{"id":44937,"date":"2026-03-20T22:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T22:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/44937\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T22:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T22:31:20","slug":"ae-for-injured-wild-birds-opens-at-warsaw-zoo-in-poland-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/44937\/","title":{"rendered":"A&E for injured wild birds opens at Warsaw Zoo in Poland"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a male bullfinch smashed into Marcin Jarz\u0119bski\u2019s apartment window, he took it in but realised it needed expert treatment.<\/p>\n

So the next morning he took it to Warsaw\u2019s new emergency room for wild birds.<\/p>\n

He placed the tiny, plump bird with a black head, grey back and reddish chest feathers into a shoebox and took it as one of the first patients to the new drop-off centre for sick and injured birds at the entrance of Warsaw Zoo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bird stayed with us overnight, but unfortunately it probably has a broken wing so we took it to the bird hospital,\u201d Mr Jarzebski said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The 24\/7 emergency room in the Polish capital is actually a system of automated metal containers, something like a parcel room, where the containers can keep the birds warm in winter.<\/p>\n

The boxes send an immediate signal to the bird hospital just a few metres away, where vets take the birds for diagnosis and treatment.<\/p>\n

Mr Jarzebski filled out a questionnaire and carefully placed the shoebox and the paper form into one of the containers, assured that the bullfinch would now have its best chance of surviving.<\/p>\n

The box system, based on ideas of from workers at the bird hospital, locks the birds in to keep them safe until a doctor can collect them.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The drop-off centre, opened in February, is boosting the efficiency of a bird hospital that has operated at Warsaw Zoo since 1998 and now treats about 9,000 patients annually.<\/p>\n

It is the brainchild of the zoo director, ornithologist Andrzej Kruszewicz, who said that people have a responsibility to care for creatures whose habitat they have altered, such as that of the bullfinch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bird is a child of the forest who, during migration, didn\u2019t understand the window,\u201d Mr Kruszewicz said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumans often cause problems: car accidents, crashes into windows, electrocutions, tangled strings on storks\u2019 legs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this is humans\u2019 fault and they should feel responsible to give these birds a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Typical patients at the Warsaw Zoo include common songbirds like tits, sparrows, thrushes and starlings, as well as pigeons.<\/p>\n

However, in a green city like Warsaw, which has the river Vistula running through it, rarer species also can appear.<\/p>\n

Hospital manager Andzelika Gackowska says that warm winters caused by climate change have meant birds that were previously migrating south, including cranes or herons, are choosing to stay in Poland.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirds who stopped migrating because of warm winters were caught off guard by such a harsh winter as this year,\u201d Ms Gackowska said.<\/p>\n

Some birds developed anaemia during the cold months because of tough conditions and insufficient nutrition, making them more vulnerable to disease.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The emergency room was financed in part with money from Warsaw\u2019s citizen budget, a programme that chooses projects based on their popularity in online surveys of city residents.<\/p>\n

Warsaw Zoo workers say residents have become more conscious about providing help if they see a sick bird, although they also warn against overzealousness, saying that people should not pick up young and healthy birds that they might believe are orphans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn spring, we always make an information campaign warning people not to \u2018kidnap\u2019 birds,\u201d Ms Gackowska said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirds take care of their small ones differently than humans. If we see a baby bird on the grass alone, it is likely just training how to fly independently.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the bird hospital, vet assistants are constantly on their feet, feeding and giving medicine to the various birds, located across multiple rooms depending on species and degree of illness.<\/p>\n

Once birds are stronger, they are placed in large cages outside, to readjust to their natural environment before being released.<\/p>\n

Releasing the cured birds back into their habitat is the ultimate goal, vet Ewelina Chudziak said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fighting for freedom,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a male bullfinch smashed into Marcin Jarz\u0119bski\u2019s apartment window, he took it in but realised it needed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[24074,182,181,24075],"class_list":{"0":"post-44937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-warsaw","8":"tag-bird-hospital","9":"tag-poland","10":"tag-warsaw","11":"tag-warsaw-zoo"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116263877634502089","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}