Bird School

This is Woodstock. In our short time together, we've made quite a few memories. Most he (or she) does not appreciate.

I found this bird on Thursday morning in Miss Tilly's mouth - no obvious injuries, but covered in dog saliva - not good for birds. Put him in a bucket and then hid him in some bushes after the cat's nap time began. Hoped for the best, but realistic. Friday evening, I ran over him out in the yard with the lawnmower :-/. Assumed he was (already) dead, but amazingly still hanging on even though he was very cold and surely now scared half to death. Back to the bucket and placed in the sun to warm up. At this point I feel obligated to at least make sure his life ended peacefully and not full of trauma or starvation.

My best guess was that he was a starling (not the sort of bird a rescue organization is going to take in) and looked up food substitutes - luckily they recommended the very kind of dog food we feed. Very messy eater though - not a starling, but something that wants to eat out of his momma's mouth, not by having food placed into his open mouth - possibly a dove? Now, three days later, he is growing like a weed, getting lots of feathers, eating the heck out of the dog food, moved into a bigger cage and having a big time at bird school.

In an effort to get him out of the "nest" a little quicker, I put the cage out under the bird feeder this morning so he could watch the other birds eat. Not only has he practiced hopping/flying up on the branch perch and grooming, but he has at least looked at the water and food bowls. Moving to the head of the class!