This afternoon I heard "the sound that strikes fear" and found a dazed Common Grackle on the grass outside the window near the feeders. I determined that he had damaged his wing and so bundled him up in a box and drove him over to Wildcare. Oh, I've forgotten to mention that I did a shift there last week that went very well. I have another this Thursday, so I'll report something after that one. So, I arrive at Wildcare and a volunteer takes him out to the aviary tent to test his flying ability. He plummeted to earth. She checked him and found that his wing was not broken, but probably sprained. To double-check this, she let go of him again and he darted underneath the tent! By the time she made it out of the tent herself, he had disappeared. This happened while I was inside meeting people and taking a look around at the creatures. When I went outside, she explained what happened and we searched awhile finding only a rabbit in the undergrowth.
She was terribly disappointed and embarrassed with herself that she "allowed" it to escape. (I think it was purely an accident.) The bird should have been bandaged and put into a pen for a couple of days and then released by me here. Instead, there is a Grackle out there with sprained wing far, far from home. I keep suppressing the idea that it was a roosting female or male caretaker of some sort. I do believe that the bird will manage alright. There is food available there and the wing wasn't not broken, so should be able to fly again in a couple of days.
Posted by Elizabeth at June 21, 2004 04:39 PM