December 22, 2023
Meriann Shepherd Top Contributor This little sweetie had a rough lesson today from a pet cat. As you can see there is not a single tail feather left. Though he can still sort of hop fly, it’s not well enough to evade predators. Any time a bird has been in a cats mouth, it needs to come in to a rehabber. Cats have particularly nasty bacteria in their saliva that nearly always results in deadly infection. This immature golden-crowned sparrow will receive antibiotics for a week and then go to a bigger flight pen to regrow a few feathers. He already seems to approve of the buffet.