The Baby Mountain Chickadee Rescue

Life in the Yard

Some of you might remember this little character from “A Life at the Fountain,” (link below). He is a Mountain Chickadee. And from what I can tell, he and his lady are a bit out of their natural territory. They tend to inhabit mountainous areas, lush with pines.

We do live in the low foothills in Southern California. And we have several pine trees on our property. So, perhaps they feel at home. They love to eat oiled sunflower seeds and mealworms, so I provide them in abundance.

My kitty, Bisou, is the gentlest soul. He once caught and killed a rat and had an existential crisis. I think he had no idea that it was not like a toy. Since then, he does occasionally bring in lizards and rats and sometimes birds. But, they are always alive and most of the time are not injured at all. We do keep most of our bird feeders in the front yard, where they cats can’t get to them. But, we have a few in the back too.

So, the other day, little Baby B brought in a tiny little blob of fluff, which we immediately rescued. I took him outside and cradled him in my palms for about a half an hour. He was unharmed. I thought he must just be in shock because he did not fly away. Instead, we communed, peering into each other’s eyes. He opened his little beak, and I thought, “this is a baby!” I tried to feed him a mealworm, but it startled him and he took a wobbly flight over to a terra cotta pot. Then, he swooped again and landed on the wrought iron fence.

I realized that flight was new to him, and I wondered if he had “just” fledged. Perhaps, these might be some of his very first attempts. I went upstairs to get my “real camera,” (only had an iphone handy at first). And by the time I came back down, he was gone.

I worried about him that night, but he did seem old enough to survive.

And the next day, lo and behold, the two adult Mountain Chickadees appeared at the feeder, accompanied by two half-size little ones. I am pretty certain that this is him, in the photo below, because he seems very comfortable with me.

Today, my gardener, who didn’t know the story, told me about “one of those little black and white birds” who was so friendly. It let him get right up near him.

I am excited to watch this little guy grow up. I really felt such a connection with him for those minutes in which I was able to shelter him in my hands.

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Story and Photo ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.