I checked with a wildlife rehabilitation list I belong to, and here are their
suggestions for window victims:

From: kris.williams at santafe.cc.fl.us
Subject: Bird Impact Info

Our helpline tells people that have birds that have hit a window or
something and appear "in shock" but not "broken" (ie broken neck or
something) to do the following with the bird:

Take a paper grocery bag and make a couple of 2-3" verticle slits
about 2/3 of the way up the bag (airholes). Put the bird in the bag,
roll the top closed, and put the bag in a warm, dark, quiet place. The
soft sides of the bag help keep a recovering bird from injuring itself
further. Check the bird every half hour or so. When the bag sounds
like popcorn popping, take the bag out-of-doors, and, holding it away
from your face, open the bag and gently tilt the bird onto the ground.
Hopefully, at this point it will fly away or can be evaluated for
other injury. If the bird hasn't recovered enough to take outside
after 2 hours, we recommend they take it to our wildlife vet. If the
person doesn't think the bird is injured outside of the shock of the
impact, this has proven to be a very effective technique for us.

kris.williams at santafe.cc.fl.us
gainesville, fl



From: Charlie Kaiser <charliek at ccnet.com>

Whenever we get this type of injury (or any injury, for that matter), we
automatically get the bird on heat. Unless we're SURE they can
thermoregulate, they get heat. We have seen many stunned birds, from
hummers to hawks recover within minutes of getting heat. Of course,
they're monitored for at least 24 hrs before release, but it's amazing
how fast they can recover when their bodies are warm enough for nature to
do its thing! Of course, further treatment is often necessary, but if
heat and rest will work, why do more and stress the animal?
Charlie Kaiser
The Lindsay Museum
charliek at ccnet.com


From: "Steven M. Nunes" <smn at math.umd.edu>

I recently found a finch which was on its back and which I thought
to be very near death. Just picking it up and allowing it to
stabilize brought it completely back to normal. Perhaps in such
cases it is too easy to assume that the bird could right itself
if it tried, and one might underestimate the effects on curculation,
etc. of being in such a position for a prolonged period of time.

Steven Nunes
College Park, MD USA