Last night we decided to take the dogs for a short walk around the neighborhood. We’d gotten a few houses away when Lindsy stopped and sniffed at something in the grass; we looked down at a small lump that appeared to be nothing but a gaping yellow mouth.

After quickly pulling the dogs back a safe distance, we assessed the situation… there was just the one baby bird out in the grass, no nest that we could see anywhere, and no anxious adult birds. It was definitely not a fledgling that could flap up into a bush to get away, in fact, closer examination revealed it to be a very young bird, not yet strong enough to stand and mostly naked and pink where it wasn’t covered in downy fuzz and spiky quill-looking pinfeathers. Since our neighborhood is full of outdoor cats and dogs that are let loose, there was no way he or she stood a chance out there in the grass, even if the parents were still feeding it. So we cut the walk short and trudged back home with our new guest.

I have actually raised baby birds before in the past, but with our busy schedules and six predators in the house trying to raise it ourselves was just was not a practical idea. Instead, the plan was to keep the little guy safe and warm until we could get the bird to someone better equipped to take care of it. If we’d found it a half hour earlier, we could have dropped the baby off with A & B Animal Clinic (who work with a bird rehabilitation group called On the Wing Again that raises and releases orphaned birds) but since they were already closed for the night, we needed to take care of it at least until morning. We set the baby up in a cat carrier with a snuggle-safe heating plate and hurried off to find a pet store that was still open and carried baby bird formula.

We fed the bird two small meals last night and then every hour today until I dropped it off with the vet’s office; the clinic confirmed it was very young robin. At the last feeding before the trip to the vet’s, he (or she?) was showing a lot more strength and vigor and would wobbily stand up and flutter those little half naked wings while reaching for the syringe with his/her big yellow cave of a mouth. I think this one will survive just fine.

Here’s one more picture of our visitor, waiting for breakfast this morning. Click the image for a larger version.