An emergency room opens for injured wild birds at Warsaw Zoo in Poland

Warsaw, Poland — When a male bullfinch crashed into Marcin Djrzebski’s apartment window, he picked it up but realized it needed specialist treatment. So the next morning he brought it to Warsaw’s new emergency room for wild birds.

He placed the small, plump bird with a black head, gray back and red breast feathers in a shoebox and took it as one of the first patients to the new drop-off center for sick and injured birds at the entrance to the Warsaw Zoo.

“The bird stayed with us overnight, but unfortunately it had a broken wing, so we brought it to the bird hospital,” Georgebski said.

The 24/7 emergency room in the Polish capital is actually a system of automated metal containers – like a parcel room – where the containers can keep birds warm in winter. The boxes send an immediate signal to the bird hospital just a few meters away, where veterinarians bring the birds for diagnosis and treatment.

Jarzebski filled out the questionnaire and carefully placed the shoebox and paper form into the containers, assuring the bullfinch that it now had the best chance of survival.

The box system, designed based on the ideas of workers at an avian hospital, locks birds in to keep them safe until a doctor collects them. The drop-off center, which opened in February, is increasing the efficiency of the bird hospital, which has been operating at the Warsaw Zoo since 1998 and now treats about 9,000 patients annually.

It was the brainchild of the zoo’s director, ornithologist Andrzej Kruszewicz, who said people have a responsibility to care for creatures whose habitats have changed, such as the bullfinch.

“This bird is a child of the forest that, during migration, did not understand the window,” Kruszevich said.

“Humans often cause problems: car accidents, crashing into windows, electrocutions, tangled wires on storks’ legs,” he said. “It’s all humans’ fault and they have a responsibility to give these birds a second chance.”

Typical patients at the Warsaw Zoo include cicadas, sparrows, thrushes and starlings, as well as common songbirds such as pigeons. However, in a green city like Warsaw with the Vistula River, rare species can also appear.

Warmer winters caused by climate change mean that birds that used to migrate south, including cranes or herons, are choosing to stay in Poland, says Andrzejlica Gąkowska, the hospital’s manager.

“Birds that stopped migrating because of warm winters were caught off guard by harsh winters like this year,” Gakowska said. Due to the harsh conditions and insufficient nutrition, some birds developed anemia during the cold months, making them more susceptible to disease.

The emergency room was partially funded by Warsaw’s civic budget, a program that selects projects based on their popularity in online surveys of city residents.

Warsaw zoo workers say residents are more aware of providing help if they see a sick bird, though they caution against overzealousness, saying people should not pick up young and healthy birds they believe are orphans.

“In the spring, we always do an information campaign warning people not to ‘hijack’ birds,” said Gakovska. “Birds take care of their young differently than humans do. If we see a baby bird on grass, how can it be trained to fly independently?”

In a bird hospital, veterinary assistants are constantly on their feet, feeding and medicating different birds housed in multiple rooms depending on the species and level of illness.

Once the birds are strong, they are placed outside in large cages to acclimate them to their natural environment before being released.

The ultimate goal is to release cured birds back into their habitat, said veterinarian Evelina Chudziak.

“We are fighting for freedom,” he said.