George and Gracie Are Back!

Every Spring the birds come back! And the first ones are the House Sparrows. Several years ago I was delighted with a mating pair who took over the air vent by our front door. This pair were quite animated.   

Every day as I sat soaking up the morning sun by our front door, these real-live comedians endeared me with their song and flying dances. I watched them choose each other, dance, mate, build a nest, and incubate their eggs.
 
Now you may say that all sparrows look alike. Well, yes indeed. George looked like a guy and Gracie looked like a girl sparrow. But mostly, I knew them because they were the sparrows that had chosen our air vent and felt safe around me. George could be quite bold. If I sat still and did an almost zen-like meditation, he would come within 6 inches of my foot. He'd cock his head and I could almost hear him thinking "Two-leggeds are so strange. Doesn't she have something better to do than watch us?"
 
And then finally, we knew that the chicks had arrived because we could hear them. Unfortunately, there were too many chicks and one got kicked out of the nest.
 
I was horrified!!!

Kathleen explained to me that this was nature's form of birth control and that we should let nature take its course--such as a cat would discover "our abandoned chick" and have lunch. I just couldn't let it go. So I convinced Kathleen to bring the chick inside the house.
 
So like for all things we Googled it---"abandoned sparrow chick."  We discovered that a shoe box with heating blanket and a towel could provide a temporary nest. And ironically, our chick needed to be fed dampened cat kibble, every 20 minutes. With two cats in the house, we had plenty of cat food. And thankfully, baby birds do sleep when the sun goes down.
 
And then I Googled bird rehabilitation and found this place in the woods called Second Chance. By now, after several feedings, we had both formed a parent-baby bond with our chick. And so of course, even Kathleen took off from work the next day and drove us all to Second Chance.
 
Second Chance is a wonderful place if you're a wild bird or someone who loves them. We gave them our chick, made a donation and hoped she survived.
 
While George and Gracie might not have been the best parents, we tried to do right by their progeny. So nowadays when I see the House Sparrows, I kinda feel like one of the family.