I was doing the dishes the other evening when there was a huge commotion of crows in the backyard. They seemed increasingly agitated so I went to investigate. Rosie was at the side of the yard, obviously intrigued by something and being dive bombed by crows. Turns out there was a little fledgeling on the ground she was after. We got her inside and I asked Jeff to get a box from the basement. I got on my garden gloves, sorta herded the crow into the corner, and picked it up. While picking it up I thought it was certainly injured, it was covered in Rosie slobber and I thought it's wing was messed up. I could have sworn I saw a bone. So I put the baby in a box, and called the Humane Society, who gave me the phone number for the Audobon Society, who weren't open but wisely have very detailed messages as to what to do with an injured bird and lots of good information on fledgeling birds. So this baby bird spent the night in a box in our basement under a laundry crate and weighted down with a paint can. I provided a towel, water in a jar lid, some raw sunflower seeds, a bite of cantaloupe and a heat pad under part of the box as recommended by the Audobon Society answering machine.
It's amazing, baby birds have blue eyes! just like other baby animals!
Did you know that crows are very familial? The young live with their parents for around 2 years and help raise the next brood.
The next morning I took the baby to the Audobon society, where I waited around for the vet to examine it. They took it out, gave it a flight test, determined that it was uninjured and had probably been on the ground learning to fly for a few days. Fledgeling birds can spend 2-5 days on eh ground learning to fly and hunt for food. So what often looks like an "abandoned" baby bird is not so.
They said what I thought was a bone was a feather shaft or something and that yes, they look scared to death and broken after an experience like being attacked by a dog. Baby crow's parents were looking for him that morning, flying around our yard and cawing. It was heartbreaking. So I was very happy to hear that I should take it back home and release it under the tree where it's nest is. Which is in our neighbors yard, not ours!
I opened the lid and it sat there, then I went to give it some help out of the box and away it flew! All the way into the park across the street!
This would have been titled "Rosie strikes again" But it turned out she didn't really strike. She scared the baby, but didn't actually hurt it.
