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Diverse Family: Bratt Mockingbird Is Raising Baby Blue Jay
June 15, 2009
A Bratt family has an interesting family of birds in their yard — a mockingbird is raising an orphaned blue jay along with her own young.
Here is the story, as related by Kim Godwin of Bratt:
My three daughters (Hannah, Shelby and Maegan) and I were driving down our driveway when I noticed a small ball of something just sitting on the ground. All four of us got out to check this little ball out. It just happened to be a tiny baby blue jay that had been orphaned.
We looked for the nest that it had apparently fallen out of but we couldn’t find it. Of course, we all wanted to pick it up immediately because it was so cute and tiny. I’ve always heard not to touch a baby bird with your bare hands because the mother would smell the human scent on it and leave it abandoned.
So, I grabbed a t-shirt and swaddled the tiny bird up in it. The next question for us was, “What do we do with this cute little bird?”. It just so happened that we have been watching a nest of mockingbird eggs hatch. The little mockingbirds could have only been a week or so old. I decided that we would see what happened if we stuck the blue jay in with the mockingbirds.
I didn’t really think that the mockingbird parents would just adopt the blue jay but I thought that is was worth a try. Well, then we had another obstacle — the nest was too small for the three tiny mockingbirds and the blue jay that is three times as big as the mockingbirds.
My nine-year old daughter Hanna looked up on the internet on how to create a make-shift nest. So, we found an old basket and filled it with pine straw. My husband tied it up in the tree where the old nest used to be. It wasn’t but just a few minutes and the mama mockingbird was checking out her new home which held her three babies plus one.
The mockingbird parents have fully adopted the bluejay and the whole family is doing well.
Pictured above: A hungry blue jay (the larger bird to the left) and two mockingbirds wait for mom to feed them. Pictured below: (L-R) Hannah Godwin, Maegan Godwin, friend Jadlyn Agerton, Shelby Godwin . Pictured bottom: More photos of the orphaned baby blue jay that is being raised by a mockingbird with her own young. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
34 Responses to “Diverse Family: Bratt Mockingbird Is Raising Baby Blue Jay”
What are (were) you feeding the babies? We bought a horse trailer from a guy that was 1.5 hours away. After we got home we found a nest of 5 VERY young mockingbird babies. We have no experience with birds what so ever. We fed them fishing worms for 2 days and then we got some kind of supplemental powder for intermittent use but the birds are hungry about 20 minutes after we have fed them we use syringe to give the food….is this right? How often do we need to feed them? What do we need to feed them???? Any help would be so much appreciated! How should we keep them? We bought a large bird cage with a large door so we can get to them….thank you for any help! :0)
Hey it was a great experience to save a blue jay and for an another bird to save him.I was about five at the time and I have never touched such a tame little bird but now I know what it feels like because I had made a best friend.I am nine years old now and I still remembered him because he’s was my best friend.Shelby Godwin
I found what I believe to be a baby jay last night. He has not fully fledged and when I put him back into the nest he climbs out. I am afraid he is going to hurt himself. When I came to work this afternoon, he was still on the ground crying for food like last night. What should I do to feed him, as I think he has been abandonded, and being a bird lover could not possibly let him die. I am familiar with parrots but not wild birds.
I found a story that told of some people who fed a baby milk and bread. Will this work. This is an emergency so please answer as soon as possible. HELP!!!
I ran across this story while researching information to identify a baby bird that my husband rescued from the middle of the road (busy main road) he almost got run over by an angry motorist that was upset that my husband was in the road-once he saw that he had a baby bird the man was no longer upset. Anyway it is a blue jay and there was no way that this little guy would have survived. He is a good eater and has seemed to thrive well on egg, milk and potatoe bread I’ve also been giving him mulberries. We’ve had him for almost a week and he is in a large cage that we had cockatiels in at one time and he seems happy as a lark (no pun intended) He likes playing with the bird toys that are in the cage and purches on the different types of bird purches in the cage (very large cage).
He has also become very interactive, sits on my finger and seems to like being held. This seemed unusual to me that he has thrived so well because any other time that we’ve found baby birds that have been abandoned (in the road) they usually die after a day or two. Now that this story has helped me identify what type of bird it is I will be able to provide the correct food for it.
Our property is loaded with stray cats from nearby farms so I would not release him here when it is able to fly.
I did raise and have two cockatiels for over twelve years until they died and never replaced them, maybe this is some type of weird karma. If it doesn’t work out we will probably take him to a nearby nature center.
This was an excellent story and informative. Great job that the girls did. I also read that blue jays robbed nests of other birds which gave me the idea to feed it the raw egg (I did suspect that it could be a bluejay because of blue wing feathers).
we have found two baby blue js in a abandion nest what should you do
Hello,
We found a baby Blue Bird tonight that our dogs were playing with.
We looked in all possible trees for the nest and parents,but we did not see any sign of them or the nest. So we brought it inside wrapped up in a rag and put it in a box. I looked here and i saw a post from some one named Elena. If she/he is still interested please contact at joeandmiranda94@yahoo.com or post another comment. Please help us save this baby Blue Bird!
Thanks alot,
Miranda
Maxwell, Great Job!! Saving an animals life gives me a feeling of great accomplishment. It sounds like you not only got that good feeling but you also have gained a companion……. Keep up the good work……..
Hey Folks, Anyone reading this story of the ultimate kindness in the animal world should only hope and pray that ‘humans’ could only be as savvy. Pardon my tears on the keyboard, as I and my siblings(5 total) were eventually placed with families other than our parental group. On April 14 last, I was able to save a day or so old mockingbird from imminent death by hypothermia. The nest containing this critter and an egg was disturbed by hedge trimming. Fortunately, someone pointed out the nest to me and 1-2 hrs. later I took another look at the nest and decided to pull it out of the hedge and carry the lot down the block to the vet, who saved “Ditto’s” life by rewarming her. She sits on my head as I type this. I am a 60 y.o. caveman, working and living out of a garage, sleeping in my van every night, and loving every moment I can spend with this incredible being. Both her feet/talons are crippled(turned inward, one on top of the other) , but all other functions of this animal are intact. And what a character… I will never abandon this bird. I do think she has helped me change my life for the better.
Thanks for listening, Maxwell
I’m a firm believer that sometimes we should interfere with mother nature to save God’s creatures. I think He expects it of us. Kudos to Kim and her family!
This was a beautiful story! It was so refreshing to read. Sure beats the heck out of all the negativity going on everywhere. Too bad humans can’t take examples liek this from the animal world. We’d sure fare a lot better if we did.
Thank you William for the clarification.
Kim Godwin
I wanted to point out that while the birds look very young (and unable to fly) in the pictures — there was a delay between the photos and when we published the story. The photos were taken by Mrs. Godwin on June 4.
It does not make sense to look at the photos above on Monday and learn on Tuesday from the comments below that the birds have flown away. I just wanted to clarify the timeline on the story and comments. — William, Admin
Elena, your e-mail address did not show up. I greatly appreciate your offer to care for the baby bluejay. Amazingly, all of the birds have left the nest. The last time that we saw them, they were all learning to fly. I was amazed at how fast the little things grow. Thanks!!
I admire what you did. But I stll hope to care for your blue jay because my best friend blue jay Grisha needs a friend.
My e-mail is .
I will go anywhere for a baby blue jay.
Best,
Elena
I would love to care for the blue jay. My companion blue jay for 5 yeas has lost a friend and we are desperate to find a companion for him. Please respond, I’ll com anywhere to get a baby blue jay. I have shared my home with them for 14 years. These are incredible birds. they never lived in a cage, just like us.
Fondly,
Elena
Great job. God smiles. Children need to know what being a good steward of this world is all about Great things start from what seems to be a small action. Keep it up.
The the advice that a mother bird will abandon its young because of a human scent is a myth. I had heard it was false in the past. Also, I was at a bird show last week and the speaker said that, just like human moms, bird mothers do not reject their young because they don’t smell good. The mothering instinct is too strong! So it’s perfectly safe to pick them up and put them back in the nest!
Glad to hear that it all worked out! I was also concerned that the blue jay baby would take away too much food from the mockingbird fledgelings!
Thank-you NE for this great story! Thank you Kim G. for sharing it, maybe now the ones of us who have intervened with nature in the past will do better next time. I have never had any luck saving a baby bird, if you know what I mean? Also that was a good lesson,bwayne, however the best thing about this whole thing, is ,Kim gave her daughters a life long gift. Down the road they may forget that it was a Blue Jay, who is a bandit ,or Mocking Bird, but they will always remember the day they were riding in the car with Mom and she stopped to rescue a bird, and Dad helped build a nest for the bird family + one and they got to watch the parents feed all the babies.What a cool great thing to pass on to your children! GOOD JOB KIM!!!!!!!
What a wonderful story!!! Thanks William for letting us all enjoy it! Gloria
Just for the record, bwayne is only partially correct. The smaller mockingbirds would only have suffered from the ordeal, if they were newly hatched. By the time they were only days from leaving the nest, there was no chance that the smaller birds would go hungry. The kids performed a GREAT deed…
Thanks Logansmom and Deni Deron for the Birds and Blooms suggestion. I have submitted to them…. Also, Thank You to everyone with POSITIVE comments. My children are having a ball with this.
This is so neat. THANKS! GODWINS
That is so cute. My grandbabies went crazy over the photos.
Is the blue jay flying also?
Kim, thank you for the update. I am happy to hear all the “mockers” survived. They are one of my favorite birds. They chase snakes and don’t take any bullying from other larger birds. They are very interesting to watch on the ground at feeding time when they spread their wings and vibrate them against the ground. An old timer told me they are “drumming” up worms as they imitate the sound of rain hitting the ground with their wing vibrations.
Logansmom is right. Birds and Blooms would love this. Just go to their website. I am a subscriber myself!!
Hi bwayne, I am happy to let you know that all of the small mockingbird babies have learned to fly. We witnessed the whole thing. From the moment that they ran around our yard flapping their young little wings to the moment that they actually took flight. Maybe bluejays are bandits but “our bluejay” was no such thing. Thanks for your concern for nature but I would do it all over again. Oh by the way, this is Kim (Hannah, Shelby and Maegan’s mother).
Fabulous pics and what a great story, Kim! You should send it in to Birds and Blooms magazine…they love stories like this.
Sorry, I commend the good intentions, but “warm and fuzzy” is not always the best for all factors concerned.
Ummmm.. thanks Bwayne, for taking a warm and fuzzy story and stomping it in the dirt. You’re depressing.
(Even if you are an apparent nature EXSPURT and are right.)
Blue Jays are bandits. They will rob and destroy other nests and are therefore very much disliked by mockingbirds. It is not unusual to see mockingbirds chasing a blue jay away from their territory. It is commendable that the family chose to help this little fella, however, the blue jay is larger than the natural offspring and will be first in line for feeding. The smaller mockingbird babies may suffer and die from this interaction.
What a nice family moment, that is what life is all about. It is refreshing to know someone has their priorities right. FAMILY FIRST!!!!
Hey Kim and Girls we knew that little Hannah was so smart. This is a cute little story. I am proud of all of you. Nanny
I commend Miss Kim for making a great decision. She not only saved a blue jay from certain death; she also created a life experience for her kids. That lesson will remain with her kids for the rest of their lives; and will be most valuable to them. Thanks for taking the time to tell us about it…
I can’t believe that actually worked. Sometimes when you try to help nature they seem so unappreciative. This is really awesome and unusual. Great job guys!