good samaritans

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Albert Einstein said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

That brings us to hummingbirds. Almost everything about their lives is a miracle. 

Janet and Steve were on a walk through their neighborhood yesterday morning when Janet spotted something "fuzzy" on the street in the middle of the white line. It was the white line that made the fuzz noticeable. She could have accidentally stepped on it but instead she leaned over to look at the puff ball and realized it was a baby hummingbird.

Being Good Samaritans, they picked it up and took it home to give it aid and comfort. The foundling seemed healthy, even perky. It would flap its wings but it just wasn't old enough to fly. Using a cotton swab, they fed it sugar-water and it ate. 

After a few hours, they called Sharon at Ijams and Sharon called me and I called them. Should I rescue it and take it to a wildlife rehabilitator? I called Lynne McCoy and we chatted. Because the young one seemed so perky and healthy, we decided the best course of action was let Mama be Mama, if at all possible. 

I called Janet and Steve back advising them to place the young one in a small box and return it as close as possible to where they had rescued it from the street and place the box as high as they could above the ground and pray that Mama would find it. They were even able to place a feeder nearby. 

This morning when they checked on the box, Mama buzzed them as if to say, "Thank you. But it is my job from here on!"

It is hard to explain little miracles like this other than simply say, "Hand of God."

Being fed sugar water 

Nestling in box waiting for Mom

Box on tree to left

UPDATE: Monday, June 15, 11 A.M.

And 48 hours after it was found on the street, the mother of the baby hummingbird is still feeding it!


UPDATE: Tuesday, June 16, 10:00 A.M.

And today, our story ends with a last text from Janet, "Yesterday, our baby hummingbird was found on the ground and we put him back in the box and today he's flying around with mama. But both are camera shy."

And for those on the go, a gram in an Instant. 

Click: Stephen Lyn: Instagram 

Author of Natural Histories, Ghost Birds and Ephemeral by Nature all published by the University of Tennessee Press.

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