How To Save a Mockingbird
Another Failure to Launch
Enter myself, a clumsy human male who knows nothing about wild birds.
I made an initial rescue attempt by catching the chick and stowing it in a bucket while my wife Robin (turns out Robins are fond of baby birds) fetched a ladder. I then risked my neck returning the juvenile to its nest 20 feet above the ground.
Twenty minutes later the kid was back on the ground and the exhausted parents were again engaged in a desperate struggle to keep the predators at bay. I took the little guy in the house and placed him in the guest bathroom while we tried to figure out what to do.
Robin did a little googling and discovered that the parents were intentionally kicking their offspring out of the nest to encourage it to launch. This is typical behavior and after ejection from the nest the adults care for the chick on the ground until it is able to fly. That is NOT A GOOD PLAN when your nest is in a back yard patrolled by a pit bull, a chow-Australian shepherd mix, and two cats. I put the little guy on the other side of the fence under a bush. Ma and Pa found him right away. I felt so proud of myself for saving that little life.
The next morning I went out back and, yes, another delinquent was in the back yard with Ma and Pa engaged in diversionary tactics with the local predators yet again. This one was more energetic and I had to chase him around the yard for a bit before I finally captured him and put him with his sibling. Meanwhile Ma (I think the big one is the female) managed to dive bomb me and punish my good deed with a sprinkling of pee and a peck to the top of my head.
I wonder how many more of those little snots are in that nest?
Published by Timothy Frazier
Tim is a freelance blogger and creative writer living in Grapevine, Texas. He enjoys riding his Triumph Rocket III, woodworking, and making his Grandson, Jade, giggle. He and his wonderful wife, Robin, ha... View profile
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1 Comments
Post a CommentI thought Robin figured that out a long time ago, are you just publishing your OLD life. I need to get the proper quote from Patty ... goes something like six days in the nest and three on the ground. I've seen your dogs and they run away from cats let alone birds, so I figure the birds were safe. Sometime we try to interfer with nature too much and maybe Darwin was right.