Begin forwarded message:
> From: Carol Blackard <carol-black...@comcast.net> > Subject: Arapahoe House Finch nest saga > Date: June 21, 2014 at 9:20:30 AM MDT > To: cobirds <cobirds@googlegroups.com> > > 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 cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. 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.
