May 19, 2015

Bird's Nest Perfume -and- how to save a baby bird

On Sunday morning I walked outside to take out the compost after a badass thunderstorm the previous night. I looked down and found a tiny baby bird that had fallen 40 feet from its nest in a large maple tree that stretched over my yard. It was breathing but couldn't lift its head or open its eyes, and it's mother watched me from the nest but didn't do anything to try to deter me from her fallen baby. I went inside to watch if the mother was taking care of him but she had given up. She was busy getting worms but went up to the nest without checking on the one that had fallen.
So I made some phone calls to people who knew more than me and here's what I learned:



 - He needed to be warmed up first. So I put him in a small "nest" box filled with shredded paper and set it on top of a heat pad on medium. 
- Then I got a worm out of the garden and cut it into 1/2'' -1'' pieces. I had to hold his head up and gently push his beak open to get the worm in. It did swallow each piece that I stuck in. I was concerned that he needed water so I dipped the worms in water first.
- After feeding him a full 3-4'' worm, I left him in a safe, quiet room in his box and made sure the heat pad was keeping the bottom of the box at around body temperature. I left for 2-3 hours.
- When I came back he recognized me, let out a big cheeeep and had the strength to lift his head and open his beak wide for more worms! So I got three more worms and fed him until he went back to resting. I noticed he was breathing much faster than before.


Riverside Nature Center
Then I found out that Lakeside Nature Center in Kansas City (as well as Operation Wildlife in Lawrence, KS) takes in native Missouri animals that need rehabilitation. By the time I got him there they didn't believe that the mother hadn't been caring for him because he was so much stronger. But I convinced them to put him in the incubator with the other baby robins they had.

If I had the time I may have continued to try to rehab it myself, and then teach it to find food, then to fly... I think a lot of people don't know what to do with fallen birds and figure there's nothing you can do to help, but you can. Depending on the stage the bird is in and how concerned the mother is, there are a lot of different scenarios of what you should do. But I was surprised at how easy it was to bring this one back from near hopelessness.



And here's a batch of Bird's Nest perfume locket refills to celebrate. :)

I made this last year for the first time and it was a customer favorite. I wanted to release another batch for this spring so this is a perfect time.

If you order a locket you can ask in the message to seller to include it also. I only have a dozen in this limited edition batch, but I am considering adding it to the solid perfume line in the near future, what do you think?



1 comment:

  1. Lovely story from a true gentle heart. I recently saved a hummingbird. Feels good to help out our feathered friends. Blessing to you! Jaja

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