Birds of a feather...

As I type, we have a handyman out in the garden pulling up weeds and putting down fresh mulch on top of old newspapers. According to the Pinterest gardening gods, the newspapers should last for two years before they start to break down and become one with the earth.

While the handyman was working, he found a baby bird trying to walk in the grass. Clearly, the tiny bird was either tossed out of its nest or fell out.  We couldn't find the nest out in that part of the yard, but we had a nest of baby barn swallows on the porch that seemed to be about the same size. My husband got out the ladder and put the lost baby bird into the nest on the porch.

I thought it was such a great idea, but apparently, the mama barn swallow of that nest didn't agree. Between the mama bird and her mate, they managed to drag that baby bird out of its adopted nest and they let it fall to the porch. I don't know how long the baby bird was on the porch, but when I saw the poor thing, it was surrounded by two of the outside cats--- Gatsby and Orange Cat. Neither cat bothered the tiny bird, but they were so intent on watching it that they hardly noticed me as I came along and scooped up that baby bird before either cat could claim it as a snack.

The poor little bird didn't last too long anyway.... as I was trying to feed it some warm water with an eye-dropper, it took its last gasping breath and that was that.  Baby birds just never make it when they've left the nest before they've been fed enough and are ready to fly. We've tried (and failed) with other baby birds since we've been out here.

What really amazed me is that the mama bird knew right away that there was an impostor in her nest.  I guess we won't be messing around with any of the nests in the future. It's just a shame that once those baby birds leave their nests, they're on their own whether they're ready or not.