Our new family member

So, my husband wakes me up at midnight last week. He had been fixing something on his bike and wanted to do a quick test drive when he found something in the alley and brought it in the house. No, not a homeless person, but a homeless baby bird. It was still very naked and not making any noise, so I was a bit heartless. I asked him to put it in a tiny box, lined with a towel, and if it was still alive in the morning, I would deal with it.
Surprise! I was truly shocked to find a live baby bird in my house the next morning. After a search on the internet we bought a can of wet dog food and starting feeding our new baby with tweezers . It was insatiable. Every half hour there was an insistent peep-peep from a teeny body and food was administered. It became used to my voice and if the little man heard me speak, well, that must mean it was dinner time again! If I spoke to the dog, peep-peep-peep-peep!!!! And it was easy at night- it went to sleep at dusk and woke up at dawn! If only our human babies had done that....
After several days, his feathers were coming in and he was looking quite handsome. We upgraded him to a shoebox lined with a towel. He would keep me company during the day- between scarfing worms and pooping in his box. At this point, we could tell that it was a starling. The kids loved it. Watching the growth each day, feeding, getting to hold it in their hands for a few seconds. What a great experience for them.
But after a few days, I realized that we would never be able to get our baby back into the wild, where it needed to be. We simply didn't know how. It was time to talk to professionals and see what needed to be done. A call to the local vet, a lead to the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, and a wonderfully kind woman came by within the day to take our little guy to a place where he would be re-introduced to the wild. She was quite impressed with how good he looked and was sure that he would have a good chance of making a clean break.
On a different note- we currently have our house on the market and have a few options of places to go. Our feathered friend seemed to be a great omen of new things to come. New life, coming soon!
I am surprised by how much I miss it. Here's to you, teeny bird!