A Bird on the Deck

The husband's away. We ran him up to the airport today (only 20 minutes Molytail!) so he could catch a bus back to Edmundston. It's a 12 hour bus trip but at least the buses have a plug-in for his laptop!

When we got arrived back home we got to the door and noticed a miserable little bird sitting on the deck. It was a female Wilson's Warbler and it had obviously been the sport of our cat because one leg was wonky and one eye was missing completely. Poor thing.


Wilson's Warbler - Female


Of course we had to do something. I think all three of us knew she wasn't long for the world but how could we leave her there, shivering on the deck?

I said we needed a box. Harry immediately volunteered his prized train station box (a plain cardboard box with some holes cut in it). We placed an old receiving blanket on the bottom and I gently lifted the warbler into it. Then we put a towel over the box and put him in a quiet corner of the house.

An hour later the little bird was dead. No one was surprised and although we were sad, no one was terribly upset. Catherine took the opportunity to pet her and remarked on how soft she was and everyone got a last look before I took her out to the compost bin.

I thought our intervention may have hastened the tiny warbler's death but when Catherine and I discussed the possible outcomes, we decided that we'd done the just thing afterall. Even if the worst case was that we did cause it to die sooner (I'm excluded the possibilty it could have lived. The injuries we could see were gruesome. It's likely the ones we couldn't see were worse) it was probably kinder then to have abandoned it to suffer for longer.

Where we weren't so sure was in my decision to dump it in the compost bin. Yes, the end result was effectively the same as if I'd buried it but I'd forgone any ritual or show of respect for the bird. If we had to do it again, we would have gone for a short burial.

Now we're off to research Wilson's Warblers. Catherine is wondering if the bird might have had a nest and that research migh tlead other places today. What a gift that little bird gave us.