The Steep Odds of Survival

A very warm hearted friend called me yesterday anxious of the fate of a likely nestling she found in the middle of a jogging trail. She had hoped I would know of some rehabilitator who could come to the young bird's aid. I'm afraid I had few words of comfort. This American Goldfinch is certainly a very late nestling, even for a Goldfinch, and I theorized about any number of problems that could have led to its ending up on the asphalt. I told her that most nestlings don't make it. They're taken out by predation, disease, weakness, bad weather, competition, malnutrition, and any number of other factors. The friend relocated the baby to the side of the trail, and is surely hoping the mother effected a rescue. But more likely this bird ended up as a meal for some other creature battling for survival. We can take joy in how many birds do make it to another day and brighten our lives.