Little Bird Story


Sunday
afternoon a BAM! on the window—uh oh.  A little bird on its back on the patio, its wings fluttering helplessly.  Not dead.  Near death?  Stunned?   

Beloved gently moved it a few feet, to under one of the patio chairs, to give it a little cover.   An hour or so later, it rolled over and sat, eyes shut.  Night fell. Still there.  Still alive.  I thought something would come and eat it in the night.  What could we do?  Nature would have its way.  Most bird-hits to windows are fatal.

It was still there Monday morning, in a slightly different place.  Fluffed up and motionless.  I placed a little-bird-sized bottle cap of water near it, in case it could drink.   Cut some nectar-rich Grevillea flowers for it, at least to provide the comfort of nearby plant material.  Little bird continued to sit, occasionally opening its eyes.  It moved a little more, now and then.  Occasionally it panted, its little round body jerking a bit--which seemed to be a bad sign.  At lunchtime it was still alive, and had moved a little more, towards the edge of the patio.

I went to the kitchen for a lemonade. When I came back, little bird was gone.  I looked all over and under plants, shelves, tables, chairs.  I looked all through the walled garden, then on the other sides of the walls, down in the gully, and behind the house.  No little bird. Did it fly off?  I hope so.  Nothing predatory was around--no jays, crows, or anything else.  Some of the water was gone from the bottle cap.   I taped a sheet of paper to the glass of each door, to warn off other birds. 

Comments

  1. I had a similar experience a few weeks ago. We have that happen often. This time I saw the bird sitting on the deck outside the glass doors like you described. I also put a dish of water near it and covered it with a large box that I propped up slightly so that it could get out. It was there for at least an hour. I kept checking and then it was gone. Every time this happens, I try to come up with a solution. Someone on social media suggested some type of strips that you can place vertically every few inches but who wants to stick strips on their windows? Another person suggested a beaded string and I like that idea better. I haven't tried it yet.

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    1. What works here is letting the windows get really dirty, lol. I like the beaded string idea much better. I sort of wish AOL was still mailing out AOL CDs every three days. I could hang up a bunch of them.

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  2. That's long for a recovery period but you did right by the little bird and I think it's likely s/he flew off to enjoy life. Kudos! I had one I was sure was a goner but, after hours, it disappeared. It happens - and we can but try to facilitate that.

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    1. It's a joy to have birds in the garden, isn't it?

      I've been serenaded by mockingbirds for weeks. It's quite wonderful. Vastly superior to the roar of chain saws.

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  3. Oh no! Poor little guy, what a horrible feeling for both of you.

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    1. All we can do is try to prevent them in the future.

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  4. I am one of those that has beads strung intermittently on fthin fishing line tied to a stick. Haven’t lost a bird since I put it up last year. I had one too many strikes. Had to do something.

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  5. There are holographic window decals that the birds can detect but the human viewers can hardly see.

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  6. Something like a string of beads or a mobile - just needs to be something the birds can see. Or a plant in front of the window, so they don't try to fly 'thru'.

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    Replies
    1. I taped several pieces of paper to the glass. Usually the glass is so dusty it doesn't reflect all that well. My bad for cleaning the glass.

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