If you're an animal lover, I think you'll appreciate this story. If not, just move on.
About a week ago while walking her dog in the complex, my friend Debra walked underneath an enormous bradford pear tree and out dropped two baby mockingbirds at her feet. It's hard to know how old they were but they looked about half-way feathered out.
Well, where we live it would be murder to put the babies back in the nest because we have a lot of neighborhood kitties who would climb that tree and have them out in a matter of seconds. So Debra and I try to figure out something to do to at least give the babies a fighting chance to survive.
I have a small parakeet cage I'm not using so I took that over to Debra's house and we put it out on the balcony, very close to her bird feeder where we suspect the mama and daddy eat. We put a towel inside and a branch for the babies to hold onto and prayed that the parents would find them and continue to attempt to feed them through the bars of the cage. Now, y'all are probably thinking "Sure, like that would ever happen." That's actually exactly what *I* was thinking but we discarded several other ideas before settling on that one so we'd just have to wait and see.
Well, the first day one of the babies died and that's all I'll say about that.
But the mama began almost immediately a routine that she's continued for several days with unbelievable success. She'll fill up at either my bird feeder or Debra's, then fly to the ground where she evidently is picking up bugs. Then she'll carry the bugs to the cage and stick her beak through the bars into the waiting open mouth of her baby who scarfs it down and then immediately starts yelling again. In the meantime, the daddy bird is sitting on the rooftop and any time a person or cat or dog gets anywhere near her condo, he attacks them with every bit of anger he can muster up in his little body - which is actually quite a lot because when he swoops, people and animals run away screaming.
And this is the routine that the parents adhere to EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY FROM DAWN TO DUSK! The mama bird has flown about two thousand miles and at least during the time she's being observed, never stops even to rest. The daddy has scared away at least a thousand "predators" with no sign of exhaustion or inability to continue. The baby bird squawks constantly; the only time he takes a break is when he's swallowing. And believe it or not, they kept this schedule all yesterday afternoon, clear up until nightfall - in the rain!
I have every confidence now that the baby will survive and soon we'll be able to open the cage and let him take to the sky, with the wind under his wings and the sunshine on his feathers and his bird friends and family all around him. You see parents like those mockingbirds - who never gave up on their baby - and wish with all your heart that every living baby had parents so devoted and loyal and loving, who would stop at nothing to take care of their young.
It was nothing short of a little miracle and I'm just thankful beyond words that I was able to witness it.
-frolix