A feathered friend for a day

Today I was on the DCC campus registering for a class and just tying up some loose ends. On exiting the building, I noticed a tiny bird sitting on the edge of the walkway. It looked up at me as I walked past; I'm not kidding, it actually turned its head to watch me pass. I passed it again, curious as to why it was just sitting there. I bent down with the intention of moving it to a safer place, but mostly just expecting it to freak out and flutter off. But, it didn't. So I scooped it up, and walked back to my car with paperwork in one hand and this tiny ball of feathers perched on my finger.

It looked to be pretty healthy; no broken wings or legs, nor any other obvious damage. I'm no vet by any stretch of the imagination, but since it pooped on me a few times and I didn't see any blood or anything else weird (weirder than the fact that this wild bird was pretty content just sitting on my hand), I suppose there couldn't have been any grievous internal damage either.

Not knowing what else to do, I brought him to my parents' house and try to figure out what he'd eat, since there's a plethora of edible berries, bugs and other things to be found in mom's gardens. Unfortunately I didn't figure out what the little guy wanted. Although he had stared at me with mouth agape a few times before this, he wasn't having any of it now. But in the shady garden, he seemed to be finding some energy anyway; he was flapping around more, and also started cheeping for the first time since we met. Eventually he hopped off into one of the flower beds, and I lost him. I hope he finds something to his taste there. Or at least doesn't become something else's meal, which is always likely. But such is life. Here are some pictures and a video clip:




- identified after the fact as a juvenile Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum -