Found a Bird in Winter? Emergency Cold-Weather Care in Canada

If you've found a pet bird outdoors during a Canadian winter, time is critical. Tropical companion birds — budgies, cockatiels, parrots — cannot survive long in the cold. A bird that lets you approach it outside is almost certainly an exhausted, hypothermic escaped pet that needs warmth immediately. Here's what to do.

Step 1: Warm It Up Safely

A cold bird is an emergency. Get it indoors and warm it gradually — never with direct high heat.

• - Place it in a small box or carrier in a warm, quiet room (around 26–30°C).
• - A heating pad set to low under one half of the carrier (so the bird can move off it) works well.
• - Cover the carrier partially to hold warmth and reduce stress.
• - Do not submerge a cold bird in warm water or use a hair dryer up close.

Step 2: Offer Warmth Before Food

A hypothermic bird should be warmed before it tries to eat. Once it's warm, alert, and perching, offer a little millet, seed, or warm (not hot) soft food and fresh water. Don't force-feed.

Step 3: Watch for Trouble

Get to an avian vet promptly if the bird is fluffed and unresponsive, breathing with effort, has any injury, or doesn't perk up once warm. Frostbite on feet and prolonged cold stress can be serious. Not sure who to call? See choosing an avian veterinarian, and it helps to have an avian first-aid kit on hand.

Step 4: Find the Owner

Once the bird is stable, its family is almost certainly searching frantically:

1. List it as found on our portal — submit a found report so it's matched against lost-bird listings across Canada, and check the lost listings for a match.
2. Hold back one identifying detail and ask anyone who claims it to describe a specific marking — this protects against false claims.
3. Check for a leg band, and call nearby vets and shelters (owners call those first).
4. Cross-post to local Facebook lost-pet groups and Nextdoor.

If No Owner Is Found

If, after genuine searching, no owner comes forward, a reputable rescue or our bird rehoming portal can help place the bird in a screened, loving home. For the general found-bird playbook in any season, read I found a pet bird — what should I do?.

Found a bird out in the cold? Warm it first, then report it here to start the search for its family.