Black Phoenix Bird Sanctuary?

Last night, a crow fell into Brian’s yard. There’s a crow’s nest in the 100+’ pines above his place; the babies have been there for a few weeks. We’re not sure what happened, but one of their brood came tumbling down into the yard yesterday evening. Brian and Jacquelynn kept the dogs away, and tried to see if the bird was ok. I came over as quickly as I could… which was pretty quick, considering that I live about three blocks away. It was really, really dark, and there wasn’t much we could do. The birds in the trees were screaming bloody murder. Eventually, the wayward crow just put his head under his wing and went to sleep.

This morning, we checked on the little guy. Both his eyes were closed (at the time, we thought he was blind), but he wasn’t bleeding anywhere, and his wings and legs seemed to be ok. His feathers were thick and glossy, but s/he was very, very thin. Ted went out to keep the bird calm (he has a way with corvids, it seems), and I called the Wildlife Waystation to see if they could recommend anyone that could help us. Brian was about to go to the feed store and see if he could find any baby bird formula, but I got through to the Waystation, and they referred me to a contact in Burbank for a guy that rehabilitates local wildlife.

To make a long story short, Ted and Brian keep the bird company while we get a box ready (pics when I figure out how to get them off of Ted’s phone and Jax’s camera). They get the baby crow into the box, and we drive him out to Burbank.

The man who helped us, James, is a volunteer with Wildlife Care of Ventura County. He was EXTREMELY helpful, and just… an all-around awesome guy. We took the bird to his mini-clinic, and he let us help out with getting the birdie settled. No bones are broken, his eyes are going to be ok, but he was on the verge of starving to death. We got some drops into his eyes, some food into his belly, and now he’s resting comfortably in the birdie hospice. His accidental name is Sneezy, and we’re going to be paying for his care and, soon, will be doing a fundraiser so that we can help some of the other animals that James and his organization care for.

It was a really great afternoon, actually. I got to pet a tiny little screech owl (blind due to injuries he suffered from being hit by a car), and was introduced to raccoons, squirrels, ravens, crows, pigeons, hawks, and a barn owl that were all there for treatment.

And, to make the afternoon even stranger, the prodigal pea hen is back.