The Black Bird And The Robin

Yesterday morning I heard the sounds of screeching birds while I was sitting at the computer, a few seconds later my little brother called me over to the dining room window. What was outside the window, a beautiful robin on its side under a bush and a black bird attacking it. I swung the front door open and scared the black bird away. I then knelt by the robin and told my brother to get a towel. As I waited for my brother I examined the bird and noticed the blood beneath the head. The robin had a large bloody gash on the back of it's head. Next thing I knew I was sitting in the living room holding a wounded robin in a towel and cleaning it's injury. The wound was large and deep, but I managed to stop the bleeding.

The bird is now resting on a towel in a box next to my bedroom window where it can feel the breeze and witness the sunshine. I wasn't sure if the bird would survive through the night, but it did. The robin is a fighter.

I know it may not have been right to bring a wild animal into our home, but I couldn't let it lay there. I couldn't leave the window and return to what I was doing. I couldn't let the bird stay under the bush with little protection from the burning sun or let ants crawl through it's feathers. Now I am not sure if the bird will live, the wound is awful, but I'm trying my best. I hope I am helping the bird and not increasing the pain. If the robin does die I hope I have helped reduce the pain and let it die in comfort rather than dyeing on sharp woodchips and covered with insects.

Nature is wondrous. I tend to forget about the life outside of the walls we are so frequently imprisoned in. What would make the black bird and the robin fight? Were they fighting for territory? Food? Did the black bird strike first or the robin? Is one guilty and the other innocent or are they both to blame? Maybe they were fighting for a stupid reason, as many humans so regularly do. I wonder...was I supposed to come across the robin? Am I saving the bird from my actions or hurting it. What I did, was it right or wrong? I may never know the answers.

I now find myself looking out the window, watching robins. I wonder what will happen to them. I wonder what they have experienced in their lives. How old are they? Where have they flown? How do they survive? No human could ever answer for they are only Homo sapiens, only the individual bird could truly answer.

If we just took the time to listen, to hear the chirps and songs of the feathered souls, could our questions be answered? Could the questions we have about life be answered? Or our we just so conceited that we believe nature is below us.

Take the time to listen.