You'll never believe what happened at work this week! Seems a young bird-I think a brown thrasher female-has adopted Raffield Tire Master as her home. She started off by just walking around the shop poking into all the little corners looking for bugs. Pretty comfortable with us walking around and all the loud noises. I tried chasing her out for a whole day last week, but she kept coming back and for some reason began staying closer to me. Thursday I caught a few crickets which are plentiful in the shop and tossed them to her. I guess that was my first mistake. Yesterday, she was poking around one of the back bays and I caught a cricket. Everybody watched while I knelt down and held it out to the bird. She calmly walked over and took it right out of my hand. Later she was perched on a stack of old tires (watching me) and I caught another cricket. I held it in one hand and put the index finger of my other in front of the cricket as a perch. Everyone said "no way!" when the bird flew over and landed on my finger to take the cricket. At lunch yesterday I went to a bird store across the road and the lady sold me some mealworms which the bird would eat while sitting on my finger instead of taking the morsel and flying away with it. After only a day, all I have to do now is stretch out my arm and the bird will fly to me and sit on my arm. Today I tried again to get the bird to go outside. I would hold out my hand and she would fly over and land and I would slowly walk out back (with her calmly perched on my arm or shoulder) and put her in the flower bed where there are bugs a-plenty. After anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, "Peckerhead"-which is what we have named her-returns to wherever I am in the shop. She even lands on my shoulder or head without me "calling" her. She is very hesitant about going to anyone else in the shop, though. The customers just love it. I'll stand at the window to the office and make sure they are watching then hold out my arm. It is so funny to watch the suprised looks.
Well, maybe she will grow up and leave but I'm not so sure. I know how birds "bond" to humans sometimes when they are young. The shop is just too dangerous for a bird who is so comfortable around people and loud noises, not to mention the fact that I had to shoo her away from a brake fluid bottle yesterday (animals like brake fluid because it is salty, also antifreeze because it is sweet).
I'm going to find a way to get her here to my house and release her in the back yard. That way she'll have trees and bugs and still be close to me. Yeah, I kinda like the goofy little critter.
Anybody have any experience in transporting [safely] little wild birds who could give me some pointers?
mike.
Cute baby bird story
by Bendrr 4 Replies latest jw friends
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Bendrr
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AGuest II
I beg your pardon, but...
"Peckerhead"... is NOT a suitable name for a lady... no matter WHAT her species. Take suggestions from your customers, have a 'name the birdy' contest... whatever. But change it. Tell the 'fellas I said so. And don't MAKE me hafta come all the way over there and, well, you know, 'handle' thangs myself. 'Cause I will... for the 'sisterhood'.
SJ (on my own and gettin' ghetto...)
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Bendrr
Point taken, SJ.
Actually I don't like the idea of a name-the-bird contest because the guys at the shop don't chip in to buy her food and she doesn't particularly like them. And I think we can all roll our eyes in anticipation of what some of my customers would come up with. Why don't you folks toss out some nice ideas?
Starting up a new thread for that.
mike."Well done, Blind Squirrel! You've found an impressive nut!
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Englishman
Bendrr,
Ornithologist you most certainly are not! If your bird is eating insects, then it is almost definitely a soft billed bird - can't eat grain 'cos it's too hard - it's probably a member of the thrush family, ie blackbird or robin. If it does messy poo's it's a soft-bill, tight little turds equals a hard bill such as a finch or similar.
Never occured to me before but your wild birds are probably not the same as whats in the UK.
Englishman
..... fanaticism masquerading beneath a cloak of reasoned logic.
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Bendrr
Englishman, the lady at the bird shop showed me a book with pics of birds and we decided it is probably a Brown Thrasher (Thrush) which is an insect eater, not a seed eater. Brown Thrasher is also the "State Bird" of Georgia, for whatever that is worth. And yes, it leaves messy little turds, which has been pretty funny so far especially when she took a dump on the toolbox of one of my co-workers.
I've had to clean up after her on several customers' vehicles also.
mike."Well done, Blind Squirrel! You've found an impressive nut!