Bird Rescue 101

So, we had some friends over to my parents house on Saturday night.  Grilled up some steaks... roasted marshmallows, that whole thing.  My parent's have a small "Fire pit"... well, not really a pit, but it's a thing you put fire in.  Ha ha!  We had moved that thing out onto the lawn and were all sitting around it watching Sam eat the biggest smore I have ever seen!  We called it the "Big Mac" smore.  Which consisted of, 3 full graham cracker, 2 jumbo marshmallows, and 2 big squares of chocolate.  It was huge!

My dog Maggie was out in the yard as well. She spent most of her time just lying down by the group, but she would get bored and wander the yard every once and a while.  I happened to be watching her as she headed over by the west side of the house.  I see her pick something up and begin trotting back out into the middle of the yard.  She dropped whatever it was she had.  I thought to myself, "That's pretty big... what is it..?"  Then it moved!  It was trying to get away from Maggie and she was following close behind and picked it up again.  Don't worry, by this time, I'm running, screaming and waving my arms, to get Maggie to get away from whatever it was.  When I get close I see that it's a baby bird!!  I'm freaking out now.  I don't want a bird to die at the hands of my dog!  I turned away to chase Maggie away and when I turned back I couldn't find it....

I ran frantically around the area searching for the bird, which I finally found over by one of the big trees in the yard.  It's left wing was kind of open out sideways.   I feared the worst.  I was going to pick it up but I was afraid of hurting it, as well as getting some weird disease. Cameron came over and said that I could just pick it up since it was still alive.  I yelled to Houston to go grab some gloves anyway.  When he got over I just let him do the catching, as I held the flashlight. 

Lets just say, this bird was not very happy about getting picked up.  It started squawking, and flailing.  Houston ended up dropping it.  It was trying to get away with Houston in hot pursuit!  Maggie saw it again.  "I'm gonna get it this time," was the look on her face.  I start screaming and chasing her away.  I ran back to where the bird was.  Not only was the bird in a panic, so was it's mother.  She was flying all around and making the most frantic noises.  I finally got the idea to grab a bucket and try to get it into that, but by the time I got back, Houston had gotten it safely into his cupped hands.  P. S.  Sam, Cameron, and Justin  had gotten Maggie into the house after I chased her that second time.

Now what to do with it..?  I knew where it's nest had to be because I had seen Maggie staring up into the tree it was in with that frantic sound coming from above.  So we headed that way.  We couldn't get it back to the nest, but I figured we could at least set it on a branch so Maggie couldn't reach it. When we got it onto the branch we checked it out and that wing that I thought was broken wasn't (Thank goodness!) 

I was so worried about it.  I didn't want the bird to die of stress or something.  I had to let the dogs out again before bed but I was not about to let Maggie find the birds location.  So my plan was to stand over by that end of the yard and not let her over.  When I let her and Hanna out, sure enough, Maggie goes running for the tree where we had found the bird during the chase.  She followed the scent of where the bird had gone while Houston was trying to catch it.  Once it got to the point where it was picked up she got really confused.  She had lost the scent.  I did check to see if the bird was still there, and it was. 

Yesterday morning was kept wondering if I should feed it or something.  I should mention that it wasn't a tiny baby.  some of it's big feathers were coming in.  So, I thought maybe I could find a worm or something and feed it.  I decided to look it up.  Good thing I did!  This is what I read....Help.... I Found A Baby Bird!

This was perfect!  The bird was a fledgling.  So I felt pretty good that we had got it pretty much back the spot where Maggie picked it up, and that it's parent's would continue to care for it.

 ^^^ It looked like this ^^^

Yesterday I came back over to check on it.  It had jumped from the tree and was over by the fence, bad spot in my opinion, but I kept Maggie away so it would be safe.   Then last night when I came back over to stay with the dogs (my parents are in California)  I went to check on it.  I couldn't find it at all.  Worried...Yes. 

I searched the area for about 10 minutes and couldn't find it. :(  I figured it was just because it was dark so I headed to bed and would check again in the morning.  This morning came and I went to check.  I couldn't find the baby, but I saw the mother overhead chattering with something on the ground...  So I figure it had to be somewhere...  Then I saw the mother fly to another branch and something flew in swiftly behind her.  To my happiness it was my baby bird.  He had learned to fly in less than 2 days of being on the ground.    My worry was over and Maggie could roam the yard freely again.

Everyone I told this story to thought that it wasn't a big deal that the baby bird almost died because it happens all the time.  I must be weird, because I don't feel the same way.  I'm so glad the bird lived and is up in the air where it should be. 

So if you ever find a baby bird,  go to the link above and it will tell you everything you need to know. :)