In Memory Of May 24th, 1999 Today I was awakened very early in the morning by a strange rustling sound. After laying there listening for several minutes I figured out that it was coming from the bush outside my bedroom window. With some trepidation (I live in a basement apartment) I got up and looked outside. Sure enough, the bush was shaking slightly and making the rustling sound. Then I saw this small, yellow, diamond-shaped mouth...it was a baby bird! She was not making any sound but just sitting there with her mouth wide open, shaking slightly and causing the bush to rustle. I went outside and there she was, poor thing, stuck in the bush. I gently untangled her legs from the twig that was somehow wrapped aound them and picked her up. She had no feathers, just down covering her tiny body. She was shivering and making an almost-inaudible chirping noise. I cupped her in my hands and brought her inside. What to do now? Well, I knew that I had to make her warm so I lined a small box with a towel, placed her inside and covered her. Before long she started to show some signs of life, moving around some and chirping louder. I figured she might be hungry so I soaked some soft bread in warm water and put a bit on my finger. As soon as I put my finger near her, the little mouth opened up and the chirping became more like screeching! I used my finger to place the morsel as far back into her mouth as I could and she wolfed it down. She ate five small bites, then settled down and went to sleep. An hour later she was hungry again so I fed her again, and again she settled down to sleep. This continued all day long, but as soon as the sun went down I covered the box with a towel, leaving a small opening, and she went to sleep. Hope she sleeps all night! May 25th, 1999 Well, it seems I have a new alarm clock! I was awakened this morning at 5:00 AM by this horrendous screeching noise. For a moment I couldn't figure out what it was, and then I remembered the bird. I stumbled out of bed and went to the box and there was her little head sticking out of the opening, mouth wide open. When she saw me she began to screech even louder, so off I went to get her "breakfast" of bread and warm water. She ate, but this time she stayed awake and I saw that she was stronger. She could walk around the litle box now. And she had grown some feathers overnight! She was still mostly covered in down but at the tips of her wings and tail were tiny little brown feathers. She spends a lot of her awake time pulling at the down so I figure it has to come out before feathers come in. She has these two long tufts of it over her ears and looks like a little bald man who has hair only around his ears! Her routine today was different as she spent some awake time after each meal. She eats every hour or so and kept me busy all day. But at 9:00 PM I put her to bed and she fell right asleep. May 26th, 1999 Awake at 5:00 AM again! It seems she wakes up at sunrise, when all of the other birds outside begin to wake up. It must be some kind of internal clock or something. The day's routine was pretty much the same as yesterday's. The feathers on her wings and tail have gotten longer and she now has tiny ones on her head and back. Her belly is still bare as are her legs. I have added grapes to her diet, and she loves them. She is also taking water out of a syringe. She has a really long neck and sits with it all stretched out, peering out of the box and chirping. She is so cute! But I am tired and was so glad when 9:00 rolled around. May 27th, 1999 When I was awakened at 5 this morning, I got up and went to the box, expecting to see that little head peering over the edge as usual, but I got a surprise...she was OUT of the box! She hadn't gone anywhere, but was standing up next to the box. She looked up at me as if to say "Look what I can do!" Time for a bigger box! She seemed to like it because she had more room to run around in it now. And she does run! I put her on the floor for a while and once she got used to the carpet she was all over the place! 90% of her wings are feathered now but her tail is taking longer. I pulled the down tufts off her head for her. They came right out with no tugging and I think that is something the parent bird must do for her babies because they can't reach the tops of their heads with their beaks. She preens herself all the time now. I called a wildlife sanctuary for help and advice and am waiting for a call-back from them. In the meantime, life goes on! May 28th thru May 31st No changes these past few days, except for the growth of her feathers and the addition of raw hamburg to her diet (a bird expert told me she needed it for the iron). I can't believe how often she poops! It's like it goes in one end and immediately comes out the other. The bird expert told me this is because baby birds have really high metabolisms. Good thing I have a large supply of newspaper to line her box with! Still no call from the wildlife sanctuary...and I thought they were supposed to care! June 1st, 1999 Well, Bigbird took her maiden flight today! I should have expected it...all of the down has been replaced by feathers and her wings have gotten really strong. But it still came as a surprise! She was on her favorite perch (my shoulder) and suddenly she launched herself off! She didn't go very far, only down to the sofa seat, but I know it won't be long before she is flying all over the house. Time for a cage! Wake-up is still at sunrise and bedtime is still at sunset, just like the other birds outside. June 2nd, 1999 The cage is not working out like I thought it would! She stays in it up to a point, but she quickly learned that she could squeeze through the bars and when she decides she has had enough and wants "mama's" company, out she comes! I think I am going to leave the door open so that she won't hurt herself squeezing her body through the bars. I'd hate to have to try and splint a broken wing! June 3rd thru June 7th, 1999 No major changes this past week. Bigbird can now drink water on her own from her water dish and loves to bathe in a dish of water. She is so funny when she bathes! She uses her wings to splash water all over herself (and all over the cage, the wall and the floor!) and she looks like a drowned little thing when she is done. She then spends ten minutes drying herself and preening her feathers. She spends most of her time out of the cage now, perching on me or on the back of the sofa, and returns to the cage to bathe, get a drink or nap. June 8th, 1999 Well, today it happened! Bigbird can fly! She flew all the way from the kitchen into the living room, startling one of the cats and herself, too. She still is not flying up so I don't have to worry about getting her off of the tops of the curtains yet, but I think that day is fast approaching! It's a good thing she comes to me when I call her! Now if she could just get the hang of feeding herself! She can pick at a piece of bread and get a morsel in her beak but has not learned how to get the food from the tip of her beak into her throat to eat it. I bought her thistle seed in the hope that this would be easier for her to eat but so far no luck. June 9th thru June 16th, 1999 Well, Bigbird has become "Miss Independent"! She now spends most of her time outside the cage, roaming around. She loves to get on top of my keyboard when I am online. She pecks at the keys as if she is trying to type, but she gets in the way of the infra-red signal and I wind up with a whole bunch of gobble-de-gook on the page which I have to correct. Maybe I should let her type her own page! 'LOL' And she pecks at everything! If I doze off while she is out she will land on my head and peck at my face until I wake up! I'm glad her beak is not too sharp yet but it is getting there! She still can't seem to get the hang of feeding herself but she eats less often now, which is a relief. I think she is too busy being "miss nosy" to think about food as much. And she drives my cats crazy! She lands on them or flies over their heads, and when they go to paw at her she runs away like the dickens...she is much too fast for them! I really think she likes teasing them like that because she will run under something and then screech as if she is laughing at them! Another new trick of hers is to pick up small pieces of paper or other small objects and run or fly away with them. This morning she took off with a $20 bill! I have to laugh at how funny her antics are. Who would ever have thought that a wild bird could be so cute and entertaining? June 25th, 1999 At 9:20 AM today, Bigbird died. I do not know what happened. It was very sudden. When I put her to bed last night she was fine, and she seemed fine when I got up this morning. But within 10 minutes after uncovering her, she began to act funny...she had trouble standing up and was having breathing problems. Her tiny beak was open and she seemed to be gasping for air. Her condition got continously worse, and I could do nothing for her. She lay in the palm of my hand, looking up at me, and I could see her eyes getting duller. All I could do was hold and stroke her and speak to her softly, crying. It took her almost an hour to go. At the end she tucked her little head into my palm and stopped breathing. I felt her heart beat several times more and and then she was gone. I know she is with God now and her suffering is over and she will be eternally at peace. But I am going to miss her so! It is one month and one day since I found her and even though the time was short I grew to love that feisty little bird. Ironically, it was today, the day of her death, that I finally learned what kind of bird she was. I saw a program on TV tonight about rescuing wild birds and I found myself looking at Bigbird. She was a starling. Bigbird May 24th, 1999 to June 25th, 1999 Rest in Peace, Baby. I love you. PetiteChoux@webtv.net