Some wrens nested in our outdoor building twice not too long ago, and a few weeks ago, I went out into the garage to find a nest and eggs in the treadmill cupholder. I always went to take a peak from time to time and they all seemed to develop nicely from my limited knowledge.
But something happened, and I know I made a mistake but I'm hoping nothing bad came of it. Two of the three babies made their way out of the garage door window, which was kept open the whole time so the mother could get in and out. One bird, however, I was sure was dead. He was upside down in the nest after no signs of his siblings and mothers, no movement, so I nudged the nest and no response. Then I gently poked him and no response so I thought surely he is dead. So I got a pair of needle-nose pliers and grabbed him by the tail feather to lift him up out of the nest so that I wouldn't have a dead bird in the garage.
As soon as I got him up and out of the nest, he started flapping and fluttering and fluttered to the ground. I was shocked, but more worried that I had damaged him somehow. I know that I did not pick him up by the leg or skin, but by a feather. I got a closer look at him and nothing seemed to be hurt. He acts like he is fine, but I'm starting to get concerned. It has been almost 4 days now that the others have left and made their way out of the window and he is still fluttering around in the garage and chirping for his mother. She comes back to visit and feed him often and I've tried to remove any hazard from the garage.
I don't want to open the garage door because I have cats and a large outside dog and I was waiting until he was able to get up to the window like the rest of them so that he would be safe once he left the garage. He doesn't act injured but one of my main questions is, is it likely that me pulling him up by the tail is the reason that he is still not able to fly fully? If so, is it likely that it will heal on its own? Is there anything I can do to make sure he gets out alright? I don't mind putting all of my animals up if I need to open the garage door and let him out. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, since he was clearly the straggler of the bunch to begin with, seeing as how his siblings got out ahead of him. I'd love to hear some opinions.
Thanks a lot for your time and expertise.
PS, I have a video of him but the file is too large to upload here. He acts perfectly normal though in my estimation and can almost fly from one end of the garage to the other but only a few feet off the ground.
But something happened, and I know I made a mistake but I'm hoping nothing bad came of it. Two of the three babies made their way out of the garage door window, which was kept open the whole time so the mother could get in and out. One bird, however, I was sure was dead. He was upside down in the nest after no signs of his siblings and mothers, no movement, so I nudged the nest and no response. Then I gently poked him and no response so I thought surely he is dead. So I got a pair of needle-nose pliers and grabbed him by the tail feather to lift him up out of the nest so that I wouldn't have a dead bird in the garage.
As soon as I got him up and out of the nest, he started flapping and fluttering and fluttered to the ground. I was shocked, but more worried that I had damaged him somehow. I know that I did not pick him up by the leg or skin, but by a feather. I got a closer look at him and nothing seemed to be hurt. He acts like he is fine, but I'm starting to get concerned. It has been almost 4 days now that the others have left and made their way out of the window and he is still fluttering around in the garage and chirping for his mother. She comes back to visit and feed him often and I've tried to remove any hazard from the garage.
I don't want to open the garage door because I have cats and a large outside dog and I was waiting until he was able to get up to the window like the rest of them so that he would be safe once he left the garage. He doesn't act injured but one of my main questions is, is it likely that me pulling him up by the tail is the reason that he is still not able to fly fully? If so, is it likely that it will heal on its own? Is there anything I can do to make sure he gets out alright? I don't mind putting all of my animals up if I need to open the garage door and let him out. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, since he was clearly the straggler of the bunch to begin with, seeing as how his siblings got out ahead of him. I'd love to hear some opinions.
Thanks a lot for your time and expertise.
PS, I have a video of him but the file is too large to upload here. He acts perfectly normal though in my estimation and can almost fly from one end of the garage to the other but only a few feet off the ground.
