A Bird On The Pants Must Be Worth Three In The Bush

Early this afternoon the boys looked out the back door and saw a female downy woodpecker in the prone position in the grass. She was on her tummy, not her back, and we were on the phone with Hubby at the time.

Chaos nearly ensued.

As Hubby is googling to see exactly what we need to do, we notice that she slightly moved and was blinking. Her wings were close to her body and did not appear to be damaged.

Our instructions were to go outside, check the wings to make sure they were okay (our previous visual check was the most we did there!), make sure the eyes looked okay, and then see if the bird would perch on a limb. If it did, we were to let it recover on its own.

Buddy and I went outside, me finding a short stick and him to touch the bird. He scooped her up and, although shaky, she sat on the stick. I passed it off and ran inside to get the camera and a bowl of water, because the poor thing looked thirsty. And it was the perfect photo opportunity.

I poured a little water between her beak and she drank. Then when we decided to sit her and her limb in the box we took outside she ended up on Buddy.

Me: "Where'd the bird go?!"

Buddy: "It's on my pants!"

Of course we were being quiet, so I wasn't sure if he said 'in' or 'on' at first.

The bird did not want back on the stick. And thankfully it didn't peck. Although Caboose's play-by-play to Hubby apparently included, "It's pecking Buddy's crotch!" He has a little more imagination than some of us.

She was just very appreciative, I think.

We didn't want her to fall.

And then she flew off on her own.

Whew!