The flock

I've mentioned before that we have three little rescue birds living with us. If you haven't read about them, here is a link The Rest of the Flock.

I'm sad to say that Peeps and Pogo have both recently passed away. Chip is alone now, and lonely.

A few weeks ago, Peeps had started flying around the house sometimes (exploring?) and wasn't content to stay in the "bird room" all the time. Which was fine. She would always go back after a while. One evening it was getting late and she was perched on a curtain rod in the dining room, and so we decided to let her stay in there for the night. We figured she would find her way back home once the sun came up the next morning and we didn't want to freak her out by chasing her down and catching her. Well, that was a mistake. I'm not sure what happened, but she must have freaked out in the middle of the night and started flying around in the dark. When I woke up the next morning, I found her dead in a pan left soaking in the kitchen sink. It was horrible.

After that, poor little Pogo just seemed to lose the will to live. He had major problems to begin with. When Gregg rescued him from the pet store, he only had one leg and was blind in one eye. He would have been killed if he had spent another day in a cage full of finches at the store. We brought him home, gave him a roomy cage of his own in a sunny room with a window view, and he started to improve. He also seemed to thrive with Peeps and Chip as roommates. Like all birds, he needs social interaction desperately. Peeps would hang out on top of his cage and they would sing to each other.  It was super sweet. Once Peeps was gone, Pogo lost interest in eating and drinking, and he quit singing altogether. Yesterday I found him dead in his cage. It wasn't a big surprise, but I sure felt bad for him.

Now there is Chip. Although he is a totally different species from the other two, they made up an unlikely flock and kept each other company. Now the poor little guy is all alone in the bird room. We need to figure out some way to make him happy. There is a huge flock of house sparrows outside his window that eat at our bird feeders and live in our back yard. Although it may be a bad idea after all these years, we're considering opening his window and giving him the option of learning to be a wild bird again. When we tried that last time, he wouldn't leave, but now that he's all alone it may work out. He's been with us since he was a little hatchling and has never had to fend for himself, but if he went out to live in the backyard he would have access to feeders full of seed....and a flock of his own kind. It may be the best option for him. We want to do the right thing and give him a chance to be happy.