Logan Helps A Bird...A True Story

My niece sent me the following in an email. It's about her and her son Logan rescuing a Brown-headed Nuthatch last week and had to share it! 


It was such a beautiful day today, so I decided to see if Logan would like to take a trip over to the pond at our nearby Park.Surprisingly, he said yes (you mean we do not have to go home and play underwater explorers or space invaders!)- So to the park we went and after walking around for an hour, we decided it was time to head home.On the way back up to the car I noticed Logan kneeling down to the ground saying, "Mommy, it's a bird. He doesn't look too good- maybe we should help save his life..." And I am thinking to myself, oh boy look at what I have done- how do I tell my son that sometimes you just have to let life take it's course. Then I hear "Mommy, look at that big bump on his neck!" I responded "Yes, that is called a Nuthatch. He might be sick, so we should just leave him alone and head home.Let's go..."

LOGAN SPOTTING A BIRD

Logan was relentless that we help the bird saying, "No,Mommy! Look at his neck...We have to be helpful humans and help this poor bird." Bending down, I see that indeed the bird had quite a bump on his neck- for us it would be about the size of an orange or grapefruit. Gently I picked the little bird up and turned him over seeing that the bump was actually a nice size tick. I was thinking to myself, even if this bird sits still what are the chances of me being able to remove the head of this tick?? Well, I decided to try anyway (had to do something, as we are helpful humans, right?)

NUTHATCH WITH TICK

The bird did not even move and did not make a sound. It was almost as if he knew that we were trying to help him and we manage to remove the tick along with the head. Just shortly after that the bird flew up to an area with pine straw grabbed an insect and flew away. Just had to share our wonderful day! 

CATCHING A BUG

I am so glad you did share your day my sweet Niece and am very proud of you for teaching Logan to care for birds and other forms of wildlife!

It is impressive that she was able to remove the tick along with the head from a bird. I have always had a problem getting the head out. Click HERE to learn how to properly remove a Tick.

Brown-headed Nuthatches are slowly declining in numbers due to loss of nesting habitat.  Click HERE to read Audubon's Watch List report on this endearing Southeastern nuthatch. 

I feel blessed to have them nest in my wooded area and are regular visitors at my feeders. 

Wishing Peace, Health, Wealth, and Love to ALL!