Bird Rescue

At the end of the dry season, around May -June, fledgelings are ready to leave the nest.  The kids found the woodpecker (middle photo)in the coffee farm and brought it home without knowing better.  The next day we took it back, set it at the bottom of the tree we figured it fell out of, and it immediately started climbing the tree to meet "mom" who waited in a branch above (top photo).  

Apparently it is common for fledgelings to fall out of the tree during their early flying lessons. If left alone, mama will continue to feed it until it is strong enough to really fly.  This ruby throated woodpecker's story had a happy ending.  

The baby blue-crowned mot-mot (bottom photo) was not so lucky.  A neighbor lady found him in the road and brought him to us.  His feet couldn't grasp a finger, and he was fat and had all his feathers.  We suspect his foot deformity kept him from learning to fly, so he was still living at home, past adolescence.  Mama must have decided she wasn't going to keep the fat little slacker around to attract predators, so she booted him out.  Their nests are tunnels in the little dirt hills at the side of the road.  Even though he had the gorgeous feathers of the adult bird, he didn't survive, as he was unable to feed himself or protect himself from predators.   We couldn't eat insects and vomit them into his beak, like mama did, so he didn't make it.  Lucky Guindon said "some critters just aren't meant to survive."