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Many years ago, late on a spring afternoon, I answered a knock at the door, and was presented with a small box, and I found myself caregiver to the tiniest baby bird I’d ever seen. His fragile  body was sparsely covered with soft gray down, and cricket-like chirps emerged from his widely opened yellow beak. I was clueless about birds, completely on my own, and couldn’t even google for help since the computer age had not yet reached my home at that time. I expected that at best, the little creature would miraculously survive my inexperience; or worse, and more likely, his ordeal would cost him his life..  At the time, I had no idea that a tiny starling I called Willy, was here to launch me into what was to be one of the most endearing ventures of my lifetime. I hadn’t a hint of the frustrations, lessons, and above all, the love and joy that lay ahead..

I was able to quiet his complaints with  a tiny syringe filled with  strained vegetable beef baby food, though the process was less than successful at first. He’d clamped his beak tightly shut, and refused to open it no matter how I tried to entice him with the baby food!  So holding him firmly but gently in my left hand, I managed to pry his beak open, and quickly squirt a bit of the food inside.  After a few of these attempts, which resulted in more sticky mess on him than in him, he finally opened up wide & screeched loudly for more!  After his appetite was quenched, a damp cloth cleaned  him up nicely, and later as he began growing feathers, I learned that a soft toothbrush groomed him nicely. After the first feeding I placed Willy into a small cardboard box, where he nestled on a soft cloth, and clamored for food at regular intervals for nearly two days straight. It was quite a job, but I was delighted each morning when I found he’d survived yet another night. Though still fragile, by day four I began to feel more comfortable handling him. He took to burrowing beneath my chin, where he snuggled contentedly, and often fell asleep, as I watched TV or read. This was to become a favorite pastime for several weeks to come..