A Taste of Liberty

We always intended to let Peep go. After 3 weeks with us, she had begun to eat solid food was was proficient at hopping. We were outside eating breakfast with Peep sitting on her clothes drying rack/bird playpen. Jamie put Peep on branch about 5 feet high in a nearby tree so that she could get accustomed to the real world.

Peep began to explore the branch and hop around. She hopped up to a higher branch about 6 feet high, then 7 feet, and so on. We could see her in the tree top and she began to fly to an adjacent tree, now she was about 50 feet in the air.

I had not planned on her leaving yet; she had only been hopping around for a few days and was eating solids for about 24 hours. I called her name and kept track of her for a few hours while I gardened. Peep flew from tree to tree in the adjacent yards. Other sparrows chased her out of their roosts. Eventually she began to make her hungry baby bird noises. I was in despair, and mad (inappropriately so) at Jamie.

I left for a bit only to find Jamie 40 feet up in the air on the roof when I returned. He was holding onto the chimney with Peep's syringe of baby formula yelling her name and her favorite word "yum-yum". Peep was buzzing Jamie's head trying to land for food. After eight passes she landed and was brought down.

So what did I learn? Birds learn to fly bit by bit. First up, then down and lastly how to land. I always assumed it was a binary process, they take flight and execute aerial dope moves. In the movies, the bird takes off and that's it. They must edit out the part when you are on the roof embracing a chimney, holding a syringe and screaming "Yum-Yum" in an otherwise peaceful scene.