All God's Creatures

While taking a walk with my grandson, Dominic, on Saturday, we noticed a tiny little baby bird by the curb and dangerously close to the street. The little bird had all his feathers, but still had the tiny little puffs of white on the top of his head…..he was a little young to be out on his own. I picked the bird up and cupped him in my hands. Needless to say, Dominic was in awe! He has just recently developed an interest in birds and Wednesday had spent the day at the Los Angeles Arboretum (many, many birds)
We sat on the curb together examining the poor little thing for damage….there did not appear to be any, aside from being totally stunned from either a failed attempt to fly the coup, or from being dropped by a predator….happens often, as in the case of our last bird rescue. But that is another story…

I kept referring to the bird as a “baby” and that we had to take care of it until his mother finds him. Dominic crouched down (as toddlers do) leaned forward and said “baby” and kisses the top of his head…..my heart just melted.

By that time Mom (Catherine) and Grandpa (Papa Ed) crossed the street to see what was happening. Papa immediately warns, “don’t let Dominic touch him, he might be diseased” (anyone who knows Ed will get a chuckle out of that). I said we needed to put him in the backyard and protect him until his mother can find him. Catherine said, “Oh Mom, she won’t do that!” I said, “Yes she will, she is probably watching us right now, mother birds always protect their babies”.

So we put him in one of our many antique birdcages in the backyard. Of course first we decked it out like a Four Star nest, complete with straw, water and twigs. Then we put him on the picnic table in clear view. Cat was worried because he hadn’t made much noise and was afraid Mama bird would not hear him. I told her he was still in shock, to give him time and hopefully he will start screeching.

Meanwhile, Dominic was in bird heaven. He kept on trying to touch him through the wired cage…. he kept making bird sounds. Unfortunately, the only birdcalls he used were from the peacocks he saw at the Arboretum. And if you have ever heard them, you would know they sound like women screaming in pain….or they do to me anyway. Dominic actually said “tweet, tweet” a couple of times, but mostly he made the hideous sounds of the peacock. Baby bird looked pretty terrified at that point.

So far, there were no signs of Mama bird.
The door to the cage had long since been lost, so we used a block of wood and a rock to keep the little guy in. He wasn’t doing much flying around in the cage, so we did not want him to hop around on the ground and get eaten by a cat. We figured when Mama found him, she would figure out how to protect him.

Finally, it was time to let nature take its course. Cat took Dominic home and Ed and I got ready to go to Home Depot. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Ed noticed a pretty red bird (not a robin, maybe a cardinal) flying near and around the cage. She kept flying back and forth. Baby bird had finally found his voice and was screeching bloody murder. We watched for a while and then we noticed TWO red birds guarding the cage. I like to think it was Mama and Papa bird planning an escape.


But we finally left, Ed was getting ancy. Grown men can only tolerate bird watching for so long. We were gone for maybe an hour and a half.

When we returned, I went directly to the cage to check on the “baby”……he was gone. Somehow the little door we made with the board and rock had been pushed aside and the bird escaped…and there were no more red birds circling the cage. Mission accomplished!

Now some of you might not agree, but I like to think that Mama and Papa bird rescued their little baby and guided him safely home. And then, preceded to give him a lecture on leaving the nest before he was mature enough to deal in the real world.
Sound familiar?????

We are all God’s creatures.