This little fella's been on my windowsill for over an hour. He doesn't look too good
What's slightly curious is he looks a bit like a fledgling. He's got very stubby wings and juvenile plumage on his back. Sadly I can't help him. If I go to the window and open it to get him he'll fly away and I'd rather he was near the feeders (which he seems to be using quite happily), away from predators and with a little bit of shelter from the elements. Have to let nature take its course. Every 5-10 mins he goes to the feeders and then returns to the corner of the windowsill. He seems to be breathing quite heavily and looks a bit bedraggled. He can fly a little bit because he's made it one floor up and he's moving between the two sills I have. I'd love to bring him in where's warm and give him some food but he'll fly off if I get anywhere near him.
I've edited in the normal link above the embedded one. Try that.
After about 90 mins he disappeared. There's a large bush below the window which he may have felt a bit more sheltered in. Haven't seen him since.
Yes I could have opened the window but I think he would have shot off and I really didn't want to 'move' him from the safe location he was in. Just seems really early for fledglings. At first I wondered if he'd escaped a cat attack but looking at the photos he didn't look damaged and seemed to be feeding well. Just a bit cold and scared.
Thanks, Kev. Yes, I agree about not opening the window - it would have panicked and flown away.
It does seem a bit like tricho with the breathing but the beak looks normal and it seems bright eyed.
Have you had a hailstorm recently? It could have had a battering in the strong winds, I suppose.
No hail and no I didn't go and look for him. The living room windows of the flat below are right there so I wouldn't want to look like I'm snooping on the neighbours! But the bush there is big and he can obviously fly cos he got up to my windowsill, but just maybe not very far in one go. Hopefully the bush below was a good hiding place.
I'll keep a close eye out to see if he returns tomorrow.
I concur with Placi. The fluffed up look is very typical of sick birds. It is encouraging that it is taking food but the current bout of wintry weather has highlighted a weakness in it's wellbeing.
