 12 Apr 2002 @ 02:26, by Kay Simmons
This is one of my true bird stories. I hope that you enjoy reading about birds as much as enjoy being around them.
The Purple Martin is a very special bird and very dear to me. A few years ago I had a back yard with many Apartment houses for them with 6-18 nesting boxes to each Apartment complex. Well the Martin Bird Society makes a big deal of getting rid of the sparrows and Jaybirds so as to protect the Martins. Supposedly the Jays and Sparrows will hurt the Martins. My property also had huge cottonwoods, pines, oaks and Pecan trees all with nesting birds one Springtime. Early one morning I woke up to a big ruckus in my yard. The birds were in a panic. During the early hours a big wind came through and blew many nests out of the trees. There were baby birds scattered all over the yard, so I went and got a big Easter Basket and a ladder and put the ladder up against one of the poles with a martin apartment on it. I gathered up all the babies. Well to me naked baby birdies all look alike and there was no way that I could get into the oaks and besides the nests were gone. So I climbed the ladder with my Easter Basket and took any two birds and put two babies into each nesting box. I would sing to the mama and daddy birds, "Here's two for you and two for you and two for you. Climb down and move the ladder to the next nest and sing again. Well the Martin houses had all kinds of birds in them too and not just the Martins. They all raised each others babies. It was Beethovens 'Ode to Joy' when little red headed cardinals together with blue jays and martins and sparrows, robins, finches, titmice, Thrush, all started coming outside and perching on the guardrails around the apartments side by side acting like the best of friends.But the wildest wild of all was when it was time to learn to fly. The parent Martins swoop and dive with wings under their babies to keep them up in the air. Robins hop on the ground, Cardinal hop from limb to limb, titmice are up in the Pecans lined up in a row with mouths wide open. So the Mama and daddy Martins would be screaming to the hopping on the ground robin, 'come up here and swoop and dive like this." Totally confused as to why their baby was on the ground. The baby would yell back, 'I can't I can't, I don't know how!' 'Yes you can come on up here'. mom and dad would insist. The mama and daddy robins would call out to the Martin babies up in the air or wanting to go up into the air, 'Stay down here with us. What are you doing? Where are you going?' Up I need to go up high. Help me Mom."
Eventually all the parents and babies got sorted out again. I banded a lot of the birds and so the idea that human touch is hurtful is silly. That jays are a threat to Martins is also silly. Why? because animals reflect our consciousness. What I had in my backyard was a mini United Nations of birds working together for the good of the whole group. I never have forgotten that one.
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