The most common causes of songbird injury are collisions with cars or windows, dog or cat attacks and poisoning from lawn maintenance chemicals.

In most cases, mild to severe head trauma (concussion) is common and must be treated as soon as possible.

Handle the bird as little as possible, and very gently as broken bones are common.

Do not stress the bird by holding it or allowing people to “come look”. Humans are predators to a bird. The torment of prolonged handling or exposure to humans on top of its injury or orphaning may prove too great a shock to recover from. Every non-necessary exposure to humans worstens their chance of survival.