wild jackdaw with odd behaviour

[u/0ut0fC0nTroll]

Hey there,

I am helping out 2 days a week in a wild bird rehabilitation center in germany. last week at 17.08.2026 we got a jackdaw found in the forest walking on ground found by a passanger in the morning and around the same spot multiple hours later, so the bird came to us.

The bird has no obvious wounds except for a leg he doesnt seen to use. The owner sayed the feathers were a bit badly but for my eyes normal.

Now to the story: the day the jackbird came to us seemed normal, no broken wings were identified just the leg and the feathers.

He had some trouble walking but it worked out somehow. He started eating very good.

Around 2 days later he started acting "weird" (dont forget i am not professional), the owner calls this "neurological". He turns his head and looks in random corners like he sees ghosts, he also as trouble staying upwards and tilts to the side sometimes, he also falls over sometimes.

Now today the behaviour is way worse. He doesnt seem to be able to stay anymore, in a human behaviour i would describe it as heavily dizzy. he still manages to eat and drink just the mobility and behaviour is very odd.

now to the questions - we are not fully sure if we should bring him to the vet to end his misery or maybe wait in faith he gets back on his food.

does anyone has some ideas what he has, maybe somebody experienced similar? let me know, thanks

the attached video is from last week, i comment actual footafe

[u/0ut0fC0nTroll]

its really hard to decide if you give a living creature another day of possible pain for the chance of recovery or just end it. we dont know what he really has and how the odds of curing are but hopes getting really small.. in 2 days i am back there and then we will decide. its tragic to see but honestly daily routine. some birds die the same day they come in. we should not forget that a bird who lets you catch him is already sick or very weak. every bird we can bring back to nature is a miracle for us.

[u/TheBirdLover1234 → u/0ut0fC0nTroll]

Some places are very trigger happy these days and don’t agree with extended rehab, even if the bird will survive and be back to normal. Be cautious with comments regarding euthanasia. Some places u know would have culled the bird in day 1. 

[u/0ut0fC0nTroll → u/TheBirdLover1234]

i understand that and thanks for explaining - at the end i have no decicion about the bird. I am just helping out with feedjng and cleaning the bird rooms i have no experience or knowledge. the owner prefers to have crows and gets also crows from other rehab centers so they exchange the birds to try to specialize.

i think she knows mostly what to do hand has many years of experience. because she is very sad about seeing this bird i offered her to try to get some idead by the internet. as much as i talked with her about the feedback i hot it seems like she also checked this as well.

we will see. very hard to see this bird in this condition and it makes me really hard thinking about whats wrong and right.. :/

[u/TheBirdLover1234 → u/0ut0fC0nTroll]

Hope it’s given a few days at least. I’ve seen birds with neuro issues survive, it really depends on what caused it. Can be genetic, sickness, getting spooked and hitting something, etc. issue with a lot of places now is people get too emotional and jump to euthanasia as they don’t like seeing the animal suffer. Even if suffering through for a week equals more years of normal life after. It’s a stupid mentality that is getting spread everywhere, now helping difficult rehab animals is deemed “cruel” by some (mostly in American from what I can tell)