Technician Tales: The Imposter

The birds we place in facility aviaries consist mainly of finches, doves, and canaries. Although they are not tame, having been born and raised in captivity, they are perfectly happy being in close proximity to people, and are not bothered by onlookers in the least! Many people, myself included, have noticed that the birds even seem to enjoy showing off their beautiful feathers and chirping cheery songs.

Once, when I arrived at a certain facility I’d cleaned many times before, I noticed a bird that I did not recognize and quickly asked a staff member about it. The bird was much bigger than the average finch or canary, and it was a dirt brown color. The staff member shook her head and laughed as she relived the memory. “We still don’t know how it happened. One of the birds got out and it took us nearly two hours to catch him again. He was zooming around everywhere! He’s been so grumpy ever since we got him back in the aviary though.”

I looked from the bird, to the staff member and smiled. “That’s not one of our birds. I think he must be wild.”

At this, the woman exclaimed good naturedly, “well, no wonder!”

The bird must have gotten into the facility in the early morning, when the doors were open to let the cool air in. From there, he was obviously mistaken for an aviary dweller, and, to his confusion, put to live with the finches. Fortunately, I intended to restore him to his outdoor habitat.

When I climbed into the aviary, however, I began to feel a bit doubtful. Even though the imposter was only a little brown sparrow, he was much bigger than the other birds and had a wild look in his eye that made me nervous. His feet appeared to me like the talons of an eagle (compared to the small bird feet I’m used to) and I braced myself for a classic battle of man versus nature. I first caught all the other birds (who didn’t seem to care about their strange roommate) and put them in a temporary cage, then I turned to the sparrow with my full attention.

He didn’t put up the fight I had anticipated, which filled me with relief. He did dodge my net and zoomed hither and thither for a while, but I eventually caught the behemoth, rushed outside the facility, and released him. I’ve never seen a wild bird happier than that sparrow was when he was finally reunited with his home. I watched him for a bit.  He disappeared into the trees around the facility.  I went in to finish cleaning the aviary happy that balance had been restored. What a day!