A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of a robin's nest full of little blue eggs. Since then we have heard the little chirps and squeaks of baby birds. We have also watched as Momma and Poppa flew in out of the nest with worms. It has been kind of cool observing the diligent parenting of wild life.
A couple of nights ago we were outside and I have to admit trying to get a closer look at the nest happenings. When suddenly momma and poppa began to nose dive and warn us that we were to close. In the process of the commotion two little ones took their first flight out of the nest.
Filled with guilt that we caused the early eviction of two little birds, who were not quite ready to be on their own, we tried to figure out how to get them back in the nest. We knew that we couldn't touch the birds or Momma would have nothing to do with them. We watched as the two little birds twitted and jumped around the front yard. They could get a couple feet off the ground but there was no way they were going to make it back into the nest.
It occurred to me to look on the Internet to see what we should do. After a little googling it turned out the best thing to do was nothing. Several sites said that even though the birds were out of the nest that momma and poppa would continue to care for them. They would make sure they were fed and would do their best to protect them. The sites said that within a day or two the birds would be able to fly on their own. Leaving the little birds to hop around the yard are only job was to keep animals and children away from them.
Sure enough Momma was very diligent and we were alerted to any threats with frantic chirping. There was no question when she was upset and thought her babies needed help. It was kind of neat to watch how protective both parents were to the babies. We watched for about 24 hours and sure enough the babies took off on their own.
I learned all kinds of lessons first of all keep your nose out of things that are none of your business. Second, watching parent birds take care of their little ones should be mandatory viewing for new parents. I had to admire those birds their soul focus was the care and safety of their little ones even when they were not in the ideal situation.
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