A Leap of Faith

May 17, 2012

Today we faced questions of how to best interact with wild birds in an urban environment. This morning one of the robins appeared to be testing his wings by flapping and hopping around the edge of the nest. Later in the afternoon we realized that the foot of one of the fledglings was tangled in a piece of plastic in the nest.

Ms. Pandit, Ms. Mulrooney, and Ms. First decided it would be best to cut the plastic string that was tangled around the foot of the robin. Immediately after Ms. First cut the plastic that was tangled around the bird's foot, it fluttered to the ground below the fire escape. 
The young bird chirped loudly and was visited and fed by mom. However, as it hopped around the playground, we noticed that it continued to have trouble with it's foot.  A short time later, Ms. Kavanaugh, a science teacher, assessed the situation. She is providing care for the robin. We hope that the other two robins have an easier time with their departure from the nest!