I’ve been putting off writing this post because I wasn’t sure how to share this gently. In the end I’ve decided to just put it all out there and share the story, as well as my feelings and thoughts on the experience. Here goes…
Remember this nest? Those perfect house finch eggs?
The eggs hatched and baby birds filled the nest. After a few days, however, we noticed that the mama bird had disappeared. Neither David nor I had seen her. By the time we checked on the babies, we were too late. They had, in fact, died. What to do? We decided to bury them in the field in front of our house.
I felt sad about their passing. As a mama myself, I couldn’t help but relate to the situation: a mama bird, because of forces presumably outside her reach, left her babies abandoned, unable to survive without her. This is nature. This is life. As a biologist, I know this. To witness it firsthand on our porch turned out to be challenging.
Our three year old accepted their passing with such grace and acceptance. “They died, Mama. It’s okay. There will be new baby birds.” And she’s right. We talk about life cycles every day. Everything that’s born will die.
As soon as we placed the birds in the field, I started to feel better. After all, haven’t burial rituals evolved to give us comfort? I knew the birds were gone, that there was nothing more we could do. Accept and move on… after all, there will be new baby birds. There will always be new baby birds.
so sad! beautifully written post, and such a wise little girl you guys have!
Aw, too bad. We had a groundhog living in our backyard who had babies. They were adorable! One day I looked out and a fox was eating them. We chased him off, with a groundpiglet in his mouth, and one dead on the ground. A few of the babies survived, though, and the fox was just doing what she had to do.
oh, no. poor baby birds. poor YOU!
(however, seeing celina comment on this post just made me SO EXCITED to see both of you later this summer..!)
Such a beautiful and quiet place. The baby birds will become part of the earth, and the earth will grow the seeds that fall on it, and the flowers and plants will emerge, and the grown-up birds will take what they need from them, and one fine day, new eggs will be found in a new nest. Nothing is lost in the natural circle; the baby birds have simply become part of the future, even if that happened sooner than feels comfortable. Children are wiser than we are.