My daughter yesterday was playing in the backyard. She stopped to check the pond (just a small kit that we put in a few years back) and discovered a baby bird stuck in the water and it was near death. She was so upset, so I decided to go in, grab the bird and see if I could save it. Sometimes, animal rescue shows are a great form of education!!
My husband grabbed a junky towel and we wrapped the bird up. It wasn't acting scared, never made a move to peck me, it was shaking something fierce though, so my daughter and I took shifts and held it against us wrapped in the blanket hoping to get it warmed back up. Eventually she grew tired of it, so I took over and used the towel to dry off as much of the bird's feathers as possible. It was a small grackle and the mother sat watching me from the tree, not attacking, so I'm guessing she'd figured her baby was a lost cause.
Two hours passed and suddenly the little guy started squirming just a little. So I moved him/her to a sunny spot on the deck (hawks are common around here and two were overhead, so I made sure he was hidden from sight). Another hour passed and he suddenly stood up by himself and started watching us. He still made no move to attack, so I figure all was well and my husband and I sat back and watched him.
At this point, Jess was excited because his breathing seemed back to normal and he'd stopped shaking. He started squawking about 20 minutes later and his mom flew to the bird feeders, repeated his noises, flew off to the tree and kept repeating that pattern. To our amazement this little bird that I figured was going to die, stretched his wings and flew over the deck rail to join his mom in the tree.
I know they say if you see a wild animal in trouble - leave it be. I guess it isn't in my nature to just let something like a bird die. Jess is overjoyed that she saved this bird's life and I have to say, it is an amazing feeling to see something go from limp and gasping for air to alert and flying.
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I had a similar experience not long ago. My husband and I took our little red T top sport car and went to have a Sunday brunch. It was a lovely day so we took the tops off. We parked the car where we could see it from the restaurant window and in a little while noticed a bird perched on the T.
When we later came out to the car the bird was still there. I reached out to take him off and he allowed me to do it. I took him over to a grassy area that had some shrubs along the side of a building (for the same reason you hid your bird) and set him on the grass. He just sat there.
The husband was waiting alongside the car tapping his toes.
The bird seemed unharmed and in no distress so I gave him some shooing motions to the tail area and away he went. Just flew off like a bat out of ... well he flew off pretty fast.
I never did figure out what was wrong with it and why it was sunbathing on my car. Or most surprisingly why it allowed me to pick it up.
But it turned out to be a happy ending... for a change.
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