Baby bird #2

I found a little bird today in my driveway. It was right where my left tire would have gone, had I not seen it. Instead, I veered around, parked, and got out to decide what to do. The bird was clearly distressed, and trying to scoot away from the driveway, toward the bushes of the business next door. As it scooted, I could see that though it had feathers on its wings, its butt and legs were pretty bare.

I would have left the bird to its business or helped it into the nearby bush except that two thoughts popped into my head:

1. Those bushes were where we found the last litter of kittens, and this bird would make a nice meal for any cat that wandered by
2. When I relayed the story of bird #1 to Kevin, he said that if he found an injured bird, he would put it out of its misery (in a more graphic way)

Well, I couldn't be like Kevin and I couldn't leave it for the cats, so I decided to bring it inside and do a little research. (On my way in, BTW, I found a cat near the back door and a dog pooping on the front lawn. Oh, the joys of wildlife.) I put it and some paper towels in the first box I found, which happened to be a Fancy Feast box. (We have two cans left for trapping.) The bird snuggled into one corner, like it was hiding, and that was that.

After reading this and then this, and realizing there was no way I would be able to take care of the thing, I figured out the best way to re-release it into the wild. I made a little paper towel nest in a basket I had lying around, and transferred the bird into it. Then B helped me string it up in a tree, where hopefully some bird will come along and feed it. Since it looked like it might rain (and it has, but only a little), B broke down a small branch from a maple and rigged it as a natural umbrella. I'll check on it again tomorrow.


Edited to add: Whether it was the rain, the cold, or the lack of food, the bird didn't make it through the night. I buried it in the backyard.