My Little UFO-Unknown Bird

I agree with this website to an extent. I agree that if possible, a baby bird you find should be returned to the nest, or if you can't reach the nest, put the bird in a dense, nearby tree, etc.

And also that if you can't do any of that the next thing is to find a rehabilitator. But I disagree that if none of that works the best thing is to leave it where you found it.

I am perfectly aware that it's chances of survival in the hands of an untrained human are slim, but they are better than the chances of survival if left to nature. I'll give the story of UFO (that's the little bird's name) as an example.

It was the day after a major storm in my area. My little brother and a couple of his buddies went to my grandfather's run-down old farm to watch some baby barn owls get banded. (a pair of barn owls nest in the silos every year)

Afterward, they were wandering around the hay loft when they found UFO, then a featherless, skinny, cold little creature.

There was no way to get to the rafter, 30 feet in the air, that the nest was on, no way to hang a container for him out of reach of the hungry barn cats, and, because of the hungry barn cats, he obviously couldn't be left there.

There are no rehabilitators in our area that I know of, so they brought UFO to me. My mother and I have found that cat food is the safest, most balanced diet for baby birds, no matter their species, so I got some nice and soggy to feed him with an old pair of tweezers.

Meanwhile, I found an old dog dish and a nice, soft rag-towel, and made a makeshift nest for him, and put a heating mat underneath to keep it warm.

He ate hungrily and snuggled deep into the nest, but he had been on the ground, cold and hungry, for so long that I didn't expect him to make it through the night.

Next morning, I went anxiously to the nest, mentally going over good grave sites for the poor little bird. To my surprise, when I lifted the cloth off the top of the nest I was greeted with a raucous outcry and a welcome gape.

By the end of the day, UFO appeared to be set on living a while longer, and had perfectly adapted to his new home, so we started juggling the many possible species our new family member might be.

Was he a pigeon like the critters who overflow the front of the hayloft, or did he belong to one of the pairs of robins who suddenly decided to move in with the pigeons.

Or was he a sparrow from the other end of the hayloft? Or maybe, just maybe, UFO truly is what has been tapping the back of my mind: a baby from a pair of barn swallows who might have decided to leave the clan below and move upstairs? This is how he got his name.

Today UFO is nearly as anonymous as at first, for though we have knocked off pigeon and robin, we have added wren to the list. He seems set on confusing us as long as possible.

He is the size of a wren, and his tail flips up, but his coloring and voice is that of the sparrow, then again, his head is like a barn swallow, dark and sleek, and his tail has a funny little v in the middle, and I can't tell if that is the start of a split swallow tail, or if he just got a feather broken off.

We are quite welcome to suggestions as to what exactly he may be!

So that is our happy success story. We may not be trained or certified, but we have plenty of experience with orphaned and abandoned baby animals, and we know when to help and when to stay away.

We don't have a 100% survival rate, but that is more than even rehabilitation centers can hope for.

On the other hand, we take to heart everything we learn, and we don't make the same mistakes a second time, so over the years our survival rate has increased beautifully!

Not just anyone can do this; you have to really care, and although success is, sadly, rare, the feeling you get when you let a little creature return to the wild knowing it has a good start to life is priceless, and you will never forget.

UFO is my very own success, and at a time when the future looks rather bleak for my family, watching UFO fly off to meet his own kind will be like a bright star on a cold, dark night.

Thanks for hearing out my five-cents-worth. :)