Spread the word! Save a baby bird!

A few nights ago, I was watching Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. The host of Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe, was visiting Ohio's West Sister Island to help with the annual task of banding and counting newly hatched herons. West Sister Island is an 82 acre island located within Lake Erie and is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is managed and designated as a wilderness area and is home to a very large number of birds that are notable for their habit of vomiting and defecating from high in the trees the island. Due to this fact, West Sister Island has been nicknamed "Vomit Island."

The episode was quite entertaining (as is usual the case with Mike Rowe's adventures on Dirty Jobs). One particular scene struck me due to the fact that it brought to light the fact that something many of us were told as children is an Old Wives Tale. Namely, when a baby bird falls from its nest, I (and many kids) was told that you should leave it alone so that the mother bird does not detect the human scent on the young bird and, therefore, reject it. The truth of the matter is that you CAN handle to little chick. In fact, leaving it on the ground may very well mean that it will end up dead!

So, if you find a baby bird that has fallen from its nest, here are two good links to give you advice on what to do: http://www.raptorrehab.org/new/babyfind.htm and http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/default.aspx?c=a&id=514.

Spread the word! Save a baby bird!