Lucky Bird... sort of

Boy if there ever was a little bird to get into trouble, this one sure picked the right place/time and person to do it with.

On Friday June 24. 2016, I was up at Toronto Wildlife Centre. Upon leaving the building and driving towards Sheppard Ave, suddenly a Sparrow flew right in front of the truck. It's a 40 km/hr zone and I was able to slow down enough for it to pass low in front of me. It made it. But next thing I know, a second bird is coming, trailing behind the other and BOOM, it meets the grill of my truck. If I had not been paying attention to the first bird, I may not have seen this other one. I know I certainly would not have heard it hit.

I slowed down, looking in the rear mirror and I could see it tumble and finally come to a stop in the middle of the road. Then the first Sparrow flew to this one. It turned out to be a juvi House Sparrow and it's mother came to help him. Of course there's nothing she can do.

I quickly turn the truck around, put my 4 ways on and stop in front of the birds. Mom has backed off but she's not happy about my presence here messing with her child.

The little one is stunned and I gently cup him into my hand. I had nothing to put him in. I don't even think, I just go right back to the centre. I'm a little shaken by what has just happened. I have this little feathery ball of life in my hands and I may have accidentally just ended his. The bird seems to be going in and out of consciousness. There's a tiny bit of blood coming out his beak, drying on my fingers. Argh!

I explained what happened the best I could in this now blurry moment. There was no questions asked, they just went to work, containing him and getting him the medical attention he needed or a quiet dark place to die within the box and a soft blanket.

A couple hours later I heard he was still with us, doing better.

I'm quite relieved it all worked out this way because as I have mentioned before, just walking in with any sick or injured wild animal is NOT acceptable. They need to know in advance what is coming and if they have the room for it especially at this time of year when the house is normally full.

Sunday June 26th comes and I get a call asking for the specifics on where this happened as the bird was deemed fit enough to go back to the wild world. At this stage, he's pretty much on his own anyway, but it would be nice for him to be with his own kind and maybe find mom who might help him along a little more, finding food sources, etc.

Apparently the release went perfect, finding a small flock of House Sparrows in the area I sent them to via a phone call. The young bird took flight from his confines and joined the others.

I know House Sparrows are pretty low on a lot of peoples' lists. Could anyone be that cold hearted to just drive away knowing there was an injured one in the middle of the road, that they just hit? Not tooting my own horn, but if I did not take action, that bird most likely would have died on the road.

I don't have any photos. It never crossed my mind to try for any. Would you need to see such a sight on the computer screen? I'm sure the visual you have in your head is pretty clear and accurate to what I saw minus the exact landscaping around us.

Here is one of our fledged juvi House Sparrows from the yard this past May. Yep, he looked very much like this one.

Good luck little guy! Stay away from the cars and trucks that go "bash bash"!