Bird Falls Out of Its Nest

While Urban Nature Club members were just getting ready to plant some lettuce in the school garden, fifth-grader Dmytro came running over to tell us that there was a baby bird behind a fence in the playground. We all raced over and indeed saw an almost featherless bird crying for its mother behind a fence. Since it's an old wives tale that mother birds will reject a baby bird once touched by humans, we all took turns sticking our arms through the fence so we could hold it. Finally a skinny arm successful reached the bird.

My first impression was just how warm the bird felt in my hand. Like I said, it had few feathers, so it must be a real newborn. It had a huge yellow mouth that kept opening and calling for food. Many of the club students, and kids at the playground, got a chance to hold the baby bird (and then, as instructed washed their hands). It appears to be a baby starling like the one pictured above.

We located the nest at the top of a building next to the playground and just above the spot where the chick was found. Apparently, the little guy or gal fell out of its nest. When you think about how little room there must be in a nest, you realize that it's pretty easy to slip out.

After holding and appreciating the little bundle of energy, we placed it back where it was found, hoping that its cries would help its mother locate it and bring it back home. I'll check tomorrow and see if it's still there.

By the way, these birds are actually called European Starlings or Common Starlings. They are not native to Brooklyn (although they're everywhere these days), but were brought over from Europe during the nineteenth century by some Shakespeare lovers as part of a plan to introduce the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works. These intelligent birds like to fly in flocks and wreak havoc wherever they go.