Reunion

Two fledgling birds were brought into the clinic on Thursday morning. One, a robin. The other, a Blue Jay. Perfectly healthy, we determined they had been unwittingly kidnapped. After calling the finder, I arranged to stop by with these "teenagers" and attempt to reunite them with their families. The caller was concerned about dogs and cats in the area, but I convinced her that I would carefully evaluate the situation before putting anything back there.

I arrived to her home and saw that her entire front and back yards were fenced in for her dogs. Hmmmm, I thought. The dogs DO have access to everywhere the little robin might want to go. The finder showed me around and I discovered a protected area of the yard where we might be able to put the babies. I brought the robin over to that corner and opened the box. His calling immediately attracted the attention of both parents and they came over to investigate. Seeing both parents there, and interested in their baby, I convinced the finder to allow me to pull the fence back to block off the area, providing a safe place for the teen to test those wings until he gets the hang of it. She agreed, reluctantly, and we put the baby in a safe place. It was very hard for her to walk away, but I convinced her that the parents could do a much better job than we.

Next, was what to do with the Blue Jay. She thought it best to foster him into another nest, so I brought him along with me to put with a Jay family with which I am familiar. On my way to that family, I was only two blocks up the road and I came across an injured fledgling in the road with two parents frantically trying to get him to move. I stopped the car, jumped out and grabbed the injured baby. Then, thinking quickly, I returned to the car and swapped injured for healthy. I put the healthy orphan into a tree from where the parents were calling. As I returned to my car, I watched. Both parents came down immediately to their new baby to take care of him. I don't know what is going to happen with the injured fledgling, but I know the healthy one has gone to a good home.