Operation: Rescue Baby Bird

Matt came upstairs from his office today about 8 am and said something was making quite a bit of noise in the window well right outside his office in the basement.

We all went outside and there was a bird stuck in the window well! Matt got some gloves on, picked it up, and put it in the grass. Then he headed off to work.

So you can probably guess who was the first kid out to see this bird?? Courtney of course!

She went right over to it and started talking to it in a real sweet voice and was encouraging it to fly away. We really didn't know the story behind the bird, but Courtney was determined that it was hungry.  The bird would open its wings up, move about 6 inches, stop, and chirp some more. When Courtney got close, the bird would open it's mouth like Courtney was going to feed it.

Here was the conversation at that point.

Courtney: Mom, I think the bird is hungry. Let's get it something to eat. I know we have bird food inside.
Me: No, I don't think it eats bird food. I think it's still a baby bird.
C: Well, then it eats worms, right? I need a shovel. I will dig it a worm to eat.
Megan (who was standing about 10 feet away): No Courtney, you can't just feed a baby bird a worm. The mom eats the worm and then regurgitates it and gives it to the bird.
Me: Really Megan? I thought only penguins did that.
Megan: No, All birds do.
Courtney: I'm going to feed it a worm anyway. GET ME A SHOVEL!

Well, I didn't get her a shovel, but told her I would go inside and see what baby birds eat and what exactly we could do with this bird. We had to rescue it!!

I went inside and looked up "what do baby birds eat" and sure enough, Megan was right. Mama birds eat food and regurgitate it and feed it to their babies. YUK! The computer said to not feed baby birds anything, espcially not water or milk.

I then checked out "bird rescue" and came up with a few sights in Omaha. I was even going to call a place (for Courtney's sake) to see what to do with it and then I came upon some very useful information. It said that if you found a baby bird in your yard, just to leave it as long as it has it's feathers.  The mama birds actually kick their offspring out of the nest to learn how to fly and they need to learn how to fly off the ground. It also said that the bird will probably act like it's hungry and that the mama bird is somewhere around. We were not supposed to interrupt this process.

I went outside and told Courtney, she felt better, but continued to watch the bird.  By noon, the bird was still in the yard and I actually thought it wasn't looking too good. It didn't look like it was going to be able to fly and I thought for sure it was going to die in our yard and then I would have a very sad girl on my hands.

We went outside about an hour later to "check on the bird" and it was nowhere around! We couldn't fine it anywhere. Either 1. It got eaten by another animal. or 2. It actually learned to fly and was doing what it was supposed to!

I hope for number 2!!

Matt mowed the lawn tonight and I searched the yard again for the bird and told him to be careful, but neither one of us found anything! Hopefully the bird is back with its mama tonight!! We can only hope. :)  At least that is what we will tell Courtney!!