bird in my hand - almost

reposted from Feb 20

I just heard a _huge_ thump - no surprise - birds fly into our windows all the time. Sometimes they die. Other times they just are knocked silly, and recover slowly.
When I checked, I saw a black and white striped back, and a striped wing sticking out at an angle. His back was maybe 4-5 inches, and his wingspan would have been about 12 inches. The rest of the bird was buried in the snow. He was not moving. I watched. He continued not moving. Surely his wing or neck was broken, and he was already dead. But if I left him, he might freeze before he came around. I debated for a minute or so.

Then I stepped out in the snow to pick him up. I gently slid my hand under him, but before I could even lift him, his whole body lurched, his wings flapped awkwardly, he looked me right in the eye, and flew drunkenly up to the nearest tree, where he hung upside down. A twin circled round him, berating him. They flew in circles arguing and fake fighting. Brothers? Mates? The top and back of his head were scarlet, and his beak was at least an inch and a half long. Bird book says a Ladderback Woodpecker.

Yep, I know I'm ascribing human ideas and feelings to a stupid bird. (Time to insert some sappy moral - a chance to make more of it than it was - a semi-conscious, not-dead, clumsy, feathered neighbor) But I smile every time I think of it.