Netizen finds bird on balcony that is unable to fly, asks others what to do

Singapore — A member of the public took to Reddit, a popular social news website and forum, to ask others about how he should take care of a bird that seemed to have difficulty flying.

He asked others about what he should do in a subreddit known as “r/singapore”.

According to his caption, the netizen found the bird on his balcony on Friday (Aug 21) morning. The bird had been wet and cold when he first discovered it.

The netizen also mentioned that it did not appear to have sustained any injuries. However, it was still unable to fly even after he had let it rest for a while. As such, he took to the platform to ask others if they had any suggestions on how he could help the bird.

A few netizens urged the poster to contact Acres, a non-profit organization that provides around the clock wildlife rescue services.

One netizen, in particular, mentioned that Acres are normally quick to respond to queries and that she had previously reached out to them due to two separate incidents. In the first incident, the netizen found a monitor lizard in her garden; officers were soon sent to retrieve the monitor lizard after her request. On a separate occasion, an exotic bird flew into one of her windows and was left momentarily stunned before flying off.

Another netizen said that Acres would be able to identify the species of the bird and give instructions to the posters on how it should be properly cared for.

After reading other netizen’s comments, the poster shared an update saying that he contacted Acres via WhatsApp. Acres had later on told him that the bird was a swift and that swifts are not able to walk or take off from the ground. To allow the bird to fly, the poster must assist it in getting some elevation.  

Following Acres’ instructions, he put the swift in his hand and dropped it. While it did take a couple of tries, the bird eventually managed to lift off and fly out of his balcony to rejoin other swifts in a nearby tree.

Another curious netizen questioned what type of swift the bird was, to which another netizen responded, saying that it could be difficult to determine what species different swifts were even for birdwatchers with experience.

You Zi Xuan is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG