Bird Drama

I saw this little bird on the sidewalk, head under wing, breathing very shallowly. There was no sign of blood, feathers, carnage...but oh dear. I had Tallulah, so we kept walking; I figured I'd circle back and see if it was still there on the ground. It was. Starting to really worry now...

I went home, looked up what to do with a sick or injured bird (I went to the Project Wildlife website, the very same place I blogged about yesterday). Instructions were to place it in a box, in a towel, and bring it to their facility. I punched a million air holes in a shoebox, grabbed a dish towel, and set off. The bird was still on the sidewalk, still breathing, still with head under wing.

As I tried to wrap the towel around it, it woke up, startled, and fluttered about 2 feet away. I tried again, it flew a few feet. We did this dance three times, and I decided it was actually just fine. I heard a lot of twittering in the tree above, so my final conclusion--confirmed by the Project Wildlife folks--is that this is a fledgling, just learning to fly; the parents were probably in the tree above, watching out for Junior.

Learning to fly is exhausting (obviously!), so this little dude or dudette was just having a little rest. In future, I'd like to have a talk with him and tell him that I'm not sure the sidewalk is a best place for sleepies, but hey. No sign of the bird when I swung back by about 15 minutes later (yes, I am obsessed, why do you ask?). All's well that ends well!