The "flighter" side of Smokey

[SCadaddle]

Last year I had the opportunity to "rescue" an American Robin that was brought to me as the sole survivor of a clutch of 4 from a nest blown down in a storm. Only a few days old and probably 80% naked, the construction of the nest was the determining factor of his/her species. So I named him Smokey. Smokey Robin. Smokey had free reign of my home, never captive in a cage, and almost daily Smokey spent many hours flying outside on his own, usually returning to my shoulder. Then one day in September, Smokey decided it was time to make his own way. I think he is still around, maybe one day he'll come see me.

One of the memorable moments here, Smokey takes the "numbers" quiz with Waynes' "101 Projects for your 911 Porsche". A smart bird, I never thought he'd be fraudulently selling cars later on.....

Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5acQgU-81g&feature=youtu.be

[wwest]

[81SCRosewood]

That is awesome!!!

[McLovin]

Very cool!

We rescued a common sparrow chick when I was around 10 years old. Same thing, we never kept him in a cage and we set him free, but he'd always fly back into the house after flying around for a while. He never went far, basically up into one tree in the backyard and back.

He wasn't as smart as Smokey, though!

[onlycafe]

i thought you meant this...

[oldE]

Wouldn't it be cool if he mated and brought his family back to meet you.
You might get to meet Smokey Robin's son!

Sorry. It was too good to pass up.
Best
Les

[Rick V]

You are a good man Charlie Brown

[john walker's workshop]

I had a pet crow when I was about 12. Stole him from a nest. Jake followed me around on my bicycle or swooped in and landed on my head.

[scottmandue]

A friend of our family had a farm, one of their neighbors pulled down an old barn and found a baby barn owl. We raised it, let it fly around the house, dad built a cage outside for it, we consulted vets for proper feeding. I raised white mice in a aquarium in the garage to feel it, it would perch on your hand and let you scratch it's head.

Finally it was big and strong enough to fly on its own, dad opened the cage and it took straight off and was never seen again

We did sometimes hear owl sounds at night...

[SCadaddle]

Oh, we got moved from the 911 Technical Forum to the Off Topic forum. That's cool. I chose the first forum to promote Waynes' book .

Smokey was bird #3. I nursed a fledgling crow back to health and release after about 7 weeks. Then bird #2, a not-quite fledgling Blue Jay wound up in my back yard and the parents kept trying to lure the little bird into the yard next door with the 2 big goofy hunting dogs. "Jaybird" was with me for 1 week short of a year. Free reign of my house, flew outdoors almost daily and extremely smart. When Jaybird finally flew the coop I spent several afternoons looking for him around the neighborhood. That's when I met the ladies that brought me Smokey Robin.

Jaybird didn't like it when I left him to go for a drive in my 911. One day I couldn't find my keys. Sure enough, they had been "stashed" along with the peanut, stick and cheese puff.

[regency]

The Summer of 1976, I was working at the Marina in Lake Almanor, Ca. Some kids came in for gas and the had just captured a baby American Grebe chick by forcing the momma Grebe to dive. The chick was about dead. I convinced the kids to let me have the bird, they did. I made it a nest in an old ice chest and figured out how to feed it. Soon it was eating live minnows and really growing. It was my sidekick all Summer, a cool bird. I turned her over to the Fish & Game when I had to go back to school.

1973 911 T MFI Coupe, Aubergine

Steve

[cashflyer]

My rescue, learning to fly in June 2014.

[SCadaddle]

Cool! Almost looks like a Robin as well?

Both Jaybird and Smokey Robin gave me a LOT of joy. They required a lot of my time when they were very young and very dependent, but managed well on their own afterwards. The joy of walking outside with the bird on my shoulder and having it take to the wild then return is hard to describe. Knowing that one day they wouldn't return to my shoulder was never a concern but rather a "graduation". I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a sad departure on my end. Maybe one day.

Last photos of each.