Begin forwarded message:
> From: Carol Blackard <[email protected]> > Subject: Arapahoe House Finch nest saga > Date: June 21, 2014 at 9:20:30 AM MDT > To: cobirds <[email protected]> > > Hi, guys, > > As it was accustomed to doing, a House Finch couple built a nest in a > neighbor's artificial flower wreath, but after the three eggs hatched, > something, possibly a cat, caused the nest to be badly damaged. It was half > falling off on the outside part and one of the hatchlings had fallen to the > cement floor. When I picked it up, it was quite cold so I held it to my body > for a few minutes before returning it to the nest. In a desperate and > incomparably stupid move, we shored up the nest with some wide white tape our > neighbor had handy. OK, so yay, we saved the birds because the parents > returned and the three nestlings were seen chirping for food. Then, again, > disaster struck. The male finch (nice to know it was contributing to the > rearing of the young) was seen sitting in the nest for several hours straight > and the female was seen going in and out of the nest despite the male's > stubborn and bulky presence. Why? Its right wing was thoroughly stuck on the > adhesive surface of the nest-saving tape and no amount of fluttering was > going to release it. Ouch. I was able to gently hold the male's body and work > the feathers loose with my other hand. I let the bird go and it flew a short > distance and rested on a table. Later we saw it flying well, despite the loss > of at least two feathers and a true buggering of the feather barbs (is that > the right word?) on the right wing. We removed all of the tape and > destabilized the nest with a piece of a basket and plastic wire. So, long > story short, only about a week later I was witness to the fledging of one > finch. When I inspected the nest the next day, there were no dead bodies, so > I think all three babies made it to the outside world where their little > lives will probably be in even greater danger. Life finds a way. > > Carol Blackard 7802 S Garfield Way Centennial, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/53F3E27E-D229-46A3-AB79-45220C8AD2D2%40comcast.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
