We’ve had a busy few weeks in the hospital. This is to be expected when the weather takes a turn for the worse. The prolonged cold spell and deep snow makes it difficult for all wildlife to find food and stay warm, but for young birds experiencing winter for the first time, it can be deadly.
This young male Kestrel was found at the side of a road in a weakened state and was taken to Uplands Vets. They couldn’t find any obvious injuries suggesting it had been hit by a vehicle, but did discover that he had an oral infection. Usually this is a common infection called frounce but Uplands were kind enough to culture the growths and found it to be clear of trichomonas parasites so he is currently being treated for a bacterial infection instead. It is possible that he picked up an infection from being in poor condition and foraging on the floor beside the road.
When he first arrived he was very weak and needed to be hand fed small strips of high quality meat and offal (heart, lungs, liver etc) with no casting (feathers/bone) to limit the stress on the body. As you can see he was very thankful of the meal!
Once he has gained some strength and is feeding by himself, he’ll be placed in one of our aviaries to give him some more space to build up condition before he is released.