Bone fractures and ligament tears
a) Wing
If your foundling has a broken or dislocated wing, things usually look bad for it. Swifts are high-performance fliers for whom an intact flight apparatus is vital. During their lives, which can last over 20 years, they cover an annual flight distance of approximately 200,000 km. Always remember that there are no compromises for a swift: It must be able to fly perfectly - or will perish miserably. Nevertheless, one should not despair from the outset if a wing is drooping: There are also favorable cases that can be healed. The bird-experienced veterinarian will take an X-ray and assess the situation.
b) Shoulder girdle
The most important bones of the shoulder girdle in birds are the delicate furcula (wishbone) and the strong coracoid that supports flight movement. When a swift crashes at high speed into an obstacle, fractures of these bones and torn ligaments are not uncommon - and always hopeless. Externally, usually nothing more can be seen than that the swift cannot fly or can only fly a very short distance. And that when placed briefly on its back for a test (the so-called "turning test"), it cannot turn itself back over on its own - which it would immediately do with an intact shoulder girdle! Precisely because these fatal injuries are not as obvious as a wing fracture, one can hardly believe that there is no rescue here. The veterinarian can show you a shoulder girdle injury on the X-ray.
c) Leg
Leg fractures often occur when a young bird falls from the nest or when a swift gets tangled in a thread at its nesting site and tries in vain to free itself. Unfortunately, it happens repeatedly that such a bird then hangs helplessly on the roof below its nesting cavity and without attentive neighbors and a dedicated local fire department is condemned to an unspeakably agonizing death lasting many days. However, if it has the fortune to be rescued, one often deals with a severely swollen, twisted, or even dead foot, and veterinary help is necessary. A broken leg, when immobilized by the veterinarian with a small bandage around the body, generally heals without complications, and a slight misalignment does not impair the bird. In the case of a complicated leg fracture, a foot hanging only by tendons and skin, or a dead limb, the veterinarian should perform an amputation under general anesthesia. It has been proven that swifts with only one leg can easily live and even breed.
d) Beak
Beak fractures rarely result from accidents, but almost always from careless or too rough feeding: Often the fingernail is placed only at the beak tip and the lower mandible is forcibly bent down, which then almost always breaks the fine bone. This fracture is unnecessary and avoidable and can lead to severe deformations! Sometimes the fracture no longer heals together due to constant movement during feeding, the bone ends dry out, infections spread under the defective horn sheath and into the bone - the swift is lost. But even if the bone pieces somehow grow back together, the upper and lower beak often no longer close precisely over each other later; uncontrolled horn growth can be the result. In the worst case, parts of the horn sheath of the beak or even the beak tip break off - a death sentence! Handling a swift with a broken beak requires great expertise and the utmost gentleness and caution when feeding. Fixation by the veterinarian as soon as possible is advised.
Bruises
Bruises, especially of the shoulder, are common in swifts and clinically present similarly to a bone fracture or ligament tear in the shoulder girdle. When performing the turning test, the affected swift also cannot turn over from its back. However, the shoulder looks symmetrical. If the swift does not extend a wing, favors it, or presses it firmly against the body, an X-ray must absolutely be taken. Because a bruise, although extremely painful, is curable! Usually the swift begins to carefully move the wing again after a few days. After that, continuous improvement can be observed, and after about 10 to 14 days, one should carefully begin physiotherapy (training on the ground or in the curtain). Experience shows that after about three to six weeks, flight capability is fully restored.
Wounds, bites
Take a wounded swift to a bird-experienced veterinarian immediately. They can decide whether the animal must be euthanized or can be treated, will perform wound care, possibly suture, and carry out the necessary antibiotic treatment. Often an infusion with restorative preparations is also necessary, especially if the swift has lost a lot of blood.
Greasy ointments, strongly adhesive bandages, and the like must absolutely be avoided with swifts, the plumage must not be damaged!
If the birds wounds came from a cat, it must receive a suitable antibiotic as quickly as possible. Every hour counts! The claws cause needle-fine, highly infectious injuries, while untreated cat bites have a fatal effect within a very short time. Pasteurella, bacterial pathogens, are transmitted into the birds bloodstream through cat saliva and lead to death by septicemia (blood poisoning) after one to two days, as birds are very sensitive to these pathogens.
Eye injuries
Eye injuries in swifts usually have a poor prognosis. Do not wait, go to the veterinarian immediately! Behind severe swelling, bloody crusts, etc., there is usually a destroyed eye, e.g., a lens detachment or similar. A swift cannot live with only one eye, as it would then lack spatial vision and could no longer catch food. Moreover, eye injuries are extremely painful! The veterinarians advice to relieve the bird of its suffering must absolutely be followed!
Bleeding
Bleeding from the nose or beak often occurs after collisions. Carefully remove blood accumulations from the throat with a cotton swab, otherwise the bird can suffocate! Furthermore, emergency veterinary care is needed. Bleeding from the ear is characteristic of a basilar skull fracture; only euthanasia remains.
Profuse bleeding, which can reach alarming proportions, occurs for example when a claw breaks off or is torn off, or when a young swift loses a growing feather still in its blood quill. A bleeding claw can be pressed into a piece of soap to stop the bleeding, but for a broken blood quill there is no home remedy. You can try to hold a sterile compress on the break point with gentle pressure until it finally stops bleeding. After that, the stump of the broken blood quill must dry out thoroughly, which usually takes about 8-10 days, and then be carefully removed to allow a new feather to grow. Swifts whose feathers are still growing must be handled with utmost care to avoid damaging their blood quills!
Flight feather damage
While nutrition-related feather damage will be discussed in detail under "Malnutrition", it should be pointed out here that swifts with presumably accident-related feather damage repeatedly come into human hands: with bent, broken, or missing flight feathers for unknown reasons.
Such damage is usually asymmetric and limited to only one wing (in contrast to genetically caused or nutrition-induced feather defects, which usually occur symmetrically).
If you have a swift with flight feather damage, you should definitely contact the DGfM and hand the bird over to the Swift Clinic in Frankfurt/Main, as this offers the best chances of restoring its flight capability.
If this is not possible, the difficult decision about what should happen to the "unlucky bird" must ultimately be made by the veterinarian. They can certainly carefully remove the damaged flight feathers under general anesthesia. However, the quills of the large primary feathers are extremely firmly anchored - right into the forearm bone! - and the risk is great of causing severe injuries even with expert removal. Often no new feather grows back, or only a deformed one, because the feather follicle was destroyed or injured. Even in the most favorable case, it takes at least seven to eight weeks before the new flight feathers are fully grown.
The pushing of new feathers is usually accompanied by many complications. "Feather pushers" are often very restless and repeatedly ruin their new blood quills. The long captivity necessary to wait for new feathers also represents a considerable psychological and physical burden for the swift. Its flight muscles atrophy, its immune system weakens, and it becomes susceptible to infections. And even with balanced feeding and addition of minerals, growth disorders of the new feathers can occur. Therefore, based on experience, pulling damaged primary flight or tail feathers is not recommended!
The falconry method of imping, i.e., attaching intact feathers to the quills of damaged ones, can be the salvation in such cases, but is by no means a routine operation for swifts. The advantages are clear: Just a few days after the operation, the imped swift can take off into freedom again. Especially for a breeding adult swift that has young in the nest at home, this is invaluable, as otherwise presumably not only it but also its brood would be lost.
Imping a swift requires a lot of practice and suitable feather material. At the Swift Clinic, this operation saves dozens of swifts lives every year.
Diseases
Nothing is known about infectious diseases in free-living swifts. The diseases observed so far in swifts in human care were almost exclusively attributable to poor hygiene, housing and feeding errors by the finders or carers of the affected birds and manifested as throat inflammations, imbalances of the gastrointestinal tract with severe digestive disorders, respiratory diseases, as well as liver, kidney, skeletal, and secondary feather damage. Contact with ornamental and wild birds of other species also led in some cases to transmission of infectious diseases to the swift (e.g., ornithosis). Unsuitable medications (e.g., sprays against parasites) caused severe intoxications in several cases, not infrequently with fatal consequences.
If your swift foundling shows unspecific symptoms such as apathy, respiratory distress, paralysis, ruffled feathers, hunched back, noticeably pale, yellowish, or bluish mucous membranes, foul-smelling or sweetish-smelling throat coatings, swollen eyelids, soiled plumage below the tail, foul-smelling droppings, present it to a veterinarian specializing in domestic and wild birds. A bacteriological and mycological examination can lead the right way.
A number of often very stubborn bacterial smear infections and fungal diseases can be caused primarily by poor hygiene during feeding and preparation of feeding equipment. The outbreak of such infections is promoted by improper nutrition, deficiency states, and a weakened immune system. In most cases, they manifest in the throat and respiratory tract. Clearly recognizable changes occur in the throat (whitish or brownish spots, coatings and crusts, slimy threads, sweetish or foul odor, etc.), smacking respiratory sounds, and even respiratory distress. The throat of swifts that have not yet been in human hands is usually sterile. "Pre-treated" swifts, on the other hand, often show a broad spectrum of germs, various bacteria, and also yeasts (Candida). While the latter are relatively easy to combat, bacterial pathogens require extensive treatment and have even proven therapy-resistant in not a few cases, leading to the death of the affected swift! Bacteriological and mycological examination of a throat swab as well as an antibiogram are necessary for successful treatment of a throat infection, as increasing resistance to common antibiotics is also being observed in wild birds.
Swifts are highly susceptible to mold fungi (Aspergillus). The fungal spores are found everywhere and frolic even in the cleanest carpet or curtain. Transmission from bird to bird is not possible; the spores are inhaled from the environment and then germinate within hours in the moist, warm respiratory system of the bird. Immunocompromised swifts or those currently receiving antibiotic therapy are particularly easy victims of aspergillosis. When the fungi spread in the trachea, they can kill the affected bird within a few hours: It suffocates in agony while fully conscious. Therefore, prophylactic administration of an antifungal agent is advisable for particularly weak swifts. And an antibiotic must never be given without simultaneously protecting the bird with an anti-mold agent!
First warning signs of aspergillosis: mouth breathing, lethargy, respiratory sounds. At this stage, immediate therapy may still be successful. However, if squeaking sounds occur, which can appear completely without prior warning signs, and the swift is visibly gasping for air, it should be euthanized immediately to spare it the cruel death by suffocation.
Mold fungi are not to be trifled with. Their perhaps most spectacular public appearance was in the 1920s as the "Curse of the Pharaoh", when a 3000-year-old and extremely aggressive Aspergillus niger led to the death of several prominent Egyptologists!
Improper feeding also makes a swift sick - seriously sick even! More about this under "Malnutrition".
Parasites
Parasite infestation is not to be considered a disease but can under certain circumstances contribute to making a swift sick. In principle, no parasite has an interest in permanently harming or even killing its host, as it would also mean its own death. But with a very weakened, malnourished swift with severely reduced immune status, parasite infestation can of course become a problem.
As with most animals, swifts also have ecto- and endoparasites. Ectoparasites include harmless feather lice, which mainly live on shed feather material and are easy to observe (and collect!) when they drink tear fluid at the swifts eye.
More unpleasant is the blood-sucking swift louse fly (Crataerina pallida), which remotely resembles a housefly in size and appearance but has reduced wings and feet equipped with many barbs. It cannot fly, but moves incredibly fast forward, likes to jump onto humans, and is practically impossible to crush with fingers due to its hard armor. Particularly panicky contemporaries have reportedly already gone at them with a hammer! (of course not while they were sitting on a swift!!!)
For humans, the ectoparasites of swifts are not dangerous, at most annoying, and are often simply perceived as disgusting. It is best and gentlest to pick feather lice and louse flies off your patient with your fingers and destroy them. Those who find this disgusting can also distribute a small pinch of insect powder suitable for birds (e.g., "Bolfo" powder) in the neck feathers of the bird. No sprays! The agent must not get into the swifts eyes and beak.
Occasionally, the red bird mite is found on swifts, but not as an actual swift parasite, rather as an unwanted "addition" from old sparrow nests on which they sometimes raise their brood. Tiny moving red dots spreading around your patient should alarm you. The red bird mite is an opportunistic bloodsucker that torments its victims mainly at night and, if it no longer finds a bird, also makes do with humans. Diligently crush the swarming pests and have your veterinarian apply a drop of the antiparasitic "Ivomec-S" to your swifts neck or nape skin. That is sufficient.
Another mite, newly discovered in swifts and possibly also an "emigrant" from other bird nests, is a suction mite about 1 mm in size that parasitizes in the nostrils of plagued swifts and can occur there in astonishing numbers. A sign of this is watery "cold" that does not respond to any treatment with nose drops or similar. Looking very closely, one can then occasionally recognize the nasal mites as small reddish-brown dots in the nostrils of the swift. They have also been found in the Alpine swift, the large relative of the common swift!
The veterinarian can carefully remove the mites sitting at the front from the birds nose. Furthermore, a drop of "Ivomec-S" applied to the skin of the neck or nape also helps here.
Presumably most swifts are also infested with endoparasites. Tapeworms, roundworms, and hairworms have been documented multiple times in the past, parasitizing in the gut of the swift and under special conditions can lead to the death of the bird (e.g., when an accumulation of worms causes intestinal obstruction). With heavy infestation, such worms can sometimes even be recognized with the naked eye in the droppings.
Swifts that eat poorly, do not gain weight, and waste away are suspect for heavy endoparasite infestation and should definitely be treated.
Of course, you can have a veterinarian perform a fecal examination for tapeworms, roundworms, and hairworms. Two different examinations are necessary for this, a sedimentation and a flotation. Whether the effort is worthwhile is questionable. First, worm eggs are only sporadically excreted, so you can even examine fecal samples multiple times without finding anything. Second, a recent study by the Ornamental and Wild Bird Clinic of the Veterinary University of Hanover on deceased swifts of various ages found that tapeworms of a previously unknown species occurred without exception in the intestines of the animals.
Therefore, a general prophylactic deworming of the swift patient makes sense. However, the correct medications from avian practice must absolutely be used, as most antiparasitics common in small animal medicine are not suitable for birds!!!