A nocturnal bird is set to soar after an injury left it grounded in South Florida. The staff at Pelican Harbor Seabird Station took the bird into their custody to give it the help it needed to be on its way. The chunky bird, known as Chuck-will’s-widow, crashed into something while flying around and his muscles contracted on impact. “A good Samaritan found the bird on the ground sort of flailing around and knew that something wasn’t right and they were able to bring him to us for care,” said Renata Schneider, a veterinarian at Pelican Harbor Seabird Station. The bird turned its head and eyes up in an unusual position due to the injury. “Unfortunately, a lot of the migratory birds fly into things during the migration, windows, buildings, obstacles that we put in their way, and this bird came in with a severe neurologic presentation. Its head wandering around from head trauma, and unfortunately has a corneal ulcer, so both of the eyes are severely scratched from the trauma probably from the eyes being wide open when he smacked into a window or a building or whatever he hit,” said Schneider. The bird is known to be migratory, so it travels as the seasons change. In South Florida, these types of birds are usually seen in the fall and spring. The doctors at the Pelican Harbor hope the little bird can make a full recovery. “We do expect him to make a full recovery. We’re going to be treating his eyes three times a day with eye medication and do a little surgical procedure that will help him heal more quickly, and his neurologic signs have disappeared today,” said Schneider. The staff said the bird will be freed to continue its flight when it makes the recovery. “When we release this bird, it’s just going to continue its migratory path. They have signals in their brain, which tell them which way to go, so it’s going to keep going towards South America, whether it runs into its flock or not, it’s just going to keep heading south,” said Schneider. Doctors said they didn’t give the injured bird a name, as per their tradition. “We never name our wildlife patients. We rescue, rehabilitate, and release them and don’t want to have any sort of emotional attachment. We try to keep the wild animals wild,” said Schneider. So far in 2024, the Pelican Harbor has treated 32 Chuck-will’s-widow. The harbor said they are excited for ‘Give Miami Day’ happening on Nov. 21, which is its biggest fundraiser. Donations will help fund the treatment of all their injured patients.