So Nancy thinks she saw the ugliest baby bird…

Written By: Jodi on July 24, 2005 No Comment

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…but I take leave to disagree. I have thrown down the gauntlet and suggested an “Ugliest Bird Contest”. So look at my ugly bird photo. Then go look at Nancy’s ugly bird photo. Then vote by leaving a comment on the post which you believe has the ugliest bird. That means coming back here to vote, because I’m quite sure my bird is uglier.

Here is Nancy’s post, but don’t go there yet, I have to tell you the story and show you the picture first! She got to tell a story, so I get to tell one, too! And me being me, my story will be MUCH longer. Maybe it’ll wear you out so you’re too tired to read Nancy’s post and will just stay here and vote for MY bird. Am I being a bit too pushy? Probably. My humble apologies.

Ok, so shortly after I got my new camera (I mention this because the photos are not the best quality, the cam and I were still in the ‘getting to know you’ phase), we were sitting in our home, minding our own business when I heard this strange noise. Kind of a squeeky squawk. Eeeek! Silence. Eeeek! Silence. EEEEK! Silence.

I thought something in the house had gone haywire or one of the kids had left a toy on somewhere. So I started to look around, but could find nothing. I followed the sound to our sliding glass door to the backyard. Carefully opening the vertical blinds, I looked out. And I saw nothing. But the noise was very very close to me now.

I glanced down and perched on the bottom door track was the ugliest black baby bird I’d ever seen. Apparently a very hungry ugly black baby bird. One who thought it could get food from his own reflection in the glass. And it truly was one of those so ugly it’s cute kind of deals. It’s eyes were bulging, it had scraggly pin feathers poking out everywhere, and huge feet that seemed too large to allow him to walk. Oh yes, and that voice that wasn’t gonna make it to Carnegie Hall.

I called the kids over to see the bird and went for my camera. After taking some shots of the bird, I closed the blinds thinking maybe it would go away if we ignored it. It didn’t. As soon as the blinds shut and it could see it’s reflection again, it started with the squawking. Eventually I decided I’d try to give it some water, maybe trick it into thinking it had eaten so it would go away. When I opened the door, the bird started hopping away from me as fast as his 3 inch claws could take him. I talked nice to the little birdie and it continued to flee. Right to the edge of the deck. Oops – right off the edge of the deck! Down about 2 feet. It recovered nicely and continued to hop out towards the front yard. Our adventure was over. Or was it?

I later again heard what I can only assume was the same bird. He was back. Only this time, he had company. Glancing out into the backyard I saw two ugly black baby birds on the lawn. Squawking it up big time. It seems they each thought they could get food from the other. They were each squawking and then poking inside each others mouth looking for…something. It was quite a racket! Their mom must have been totally deaf not to hear it. Or maybe she was at the spa, trying to recover from the ordeal of being the mother of two such creatures. At least our little bird had found a ‘reflection’ that would squawk back this time.

Eventually they both hopped into a neighbor’s yard and I didn’t see (or hear them) again. I’ve had larger baby birds visit my deck since then and I always wonder if it’s him coming back to visit.

Ok, now wasn’t that a tear-jerker?? And now on to the photo. Since Nancy only posted one, I will not cheat and post more than one, although to get the full effect of the ugliness, you really should see more than one view. However, here is my contribution to the contest.