Squee Alert- Tiny Black Rail chick

[n2doc]

The International Bird Rescue is caring for an orphaned baby bird that’s so tiny it’s no bigger than a cotton-ball.

This baby black rail, a threatened shorebird that’s rarely seen, was found Wednesday evening by a Petaluma couple on a stroll near Shollenberger Park.

“He was just walking down the middle of the path like he owned the place. He looked like a pom-pom,” said Dione Rochelle. “He was going pretty fast. We stepped back thinking there was a mother or other babies. ”

A hiker walking by told Dione and her husband Peter that he had seen the same little bird running around an hour before. After waiting an hour and determining that the chick appeared to be abandoned, Dione scooped it up and her husband delivered it to Wildcare in San Rafael the next morning.

more

http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/08/12/rare-baby-bird-found-in-petaluma-is-no-bigger-than-a-cottonball/

[Brigid]

1. Here is what the adult looks like:

[img][/img]

[In_The_Wind]

3. It's beautiful.

[oldandhappy]

9. Thank you. Beautiful bird.

[arcane1]

2. *Cutegasm*

The adult versions are pretty adorable too!

[WCLinolVir]

4. Scrappy little bird. I like that steely determination in it's eye.

[joeybee12]

5. Be still my heart!

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Wow! Thanks for your post, n2doc.nt

[love_katz]

7. Sqeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Lot'sa love to you, ittie bittie bird.

[shenmue]

8. Squeeeeeeeee!

[cpwm17]

10. Black Rails are really difficult to see.

There was a spot on the edge of a marsh on San Francisco Bay where on days with the highest tides in the winter you could stand and wait to get a brief glimpse of one or two as they fled the flooding marsh. Birders would crowd around one spot to get their glimpse. I saw them there a couple of times.

They're much easier to hear than see when they call at night.