The impact was blunt and silent: a car drove along a road in Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire, England, leaving a tiny bird lying on the asphalt, unable to move.
A couple found it dazed and immediately took it to the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital. It was a garden warbler, a migratory bird that crosses from Africa to Europe every summer and is now on the amber list because of its declining population. The impact did not break its bones, but it damaged something just as vital: its nerves or ligaments, causing its tiny toes to curl inward, without the strength to grip any branch.
Amy Blower, the animal care team leader, and her team did not give up. They cut cardboard, added cotton for cushioning, and secured everything with medical tape to create tiny, handmade footwear that would keep its feet in the correct position while they healed. They had used this technique before, although almost always on chicks with nutritional problems, never on an adult after an accident like this.
Days after wearing those improvised sandals, the bird was able to stand on its feet again. Soon they will remove its bandages so it can resume, nonstop, the flight that brought it from Africa.