Moe, Larry and Curly

The breath of new life in the wild sometimes is shorten by human intervention and sometimes, like with the story of Moe, Larry and Curly, the human intervention gives a second chance.

The second chance for Moe, Larry and Curly was given by Wild Bird Rehabilitation at 9624 Midland Ave., Overland, Missouri. My neighbor, Ted, came knocking on our door last night with a bucket. The bucket was making sweet chirping sounds as he told us the story. Ted had been working on a house and he found the birds nest in the rain gutter. He tried to leave the nest alone as long as he could, but progress caught up with the little family and the nest had to be removed. While he continued to work the parents did not return to feed or claim the babies. So he brought them home, fed them worms and then brought them to me for care. I'm the softy in the neighborhood. I know very little about birds, but I knew the Internet would be of help. So after some investigation----I made them a nest, gave them a few more worms and put them in a box with a heating pad on low. Then I opened the telephone book. I knew I was not equipped to take care of Moe, Larry and Curly and them seemed strong---it would be a shame for me to hurt them by trying to save them.
I found the Wild Bird Rehabilitation. This was an educational event for me. I learned a good deal about the care of birds, for example: Baby birds have to be fed every 15-20 minutes from 7am to 7pm. They need to be kept warm 90+ degrees if they have no feathers. They need moister (like a damp sponge) in their nest. Never give birds water, they can drown. They get their water from the food. The food---worms were OK, in fact at their young age they eat anything, but to really get the nutrition that their parents would supply they need a very complex diet (half the stuff I had no idea what it was). But the best thing for baby birds is to keep them in a nest as near to the spot where they were found. Mom and Dad will come back for them. Also, you can touch a baby bird and the parents will continue to take care of it.

We kept Moe, Larry and Curly warm and gave them a breakfast of worms before we loaded them up for the 45 minute trip to the Rehabilitation center. The center is set up in to 5 areas. The hospital (ER) for the injured birds. The nursery with incubators (Moe, Larry and Curly were admitted to the nursery). The next room is for the birds that have feathers and can hop around. Then the Recovery room, this is the next to the last stage of their stay before the outside aviary and then released to the wild in the area where they were found.

I felt good leaving the birds. They were in very good hands. There was one mystery surrounding Moe, Larry and Curly----what kind of birds are they. Ted thought they were Robins, the lady on the phone, when I described where their nest was located, thought they were Sparrows. I didn't have a clue, but I knew they weren't Sparrows, because their legs were too big---very long legs for little guys. Cute as they are now---they will grow up to be, shall I say undesirable birds in our area---Starlings.

All God's creatures deserve a second chance to do his work even Starlings.