“[S]urprisingly, it was effective.”
Last weekend, a family near Amarillo, Texas, was enjoying the summertime weather at home when they discovered a tiny intruder in their yard. While the kids splashed in the pool and adults manned the grill, a white, fluffy baby bird lay helplessly on the ground, too young to scream for help.
The unsuspecting homeowners looked around for signs of the nestling’s parents, but they were nowhere to be found. They could tell the baby was fragile and wanted to keep her warm while help arrived, but they didn’t have anything to wrap her in.
Then, they looked at the pile of food next to the grill and devised the perfect plan.
“Concerned about the baby feeling cold, the mother asked for a tortilla to be warmed up on the grill to provide heat for it,” Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (WWWRC) wrote on Facebook.
Another family member promptly placed a tortilla on the grill and called WWWRC for assistance. One of WWWRC’s rehabbers, Christy, was stunned to hear about the family’s unconventional approach to keeping the baby warm.
“[T]hey responded, ‘We wrapped him in a warm tortilla,’” WWWRC wrote. “There was a significant silence on Christy’s side.”
The rehabber quickly hung up and sent a transporter, rehabber Amee, to the scene. When Amee arrived, the orphaned baby was still happily snuggled up in her edible blanket.
“[She] was welcomed by a friendly family holding a baby Mississippi kite wrapped in a tortilla,” WWWRC wrote. “Undoubtedly, it was an inventive method to keep the baby warm, and surprisingly, it was effective.”
You can read more about this innovative rescue here:
Amee quickly shuttled the baby bird to WWWRC’s headquarters, where a dedicated team of rehabilitators welcomed her with open arms. They weren’t sure how long she’d been away from her nest, but thanks to the family’s quick thinking, she was still warm and responsive.
The baby bird, whom the team lovingly named Taquito, is still at WWWRC’s headquarters and doing better than ever. The resilient girl is thriving from all the love she’s received at WWWRC, and she’s on track to be released in a couple of months.
You can see an updated video of Taquito here:
As she works on growing strong enough to be released, Taquito continues to enjoy the company of her fellow WWWRC residents, especially the many Mississippi kites on site. There may be many of her kind at WWWRC, but to her rescuers, Taquito’s story is unlike any other.
The folks at WWWRC work hard to prepare for any rescue scenario. However, cases like Taquito’s remind them that no matter how hard they plan, there will always be surprises.
