On Wednesday night, after returning from puppy class with Willow, I took Ace out for a pee in my backyard. He was wandering around a bit, excited to be off-leash, when all of a sudden something fluttered up between his feet. I called him off and went to see what he had found - a little bird that was unable to fly. I took Ace inside and thought about what I was going to do. Should I leave the bird and let nature take its course, or do I bring it inside and take responsibility for it? Since it didn't fly away from Ace, I was pretty sure it was already injured before he found it.
After calling a friend who occasionally rescues animals I decided to bring it in out of the cold. I put it in a paper box with a towel, some cedar leaves, and a bit of water in a dish, and called a bird-watcher friend. The bird-watcher came over and I convinced her to take the bird back to her house, since I was worried about keeping it safe from Archie and my roommate (who would not be keen on having a wild bird in the apartment).
The next morning the bird-watcher texted me to let me know that the bird was doing fine, fluttering around the floor of her room. It was decided that the bird was a Mourning Dove fledgeling. She called the KW Animal Control, who said that if it was a fledgeling it probably just fell out of the nest, and that we should put it back where it was found so the parents could look after it.
I picked the bird back up on my way home from work and took it to the place where Ace had found it. I tipped the box over on its side so the bird could leave when it was ready. I went back inside to wait and see what would happen. When I returned about 2 hours later, the box was tipped right side up, and the bird was underneath it, dead. I think it was just too cold (there had been flurries in the morning) and the bird had tried to find cover under the box.
Sometimes young birds will fall out of a nest, or try to leave before they are ready. Often there is nothing you can do for these birds who are too young to fly. Maybe if I had been able to take the bird to a rehabilitation place it would have survived.
Current standings: Nature - 1 Kelly - 0
that's such a sad story :( Good boy Ace though for not injuring it further :) Aspen once brought me a baby pigeon that had not yet been able to fly. She came running over and dropped it at my feet. the baby just hopped away :) I'm not so sure Cessna could have been so gentle though.
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