Where are this child’s parents?

Where are this child’s parents?

On a run with my baby bird out of the corner of our eyes, a crazed chipmunk somersaulted on a neighbor’s pea gravel drive. Upon further investigation, my shoeless son pointed out a pair of cardinals attacking the rodent.

A male and female redbird. Cardinals. Who mate for life. Or so I thought.

When we looked further into the brush, we noticed this.

Maybe this will help you.

A fledgling. I know these things because I spent an entire spring find blue jays this size and scooping them up, placing them in shoe boxes and causing who knows what kind of torment to their mum. I even wrote a column on it.

Seems this is part of the process of baby growing up. They flit out of the nest and mommy and daddy stay close enough to protect them till they get strong enough to fly away.

So I knew enough not to worry about this baby.

Until I read cardinals only mate for a year.

Because that is their life span.

Pardon me.

SCREAM!

You mean that dear redbird that chirps at my window to refill the feeder year after after is a not the same handsome fellow after all?

Mate for life means mate for a matter of months?

No decades together, flying off wing and wing into the sunset?

On the upside tonight, mummy and diddy were close by, so this little guy was safe.

For at least 364 days.

Have you ever rescued a baby bird? Even a misguided attempt.