is essential — the world always needs it! — so is your practicality.
Being a responsible birder means doing what’s right for the animal, which sometimes goes against our immediate instinct.
Rescuing Birds is a Delicate Balance Between Swiftness and Caution
Life rarely has easy answers, especially when a troubling scenario like this crops up all of a sudden. This article isn’t to pass judgment on a person’s act of kindness but to help all of us become more thoughtful and helpful birders.
If you see a bird in need, your first action should be to look for signs of illness or injury. Just because a bird is on the ground or a little sluggish doesn’t automatically mean it needs help.
If they’re showing signs of sickness or seem to have a broken wing, your next action is to immediately look up a wildlife rehabilitation or animal rescue service in your area. If you don’t have any, or they’re unable to arrive swiftly, you may wonder what the next course of action is.
You can attempt to remove the bird from the immediate area so it’s not attacked by predators or hit by a car. Wear gloves or use something to cover your hands, like a towel or a hoodie.
Touching the bird may expose you to a disease or make it accustomed to humans.
You can even try contacting other professional services such as a veterinarian office or even your local zoo. Just try to get someone with animal handling experience on the scene and leave it to the experts.
You can watch the TikTok below:
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