“He fell out of the nest two stories up yesterday. I think the parents have given up on him,” my friend told my 5 year old daughter after asking if “she wanted a baby bird” as we were leaving his house. My gut tightens- about the plight of the bird or my own plight of taking on the responsibility for a baby bird, I’m not quite sure. We end up with a bird in our car on the way home.
I call my 11 year old daughter and ask her to research how to take care of a baby blue jay. He is squawking in the background and she excitedly texts me minutes later with her plan. I pick her up and we head to the pet store for crickets and meal worms. Meanwhile, my 5 year old has made him a worm sandwich. He quiets down but isn’t sure what to make of the live worm, letting it wriggle right out of his mouth again. I contemplate whether I’ll have to put him in the garage if he keeps us awake squawking, but his is pretty quiet in his box with a fleece ‘nest.’
I wake up to feed him and recognize I still have a pretty uneasy feeling about whether we are really doing the right thing. I vaguely remember reading that most baby birds are better off left than removed from their environment, but I can’t really remember why. He seems strong and healthy.
An old high school friend sends me this link on Facebook after I mentioned my dilemma. Dr. Karen Becker confirms my fear: I have kidnapped a baby bird.
Instead of a little pink, featherless baby bird, you might run across one a bit older, a fledgling.
These are young birds that have outgrown the nest. Flying from the nest to the ground is instinctual in fledglings, but their landing and ground take off skills are still developing.
Fledglings spend several days to several weeks hopping around on the ground, learning hunting and foraging skills from their parents.
During this period in the fledgling’s development, the mother bird is usually within calling distance of her youngster. She will return intermittently to feed the fledgling while it learns how to find its own food on the ground and continues to mature.
As I read this, baby blue jay is hopping around my bed, fluttering over to my nightstand, and trying desperately to get out the window. I know if I let him out in my yard, he’s cat food for sure, as there is a tribe of feral cats in my neighborhood, and no mama blue jay. I put him back in his box, pack up his provisions, and drive him back to my friend’s yard. As I let him out of the box, he lets out a squawk, and I immediately hear his mother call out in response. I have to duck to get out of her way as she alights in the bush I put him under! I spread out the meal worms, raisins and crickets around him and get out of the way to allow their reunion, but not before asking her forgiveness.
Love this, Claire.
Claire, it made my day reading this–perfect vignette. Also reminds me of the scene in “The Shawshank Redemption” where the older prisoner has the baby bird inside his jacket pocket and feeds it.
Amazing photos! Birds are, I think, quite primal and frightening creatures. I really believe the whole dinosaur descent theory… they seem so calculating, so good at what they do.
And in this case, what they do is look after their children. It’s ‘built in’.
I love this Claire. I’m glad that you figured out what was going on. I think many times we find ourselves too removed from nature in our civilized lives to realize what our part is. What a wonderful reminder of how life is so much bigger than ourselves.
I’ve been wondering- if this story were told in General Conference, or one of Jesus’ parables, or one of the stories from Eastern philosophy, what would it be telling us?
What a great post, Claire! I’m trying to think of what this might be a parable for. I suppose the obvious meaning is that sometimes when we try to help, well, we aren’t actually helping. And there is a particular ‘white liberal guilt’ way of *helping* (not birds – lol!) that I sometimes find myself repeating. Maybe in our desires to help lies a bit of arrogance. ??? Such is the tiny seed that created colonialism, right? Or perhaps I’m stretching the message. The thing I get from your actions is that you (and me and all of us) are trying to do the right thing the best you know how. Keep it up! :)