Saturday April 17 - I vaguely remember finding several orphaned birds when I was a kid; bringing them home and trying to raise them. I would ask my parents what to feed them and what I could keep them in. My parents always discouraged me from keeping them. That said that baby birds sometimes fell out of nests, and either the birds parents would take care of them or they would die. I think I remember them saying something about that "being nature's way." The birds I tried to save always died and I always felt sad.
This morning we have this baby bird in our backyard. Maribel discovered it yesterday. It was laying far from any potential nesting tree. It didn't move when I approached it...simply cheeped and opened its mouth apparently expecting food. From her garden Maribel dug up several worms which the bird eagerly accepted from her fingers. Shortly after that it pooped.
We have many species of birds in our yard, with robins being the most prominent. I sometimes think about that. The robin is Wisconsin's state bird. The brown thrasher is Georgia's state bird. We see many robins here but seldom see brown thrashers.
We don't know what species 'our' baby bird is. We watched closely to see if any of the robins, grackles, bluebirds, blue jays or cardinals showed any attachment to the baby but saw no indication of relationship with the possible exception of a pair of robins who approached the chick several times.
When Maribel asked what we should do with the chick I told her to let it be - let nature take its course. I told her of my failures as a kid trying to raise baby birds. And there was another concern. There is a quarter-sized growth high on the left side of its back without feathers that is swollen. There's no knowing whether it's a birth defect or injury. It seems to be forcing the chick to hold its head to the right. Neither of us following my advice, we took turns digging worms and feeding the chick through the afternoon and into the early evening. As it was getting dark I saw Maribel's concern so cleaned out a large cardboard box, placed the chick inside and brought it into the garage, fully expecting to find a dead bird in the morning.
While pouring our coffee this morning we heard loud chirps coming from the garage. And there it was, mouth wide open with an expression that to me was demanding but to Maribel was pleading to be fed. The current status is that the bird has been fed two fat worms and the box has been moved outside into the morning sun. Now the plan is to find a container to keep a ready supply of worms, and to place the bird in the grass in the same spot it was found yesterday. Hopefully a cat or hawk won't see it.
The chick eats, poops and chirps, but that growth from yesterday hasn't changed. I don't know how this is going to play out. I think we'll give it another day or two to see what happens. Maribel asked if we should name it but I told her that giving it a name would only make her more sad if it dies, which I still believe will be the inevitable outcome. We'll see.
Sunday - What has happened so far today is not at all what I expected. The parents...that pair of robins we saw approaching the chick yesterday, appeared shortly after we placed the chick in the grass this morning and took over our feeding duties. They've been at it steadily for about seven hours. The chick is showing some mobility, though with difficulty. Still, that's better than yesterday when it couldn't move at all.
The bad news is that the cyst or growth or whatever it is has gotten bigger. This morning Maribel administered the antibiotic ciprofloxacin mixed with water to the chick orally with an eye dropper. If that growth is the result of an infection maybe the antibiotic will help. It looks like we'll be bringing it into the house again tonight.
Monday - We took the chick into the garage again last night. When we placed it in the grass this morning the parents were there immediately and resumed feeding it. The parents approach it with food but then stand back and move away, I think trying to coax the chick to move but it repeatedly falls over when trying to move. It seems to me that at some point the parents will give up. I know I have. I don't see a future for this bird but Maribel is hopeful. As as long as the parents keep trying so will we, though I wonder if we're doing the bird a disservice by keeping it alive. I watched it for a few minutes a little while ago. It can sit up for a few moments but then falls on its face or back. This is not good.
Sometimes Maribel and me watch one of those zoo programs on television. When I see them doing x-rays, CT scans and major surgery on six-inch lizards I wonder if that isn't going to the extreme. What is the life of a six-inch lizard worth? What is the value of the injured chick's life? And how was it decided that the lives of the white rats are worth less than the medium sized carnivores they are fed to in the zoos? I think that what this is pointing to is that the value of a life is relative, though relative to what is difficult to define.
Late afternoon - The parent robins abandoned their efforts and disappeared a few hours ago. The growth on the chick is definitely a liquid filled cyst and has doubled in size since this morning. The bird is laying in its stomach, breathing but otherwise unresponsive. We talked about moving it to a far corner of the back yard but decided to let it die in the place it occupied on its last day. We'll see what the morning brings.
Tuesday - There was so much of nature on display these last three days, all of it centered around that young chick. There was the determined effort by two crows to get at the bird three different times, only to be driven off by the adult robins with help from mockingbirds (and once from Maribel). A young squirrel nervously running to and from the chick apparently trying to figure out what it was as the male robin stood nearby ready to defend. And finally the total dedication for three days of the parents, feeding, protecting and trying to coax the chick to move.
Now it's over. The chick's brief life ended sometime last night.
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