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

[K9soul]

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!

[Bigyummydog]

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

[CagneyDog]

Aww what a cutie!

I hope he makes it!

[popcornbird]

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

[jenfer]

That's very sweet.

[Oggyflute]

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

[gkristian]

That's so sweet!

[QueenScoopalot]

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! 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.

[K9soul]

Bless their little hearts. That's quite a story QS, lucky for the birdie that it landed in your car! 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.

[Randi]

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.