Emergency help
Found an injured bird? Here is what to do.
Short answer
8655370005 is a general Mumbai animal helpline. Your area may have a closer volunteer — check the directory first.
Found a dog, cat or other animal instead? The advice is close to the opposite — do not pick it up. What to do for an injured animal
First ten minutes
Step by step
Shock kills more rescued birds than the original injury does. Nearly everything below is about keeping the bird calm rather than treating it.
- 1
Check that it really needs help
A wild bird that lets you walk right up to it needs help. So does one with a drooping wing, visible blood, string wrapped around it, or one sitting fluffed up with its eyes closed in the daytime. A fully feathered baby hopping on the ground usually does not — that is a fledgling, and its parents are feeding it.
- 2
Move people and pets away
Clear the area, put dogs on a lead and take cats indoors. A crowd standing over a frightened bird measurably worsens shock, and shock is what most rescued birds actually die of.
- 3
Cover it, then lift it
Drape a cloth or shirt gently over the bird — covering the eyes calms it almost instantly. Scoop it up with both hands, keeping the wings folded against the body and supporting it from underneath. Never lift a bird by a wing, leg or tail, and never squeeze its chest.
- 4
Box it, dark and ventilated
Use a cardboard box a little larger than the bird, with air holes punched from the inside outward, lined with a smooth cloth or paper towel. Close the lid. Do not use a wire cage — the bars break wing and tail feathers within minutes.
- 5
Give it nothing to eat or drink
This is the instruction people most often ignore, and it is the one that most often kills. A bird in shock cannot swallow properly and inhales liquid into its lungs. It can safely wait several hours for a rescuer without food or water.
- 6
Call a rescuer now
Ring your area's rescue contact while the bird is settling. Give your exact location, describe the bird and what you can see wrong with it, and say if a cat or dog was involved. Then leave the box closed and still until help arrives.
Do
- Cover its eyes before handling — it calms nearly every species instantly.
- Use a cardboard box, never a wire cage.
- Note the exact spot you found it; many birds are released there.
- Wash your hands with soap afterwards.
- Say on the phone if a cat or dog was involved — it changes the urgency.
Do not
- Do not give food, water, milk, bread or medicine.
- Do not straighten a wing, splint a leg or clean a wound.
- Do not apply turmeric, oil or antiseptic to a wound.
- Do not pull kite string out of a bird — cut it clear instead.
- Do not keep the bird to nurse it at home.
Which situation is it?
Find the guide that matches
The general advice above covers most cases. These situations need something different.
It flew into a window and is stunned
Usually concussion. Box it, leave it completely alone for an hour, then test it outdoors.
ReadIt is tangled in kite string (manja)
Never pull the string. Cut the loose ends clear of the body and leave anything embedded to a vet.
ReadIt is a baby bird on the ground
Feathered and hopping? Almost certainly a fledgling — leave it. Bare or downy? It needs help.
ReadIt looks sick rather than injured
Fluffed up, eyes closing, sitting still for hours. Wild birds hide illness until they cannot.
ReadIt is a pigeon with thread on its feet
Extremely common and easy to miss. Do not pull the thread — it needs removing at a clinic.
ReadIt is a dog, cat or other animal
Do not try to pick it up — the advice on this page is for birds. Report it instead.
ReadWhy the first ten minutes matter so much
Birds are prey animals, and everything about being rescued reads to them as being caught. Bright light, noise, movement, being looked at, being passed between hands — each of those pushes a bird further into shock, and shock alone can kill a bird whose physical injuries were survivable.
That is why the advice is so consistently about darkness and quiet rather than treatment. A closed cardboard box in a still room is not a holding measure until the real help arrives; for the first hour it is the treatment.
What happens after you hand the bird over
A rescue volunteer will usually assess the bird, get it to a vet where needed, and keep it until it can be released. Groups working on Jinseva log the call as a case, dispatch it to whoever is nearest on WhatsApp, and send the caller an update when the case is closed — so you find out what happened to the bird you picked up.
Questions
Injured bird — FAQ
I found an injured bird. What should I do?
Cover it with a cloth, lift it with both wings held gently against its body, and place it in a ventilated cardboard box lined with soft fabric. Close the lid and keep the box dark, quiet, warm and away from pets. Do not give food or water. Call a bird rescue helpline immediately.
How do I know if a bird is injured or just resting?
The clearest test is whether it lets you approach. A healthy wild bird keeps its distance. One that stays put, or that has a drooping wing, visible blood, closed eyes in the daytime, or cannot stand, needs help. A fully feathered baby hopping on the ground is usually a normal fledgling, not a casualty.
Can I keep an injured bird and look after it at home?
No. Wild birds decline fast without species-appropriate food, fluids and veterinary care, and most wild species in India are legally protected, so keeping one is an offence. Contain it safely and hand it to a registered rescue group or a vet.
What do I feed an injured bird?
Nothing. A bird in shock cannot swallow reliably, and food or water given by hand can enter the lungs and cause fatal pneumonia. Diets also differ enormously between species. Leave feeding to the rescuer or vet.
A bird cannot fly but has no visible injury. What is wrong with it?
Common causes are a concussion from hitting glass, a fracture hidden under the feathers, a kite-string cut, poisoning, heat exhaustion or illness. Several of these are invisible from outside. Contain the bird and let a vet examine it rather than waiting to see whether it improves.
Where can I find an injured bird helpline near me?
Jinseva publishes a free directory of 32 rescue contacts across 19 areas of Mumbai and the surrounding region at jinseva.in/helpline. If your area is not listed, the general Mumbai animal helpline is 8655370005.
It is night time and no one is answering. What should I do?
Keep the bird contained in a closed, ventilated box somewhere dark, quiet and warm indoors, with no food or water, and call again first thing in the morning. A stable bird kept calm overnight is in far better shape than one driven around looking for an open clinic.
This page covers containment and transport first aid only. It is not veterinary treatment and does not replace a vet. Any injured, sick or orphaned wild animal should reach a registered rescue group or a veterinarian as soon as possible.