Right at the end of school, we had the most unexpected afternoon. As the girls walked from the car to our front door, they began yelling, "What is that?" They had found the creature in the picture below quivering on our sidewalk.
At first, I couldn't answer their question. I had no idea what this tiny, little featherless creature was. It looked like a miniature dinosaur. It was with that thought that I realized it was a brand new baby bird that had fallen from its nest. My little scientist girls have been telling me that birds and dinosaurs are related and I suddenly believed it.
I was not hopeful for our little baby bird and I tried to prepare the girls that he/she was unlikely to make it. Using large, thick leaves I moved the bird off the sidewalk and on to soft mulch where he would be safer. I then called our local nature center to see if anything could be done. The person who answered the phone was incredibly helpful and provided a great deal of information--which made me think the nature center gets call like mine a lot. I was told that, if possible, the best thing to do is to put the baby bird back in the nest. However, I had no idea where the nest was. We have two large trees whose limbs come together right where the baby bird fell. From the ground, I was unable to spot a nest in either tree.
The next best thing is to leave the baby bird in a safe place (which we had done) and wait to see if the parent birds find the baby. Apparently, birds are quite good at locating their babies and will even feed them on the ground. I was given the number of a wildlife rescue organization who might take the bird if the parents did not locate the baby. We waited inside (so we wouldn't scare the parent birds away), but luckily we had placed the baby near a window and the girls kept a quiet eye on him. After a few minutes our hopes were raised when it appeared a parent bird had located the baby and was feeding the baby. But soon thereafter Meg informed me that the baby bird was no longer moving. I went to check and it was clear the baby bird had died.
We decided to bury the poor little baby bird under our crepe myrtle tree. After the burial, the girls marked the grave.
I was not hopeful for our little baby bird and I tried to prepare the girls that he/she was unlikely to make it. Using large, thick leaves I moved the bird off the sidewalk and on to soft mulch where he would be safer. I then called our local nature center to see if anything could be done. The person who answered the phone was incredibly helpful and provided a great deal of information--which made me think the nature center gets call like mine a lot. I was told that, if possible, the best thing to do is to put the baby bird back in the nest. However, I had no idea where the nest was. We have two large trees whose limbs come together right where the baby bird fell. From the ground, I was unable to spot a nest in either tree.
The next best thing is to leave the baby bird in a safe place (which we had done) and wait to see if the parent birds find the baby. Apparently, birds are quite good at locating their babies and will even feed them on the ground. I was given the number of a wildlife rescue organization who might take the bird if the parents did not locate the baby. We waited inside (so we wouldn't scare the parent birds away), but luckily we had placed the baby near a window and the girls kept a quiet eye on him. After a few minutes our hopes were raised when it appeared a parent bird had located the baby and was feeding the baby. But soon thereafter Meg informed me that the baby bird was no longer moving. I went to check and it was clear the baby bird had died.
We decided to bury the poor little baby bird under our crepe myrtle tree. After the burial, the girls marked the grave.
They then followed this up with a rendition of Ave Maria.
Several weeks have passed now. We still remember our little baby bird and talk about him often. We do so wish we could have seen him grow bigger, but we feel very blessed to have seen such a magnificent piece of nature up close for even the briefest time.
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