Baby Black Headed Grosbeak

SAll babies are adorable, sweet, and fun to raise. But there are some that just steal your heart. Piper is one. This beautiful bird came in as a tiny nestling, blown out of a very high nest in a pine. After trying to renest and locate parents, Piper came in to care. These sweet birds take longer to rehab than other babies because of those heavy bills, which take time to get hard enough to crack the seeds and cones they will be eating. Our babies often get put in the outside aviaries before they are done hand-feeding. This gives them a head start getting their flight skills and developing their ability to navigate trees and branches. All young birds need time in an aviary to develop their physical abilities before going out in the wild. A"hard release" is when a juvenile bird is release straight from an inside enclosure to the wild. This is extraordinarily hard for young birds. Just like any athlete - and that's what birds are, aerial acrobats - young birds need time to develop leg, body, and wing strength. They need time to acclimate to the weather, and sounds of the wild. They need to develop agility - yes, birds can injure themselves specially when young, landing wrong, hitting branches, hitting windows. So, Piper, along with all our other babies get time in one of our 4 aviaries. Good luck Piper, may you have a long, happy life free from cat attacks and unprotected windows. 

Piper as a nestling. She's as sweet as she looks. What a cutie!

Being able to explore habitat and foods they find when wild is important for baby birds. Pine cones for Piper!

You little darling!

Release week! Already found a friend - a family of 3 black headeds hanging out on our feeders.

Piper had use of a 12 x 16 aviary, with trees and branches to navigate. Plus lots of room for flight.

Several of these came in this summer, some babies, some adults from cat attacks or windows. ​We had another baby one come in right after this one, Dena is still in care. Little runt one, has a good ways to go and the smoke is not helping!