Graduation Day for Bird Babies--By Linda Kozar

Mama or Daddy Bird

We've had lots of commotion around our garage today--and it has nothing to do with cars.

If you read the earlier post, I found a nest in our garage with three little wrens inside. But before we knew they were there, we went out of town for a couple of days. When we came back and heard cheeps, we felt awful. But the mama, and it turns out, the daddy bird as well soon returned to feed and nurture their babies.

Our daily delight, was to watch as the diminutive parents flew in and out of the garage, wiggling insects clamped in their beaks. Yesterday I peeked into the nest and noticed the birds looked more like--well--birds than babies. And this morning, they decided to leave the nest.

Lots of chirping on the fence and in the garage alerted us that something was going on. And it seemed there were a lot more of the little birds around than usual. In addition, I heard chirps, not little cheep cheeps from inside the garage. That's when I noticed this little fellow under my daughter's car. He came out in time for a photo op!

One of the babies

I noticed movement as they hopped underneath the other car too. The parents chirped some sort of danger signal and grew more and more agitated with me around, so I decided to watch from the kitchen window instead.

As I did, I saw something wonderful. The mama or papa bird (can't tell them apart) chirped to one of the babies and then flew on top of the fence. The baby followed and chirped as well. Then the parent chirped again and flew to a small tree nearby and the baby followed, though it flew in a tentative way.

I walked into the garage. The cheeps and chirps were no more, our garage returned to its former state, a small building filled with cars and boxes, smells of motor oil and fertilizer. Tip-toeing to the nest, I tilted it downward to look inside.

Empty.

I smiled. The babies, my babies had surely flown the coop--all three of them. A few flying lessons from their parents, some instruction on catching tasty insects and they'd be on their way.

I sighed. Happy, yes happy that my husband and I can finally close the garage door again...