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Thud. That awful sound that alerts you that a bird has struck your window. More often than not, when you look outside, there is nothing to see... the bird has flown off, uninjured. But sometimes... what you dread has come true: a bird is lying on the ground, stunned and immobile.*

After hearing the dreaded "thud" on a  freezing cold day in December, I called Mike to the kitchen to see a White-throated Sparrow which lay stunned on the ground outside the window. As we stood looking at the poor little bird, I said something like "you're supposed to pick them up and put them in a box to keep warm until they recover." We both continued to stand there in silence, staring at the tiny form lying on its back. Finally I turned and headed to my studio saying, "Well, I'm not going to just stand here watching him die."

A short time later, I came out from my studio and went to the window to see if the bird had recovered; it was gone! Looking to tell Mike the good news, I was surprised to find him (Mike) in the garage cupping the little Sparrow between his hands, trying to keep it warm. The problem was, Mike himself was freezing out there without a coat, hat or gloves! I ran back inside and grabbed a blanket to put over Mike's shoulders and a hat for his head. I got a peek at the bird which still looked pretty stunned with its eyes half closed. I'm not sure how long Mike was out there holding that little guy, but altogether it must have been close to 45 minutes.

Here's Mike's synopsis:

"He was barely moving, so I went out and picked him up and he responded a little bit. I held him in my hands to warm him up. He responded more and started to move his head around. Then he pooped in my hand.