A couple of days ago we found a hummingbird flopping around on the front lawn, something wrong with his wings so he can't fly. I don't like to touch birds because I'm sure it is very alarming to them, but I carried him up beside the house and put a feeder on the ground so he could eat without falling off.



He sat there for hours and occasionally seemed to be eating. I kept hoping he would get better, and that night I made a nest from yarn and put him in a spruce tree so maybe predators wouldn't eat him. I was sure I'd find him dead in the morning, but no, he was still alive and still unable to fly.

So I put him back on the feeder on the ground, and the other birds would fly down there to sit next to him and eat, sometimes giving him a little nudge. It's obvious that he isn't going to get better, and when he sees us coming, he tries to 'fly' away, which involves hopping along the ground with his wings stretched out.

Yesterday he disappeared and I thought: a. Mr. Troutbend threw him in the river to get it over with; b. something ate him; or c. he had hopped into the bushes and we'd never see him again. Whatever it was, I was relieved because I feel terrible that I can't help him. Hummingbirds get protein from bugs they catch, so I don't think he can live on sugar water alone, so without flight, I fear that he is destined to starve slowly to death.

Imagine my surprise today when I started out to go to the post office, and there on the bridge, 60 feet from where I last saw him yesterday, was Hoppity, struggling to cross the bridge. So I got out of the car and picked him up. He wasn't very happy to see me and chirped at me several times.

I'm put out about it because I could easily have been looking off somewhere and run over him. Can you imagine how it would feel to be walking along and coming across Road Kill Hoppity?

I carried him back to the side yard and put him on a feeder on the ground and he dove his beak into the hole to start drinking. He was like that so long I was afraid he was drowning, but he was just drinking for a long time.

I did some research, and my next step is to contact a wildlife rehab organization to see if they can offer any suggestions. There is a complete hummingbird diet available with the fat and protein that bugs would provide, but we might not be able to get it in time to help this bird.

Gosh darn it, Hoppity. I thought you'd moved on, but now you're still here for me to worry about.