Steve the Bird

A few days ago, on my way out of the house, I noticed a small song bird perched on my railing. A young thing, too. It still had tufts of baby down peeking through its feathers. When it didn't fly off at my approach, I did a bad thing. I reached out and touched it. As someone who used to be a bird person, I know better, but I couldn't help myself. The bird didn't move. I shrugged, let it be, and went on my way.


Today I moved my car out on the street because my folks were painting the driveway side of the house. A little while ago I remembered this and went out to move it. As I walked up to my car, I noticed a shape on the roof. It was dark by now and I couldn't quite see it clearly. But, it was definitely bird shaped.


Sure enough, there was the bird on my car roof. As best I can tell, it's the exact same bird from the other day. He's still got the one tuft of down, even. I made an attempt to nudge him off, but no budging. So, I broke out my old Raptor Center training. First, I tried to get him to perch on my finger. Usually, this is simple - all you do is push your finger (or, usually, fist) lightly against the part where the bird's legs meet its body and the critter will step up. No dice. So, I had to grab him. I walked him over to my hanging basket, figuring it'd be as safe a place as any, and ducked inside for my camera.


I managed a few shots before Steve flew off. Unfortunately, this was the best one of them. Notice the little down tuft on the side of the head, and the stubby little tail with its not-yet-fully-grown-in tail feathers. Notice, as well, the paint on the porch, which is the first bit of the house to be done. See the blue/gray part? That's my new trim color. The old trim (though not the columns) color was pink. Vast improvement.

It would seem, after all this talk of what my totem is, I now have a flesh-and-blood one. However, much to my surprise, it's a songbird. And here, I was certain it'd be more predator-shaped. Ah well.