The Mockingbird Mishap

As an avid birder, I know to be keen to listen for bird alarm calls. The importance of hearing an outraged Carolina Chickadee alarming or a murder of crows bombarding a tree top is not to be taken for granted. These inquisitive birds are letting everyone know that there is most likely a predator around. Birders know that this is one of the greatest clues that nature can give us to help find an elusive owl or other raptor. Sometimes it is not a predator but some other kind of disturbance that needs to be more closely examined. I am constantly listening and learning from the birds and wildlife around me and have come to realize that nature is calling and we better listen!

On a quiet morning walk back up from the beach, I saw ahead of me chickadees, tufted titmice, and dark-eyed juncos flying in and out of an area of thick brush that separated the neighbors front lawns. As I approached closer, with the little birds flitting about and alarming, I saw a very agitated Northern Mockingbird. This bird flew from the thicket, down onto a nearby palm tree. It looked like the bird was calling towards something in the center of the tree. Intently, I watched all the birds and realized the call I heard was not from the panicked mockingbird but something deep inside the center of the palm tree about 7 feet up. I slowly pulled some green fronds away to get a better look inside. I was truly hoping for a screech owl to peek back at me but instead saw a thin black leg and foot sticking out the top of one side of a palm frond and the tips of some gray feathers on the other side. To my disbelief, there was a mockingbird wedged down inside the tight space between the branch and the trunk of the palm. This was not your typical island palm. It was a Pindo Palm, Butia capitata, a shorter landscaping palm that is easy to care for in the Virginia climate. Butia is an aboriginal slang term meaning “spiny” and it definitely lives up to its name. The thick yellowish inner branches growing out from the trunk have sharp spines every inch for about half their length, then they branch out becoming a green beautiful swaying palm leaf. As the tree grows, thick concave branches come up from the trunk and then push outward leaving a perfect curved gap for a bird to cache food in or to forage for insects. That is probably how this poor bird ended up in this awkward and lethal position, face down pinned into the bottom of the branch with legs sticking up. It must have been trying to store food or hunting and accidentally slid down into the center of the palm. The bird was in deep distress and I didn’t know how long it had been in this position so I immediately tried to reach for it but I was too short. Looking around my surroundings, I saw landscaping cement blocks used to hold in a flower bed. Knowing the neighbor wasn’t home, I grabbed and carried one over and tried for the bird but I was still too short. The bird continued to cry and it’s mate was looking on frantically from above me. Quickly, I grabbed another heavy block that put me at almost reachable height of the bird. Being careful not to cut myself on the spines of the branch, I tried to release pressure on the birds trapped body. These were a few tense moments as I balanced tipped toed on loosely stacked blocks, straining to get the bird free. Taking a stronger push down on the branch, with my grip feeling the spines so close to cutting me, the palm finally gave way enough for me to gently lift the bird out of the plants deadly grip. Whoosh! the bird speedily flew passed me without hesitation or a thank you! I looked around and with no witness to my heroic gesture, sighed, and put the landscaping blocks back where they belonged, the neighbor none the wiser. All was quiet again.

Upon reflection of this bizarre ordeal, I was able to hear and see nature’s call and be quick to take action. A fulfilling portion of my life has been spent outside as a nature photographer. I thrive on exploring all that God has created and learning through its triumphs and tragedies. The birds calling on that morning were loud and panicked through my senses but I’m wondering how many people out for a leisurely stroll might not even have noticed the birds. The mockingbird would have suffered and died trapped in that palm. This mockingbird accident is a metaphor for the greater cries from nature. The important need for more robust conservation in protecting our oceans, forests and all living ecosystems for future generations to enjoy is crucial. We should be ever vigilant to the cues that the wildlife and their environment show us. From the minor mockingbird mishaps to the major cries of habitat loss, nature is calling and we need to listen!