He is nine. How does a nine-year-old already know (and believe) one of the biggest fallacies in the animal kingdom?
The fallacy is this: if you touch a baby bird, or its nest, its mother will pick up on the human scent and abandon the chick forever. And the chick will die.
This is not true.
THIS BLOG INCLUDES TWO VIDEO CLIPS OF THE BIRDS I SHOT WITH MY IPHONE PLUS SOME STILL PICTURES OF THE BIRDS - ENJOY!
Snopes.com is a wonderful, well-researched resource for just about any urban legend, e-mail scam, or common fallacy out there. Barbara Mikkelson (a snopes.com founder) wrote the entry about baby birds and human touch.
Mikkelson says, "Most birds have a limited sense of smell and cannot detect human scent." So, handling birds should not be a concern. So, why is this belief passed along from generation to generation?
Snopes.com says it is probably because baby birds spend a few days learning how to fly. Sometimes, when people see them stumbling along the ground, they think something is wrong and try to care for them - impeding their development. The best thing to do when you see a baby bird is to leave well alone.
(Further, you should not disturb bird eggs while they are in a nest. Snopes.com says if the mother returns and sees them in a different position, she will think there is an intruder nearby and may indeed fly off for a long while, and maybe even for good).
I watch the birds, but I generally left well alone. Both birds skipped around for a while, periodically making flight for a second or so. One of them tried to run into my garage so I shooed it off. The other, as it turns out, found its mom nearby. I watched as she coaxed the little bird beneath a bush, possibly for safety.
I'm sure both babies are flying around now. Which is good. Now who was it who said, "coming down is the hardest thing"...
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