Fledgling Rescue‼️
- Maya Griffith
- Jul 9
- 2 min read
At the Start-
I was walking my dog Snowy for her evening walk when she pulled me to the side of the road. She had her nose stuffed into a fallen bird nest! While she focused on that we both turned our head when we heard a little peep. Low and behold two little dove fledgling where nuzzled into the curb. I called over my mom who told me to leave them behind. As she began to walk off I tucked the two birds into my shirt and walked home.
At Home-
By the time I had made it home my mom had figured out I had snuck them home. I found a box and put a layer of paper shredding and placed the chicks inside. I keep a syringe handy at home for situations like this. I slowly rehydrated the chicks as Snowy kept circling the box. I covered the top of the box with a towel to allow them some time to relax. I left them outside in the box while I completed my online lessons.
After Lessons-
After lessons I came back down to check on the birds. I looked around the house for something I could hang from the fence. I ended up finding a red basket which I filled the bottom with some clean paper shreddings. I placed the two chicks into the false nest and took them back with Snowy to where I found them. I hung up the false nest on the fence and put the real nest into the basket. The chicks had curled up together and looked better than they were before.
My hope was that the mother was still around and would come back and take care of the fledglings. For a few days we saw nothing but every time I'd come by to check on the chicks they looked healthy so I knew the mother had to be around. Then one day while we drove past my parent spotted the mom!
After I knew the mother was still tending to the chicks a weight was lifted off my chest. Every day when I'd check on them they would be bigger and bigger, so mama bird was clearly feeding them well.
One morning while my mom was going for a run she stopped by the nest, she peeped over and saw both chicks in side. As she came closer the bigger chick puffed up and ruffled his feathers and with a flash of brown and white he flew off!! He landed on the roof of the house's fence we used to hang the nest. Later that week on my evening walk I checked the nest and it was completely empty! No chicks only poop, feathers and paper! I took the false nest in my arms and headed home and on the lawn of that same house there he was, the smaller chick!
Mission Accomplished.
I went home with a smile on my face. The chicks had grown up fast and learnt to fly.
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Maya Griffith,
09/07/2026
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