Baby Bird

While Owen and I were enjoying the most wonderful cool morning weather playing outside, I noticed the dogs were acting very strange at the back of the yard right under the pine trees. I knew exactly what they were doing, there was an animal. Owen was preoccupied so I went to see what they found. It was a baby bird. Luckily Chloe and Chester are not killers so they were sniffing around and trying to figure out what it was. As it was stunned and not moving I thought at first it was dead. After getting the dogs away from the area, I went and grabbed the dog poo picker-upper to find that it had moved. Well good to know it was still alive. I didn’t see it anywhere, so went back to playing with Owen.

Well we started to run around the lawn when I passed by the vegetable garden and saw the small little bird hopping around over there. It had gotten far. Well Owen became curious as well. We both looked at the bird and I told him how he was hurt and his mommy would come back and get him, but that we need to leave it alone. My gentle little boy looked at me and said “I’m sorry birdie. Hurt birdie. Where’s mommy?” He never even attempted to go touch or bother it. So sweet he was so concerned.

We then headed out for Wee Play class and I very much hoped that mom bird would find its baby and return it to their home, but after I put Owen down for his nap (about 3 hours after leaving the bird) he was still out there. Poor little guy, I felt so horrible for it. Lost its mom and all alone. I called Fairfax Animal Control and they came by to look at what I had found. Well he was shocked it was actually a baby, this is not their breeding season. But he confirmed it was and didn’t look to be really injured just not able to fly yet. He said that many times when the mother bird can not feed all its babies it will toss the weakest out of the nest. If they fall out of the nest the mom would retrieve the bird, but being she hadn’t it probably was pushed out. I am not joking I really wanted to cry. How very sad! Living on a pig farm for several years I know many animals including pigs do this, but witnessingthis act made me feel horrible. (I am an animal lover.) The officer grabbed the bird and said he would take it back to the shelter and it would be nursed until he could be freed. If I am being naive then please don’t tell me, I am going to think that that will actually happen and baby bird will be flying around in not time taunting his mother who disowned him.