Lesson From Mother Nature

So earlier in the Spring Miss M notices that there is a cardinal who has fixed up and taken over an old nest right outside my bedroom window. She has 3 sweet little eggs that she is sitting on and eyes us intently each time we peek to make sure we don't intend to bother them.

Soon enough the eggs hatch and she and the proud papa are busily flying back and forth with yummies to feed their little tummies.



One morning I noticed that one of the three little birdies was teetering dangerously on the edge of the nest each time a parent came to feed them. I worried all day, and sure enough when I got home that evening there were only two in the nest. I looked all over for the third little fella but never did find him. :(

The other two were also getting very close to the edge of the nest. I told Rob that we needed to do something to prevent them from falling, so we decided to take the lid to a box and rest it on the branches below the nest to "catch" the little ones when they fell. We had good intentions!



As he was putting the lid into the tree, I saw something drop out and hit the ground. He knocked one of the little birds out of the nest! I acted quickly to pick it up and hand it to him to put back in the nest. As he did, the other one fell out! It was hopping away as fast as it could and I ran after it trying to put it back where it belonged. As all this was happening Mama and Daddy were dive-bombing us and fussing as loudly as they could to let us know they were pissed that we were messing with their babies! Every time Rob would put one of the babies back in, the other one would fall out. This continued for a long time until finally he got them both in and yelled, "RUN!"

I went straight to the bedroom window and watched as one of them flapped his little wings and plumetted to the ground. I went out and picked it up and put it in a box. I watched the other one until it decided to leap out, scooped him up, and put him in the box. Now what?

I called a rehabber and left a message and waited patiently for her to call me back. Maddy was fascinated by the babies and wanted to keep them. Mama and Daddy were outside flying around like mad trying to figure out what just happened. She finally called me back and I explained the situation to her thinking she would be very sympathetic and want me to deliver the babies to her immediately before I killed them. But, instead she remained very calm and asked me, "Do they have all their feathers?" "Yes" I answered. "Then take them back out there and leave them be. They're SUPPOSED to fall out of the nest like that!" OMG, I felt SO stupid! Apparently when baby birds leave the nest, Mama still feeds them as they hop around on the ground for a couple of days before they learn to fly. Who knew!!!

So, I can just about bet that Mama won't be building a nest in my yard next Spring. Too much DRAMA! LOL