The adventures of Gilly the rescue horse and his side kick and partner in crime, Pokey the donkey.

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Being with a horse is a journey that never ends. What they have to teach us is amazing; but we must quiet our mind to hear them. ~ jca

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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

baby birds



Last week there was a storm here and a robins nest in our red maple tree was blown out on the ground. The three blue eggs were crushed and the baby robins inside, not yet ready to hatch didn't make it. The mud and stick nest laid in the yard for several days, I was going to move it when I mowed the yard in a day or so.

After feeding Gilly and Pokey that night I happened to walk past a pine tree in the yard; there on the ground was a baby bird. I didn't know what kind it was but it wasn't old enough to be out of the nest. Not wanting to bother it for fear the mother would not come back to it, I left it along. A few hours later I went back to look at the baby and there on the ground not far from it was another baby! I picked the one furtherest from the base of the tree and put it beside the other little one. Hoping that the cat wouldn't get them I went inside for the night.
Next morning on the way to the barn I looked to see if the babies were still there; and guess what??? There was a third baby on the ground!

Well, remembering what I was always told, never pick up a baby bird, the mother will not come back to it. How lucky those little birds were because the cat hadn't found them or didn't have bird on her menu at that time. Then I remembered the robin nest, picked it up and put the three little birds in it; they huddled together, ducking their heads as if to hide from me. I lifted the nest up into the pine tree to some branches just above eye level. These little guys had fallen out of a nest somewhere up in this tree but I couldn't reach or even see where they had come from.

I kept watching the nest, which I could see from the sunroom door. It wasn't too long before the mother bird, a house sparrow found her babies. She has been feeding them and cleaning the nest ever since. This has been almost a week now and the babies are growing bigger and stronger. Soon they will be ready to fly off! It's amazing to me that the sparrow accepted the babies after I handled them and that they are in a robin's nest! As you can see though the family is doing fine!

13 comments:

Alice ~ Folk Art Primitives said...

Oh, Jane ~ you did a good thing!! I would have been leary, too, of touching them but You saved their little lives!!! And your reward is watching them grow up!!
Alice

Jacque. said...

Hey Jane...LOVE those photos of the baby birds...waiting for an update. I'm so glad that it all worked out for the babies.
Jacque.

Annie Jeffries said...

I am so happy to read this. I've run across several baby bird stories this week. This happy ending tops them all. If you don't mind, I would like to like your story to my June 17th post.

jane augenstein said...

Annie,
Yes, you can use the story!
Jane

trailbee said...

I used Annie's link. Great, great story. My quail babies were definitely not this lucky. I think they were hors d'oeuvres, all 8.

jane augenstein said...

Oh, so sorry to hear that! I guess my birds were very lucky little guys. I am still amazed that the mom would take care of them in a different nest than her own; they were very lucky and had a very good mom!
Jane

Anonymous said...

I've flown over from Annie's! Great to read about the happy ending!

Beth said...

Thats an amazing story. I Love Birds. I have a sparrow nest right by my deck door. I am hoping that when they hatch and fly away that my Kitty will be inside. Those are great pics too. I came from Annie's blog.
xooxoxoxo

susanna said...

Oh my gosh, I just had a similar experience with baby bluejays although yours ended on a happier note. When I called a wildbird sanctuary, they told me that it's a myth that mother birds will reject their young after humans touch them. So it IS okay to pick them up and put them back in their nest, if they have fallen out. You did the perfect thing by putting them in another nest. Plus, I think sparrows tend to steal other bird's nests, anyway, so I don't think your mama bird would have minded a move to a new neighborhood! You're a bird angel!

jane augenstein said...

Thanks Susanna,
Someone else said that maybe the "don't touch the baby birds or the mother won't come back" is something told to children so they won't bother the nest. Good story cause it made me never touch a bird nest but this time I just had to try and help the babies. My cat had been outside for days and for some reason never bother the birds! Amazing, maybe she isn't such a stinker cat after all!! LOL
I don't know about the angel part, LOL, but I am glad the babies lived and are out on their own now.

GoldieLoo Woodworks said...

Jane that is so neat ! I would have never dreamed that the mother would have taken them back after all that but thank goodness she did and thank goodness for you, their angel. ;)~~Pam

Kahshe Cottager said...

I came by way of Annie's blog and I was so happy to read your story. It was nice to hear a happy ending!

Lisa said...

My sister, who's a birder, explained it to me: birds don't have a sense of smell, so they don't *know* you've handled their babies.

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