Poor little guy! I think I helped him though..

I went out with the dogs a bit ago and noticed something small fluttering around in the middle of the back yard, on closer inspection turned out to be a young house finch who fell out of his nest a bit too soon. I put the dogs back in so they wouldn't accidentally trample him and then went back out and carefully approached him. He cheeped in alarm and fluttered away a bit but then I put my hand down and herded him onto it with my other hand, not really expecting him to stay there. But he stopped and stood there on my hand and I slowly got up. I thought as soon as I started walking he'd jump off, but he didn't, he just sat there contentedly in my hand.

I pondered what to do with the little guy because he really wasn't safe out there in the middle of the back yard, we have a lot of hawks and falcons hunt near the yard (in fact I've seen them make kills right in my back yard), and I didn't want the dogs to run over him. Since he was riding so quietly in my hand I came in and grabbed the camera and one-handedly shot a couple pictures of him. Then I walked under all the trees around my back yard looking for any sign of a nest. Eventually I heard baby birds near me, making the same cheeping noise he had been making, and looked up into a spruce tree to see a pair of house finches flying in and out. I thought, "Ahha!" and lowered my hand to place him under that tree, which also had some shrubs and hostas under it for cover. He didn't want to get down, I think my hand was warm and comfortable and he felt like he was back in his nest. I had to nudge him to get him off. Then I stood up and walked away to watch from a distance.

Much to my delight, I soon saw Mom and Dad swoop down and begin feeding him! I feel so glad that I found the right tree and that I got to witness his parents taking care of him. It's really warm so it shouldn't get too cold for him. He could fly a tiny ways but not far, he didn't really have developed flight feathers. I sure hope he'll be ok, but I feel his best chance is with his own mommy and daddy caring for him. Good luck little guy!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...babyfinch2.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...babyfinch1.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...babyfinch3.jpg

:) How sweet...It's amazing how the tiniest things affect us :)

Aww what a cutie!

I hope he makes it!:)

Awww, what a cutie! I'm so glad you were able to help the little bird! :)

That's very sweet. :)

How cool is that. Good that Mum & Dad were still wanting to look after the little guy.:)

That's so sweet!

What a sweet lil' fledgling! Great pics, and we can only hope the baby will make it. I had a baby sparrow 'fly' onto my hood last year at a busy intersection while I was stopped at a red light. I grabbed the baby up, and looped around and THOUGHT I had placed it in a safe spot on the other side of the fence! :eek: :confused: Seconds later, it came fluttering through my passenger's window and onto the dash board. Same reaction...liked the warmth of my hands lol! :) This time I made sure the baby was further away from the street, and way into a yard with a stockade fence. The baby boom's on us. :eek:

Bless their little hearts. That's quite a story QS, lucky for the birdie that it landed in your car! :eek: I woke up early this morning to a raging storm outside, and the first thing that popped in my mind is I hope the baby is ok. We do have a lot of dense shrubs, hostas and trees for him to hide under, but I still worried. With large fir trees surrounding our yard, we get so many nesters that an unfortunate side effect is often finding fledglings that didn't make it :(. I just hope this is one little guy who will! I went out and looked around and saw no sign of him anywhere, hopefully that's a good sign.

How sweet of you! :) I'm glad you got him back in the nest and his parents are taking care of him. He'll be forever thankful and come flying with little worms to give you. :D