A Bird in the House...

On Tuesday morning I was ready to leave the house for work, and I went in to the kitchen on my way to the laundry room to get Petey's morning treat. John was brushing his teeth. Upon entering the kitchen I was distracted by something on the window. The window itself was open about 6 inches, and the shade was down to just above where the window was open. I pulled the shade to see what was going on, only to learn that what I thought was outside was actually between the inside glass window and the outside screen. The screen had a very small tear up near the top and a baby bird had gotten between the two windows.

Quick as a wink, the bird, probably already fearful and then further startled by the moving shade, slipped down to the open window and flew in to the house. I screamed. I didn't wait for Petey to alert John of the very serious situation in the kitchen. I had no idea if this baby bird had already learned the famous bird defense mechanism of pecking on the head. I could take no chances and assume that that is one of the first lessons baby birds learned and that this one aced the lessons.

John very calmly said it was OK that the bird was in the house and that he would get it out. He even finished brushing his teeth before he strolled over to the front door and calmly opened it and propped it open. During this time, I kept John apprised of the bird's exact location in the house. I used my very loud outside voice for this so that there would be no miscommunication, all the while assuming my own defense against the pecking on the head attack that might come at any second.

John finally sauntered in to the laundry room with a broom. He held the broom up and gently led the bird towards the front of the house. Once the bird flew through the kitchen it saw the open front door and flew to freedom. I was able to relax again, with no pecking on the head threat in sight. I got Petey's treat, so as to proceed with the day as planned, but Petey was no where to be found.

John thought he'd gotten in his box, with all of the screaming & defense against pecking on the head going on. Before I got out of the room to check, John opened the back door and there was Pete. He was calmly standing there looking at the back door, waiting for someone to open it.

John and I each have our own theory as to why Petey made a hasty exit from the house during all the drama. He thinks that Petey couldn't take all the screaming & defense against pecking on the head and left. I think Petey was leading the way for the bird to exit, and circled back around to throw the bird off his trail. He, I'm sure, was trying to save me from getting pecked on the head.