Today started off a beautiful early autumn day. Sunny and cool, I thought I’d do an errand uptown on Broadway and make my way back home for lunch by way of Central Park. As I approached my destination, I noticed a very small bird motionless on the sidewalk, its bill open. It was a ruby-crowned kinglet.

Autumn is the time of year in which kinglets and a huge variety of other birds make their long journeys from their summer breeding grounds in North America down to Central and South America to spend the winter. Every spring, they do it again, in the opposite direction. They have to contend with a variety of hazards, natural and unnatural. Unfortunately, human habitation, specifically windows, may be one of the greatest dangers. Birds don’t see the glass and, instead, see the sky, trees, and any other reflection. This tricks them into crashing headlong into the glass and falling to the ground, sometimes from very great heights. Some are simply stunned, many die. There are some areas in New York City where bird deaths are common. The World Trade Center area is one. The glass-covered Javits Center was a notorious bird killer before it was updated with bird-safe glass.

Today’s individual was unusual for me; I’ve never seen a songbird on the sidewalk on the Upper West Side and it stopped me in my tracks. I wanted to give him a little time to recover and possibly fly off so I stood there keeping people from stepping on him. Naturally, this attracted attention. A few woman stopped to help and an older guy suggested that it was too young and must have fallen from a nest somewhere (clearly, he got his seasons mixed up). However, the bird looked really stunned. He barely moved and wasn’t at all disturbed by a cluster of feet around him. One of the women suggested I use my cap to capture it. Good suggestion as I didn’t have a paper bag on hand. (It’s a good idea to carry a bag around for just this purpose.) It took a little doing and crouching down on the sidewalk but, with the assistance of another of the woman who was familiar with birds, we got him wrapped into the cap. A bunch of Upper West Siders to the rescue!

I wanted to get him to a park so it was off to Riverside Park. It’s only a few blocks from Broadway and on that short walk, it started fluttering inside the cap - a good sign.

I was grateful to locate a nice spot for my kinglet not far from the park entrance that was planted with shrubs and a bald cedar tree. I wasn’t able to record my kinglet flying safely off into the cedar but I’m hopeful he continued on his journey after a full recovery.

Birds need all the help they can get. If you find that birds crash into your windows, you can put up temporary decals to disturb the reflection. At night, turn off your lights or close the shades as they are attracted to the light. And…if you’d see a bird motionless on the ground, don’t leave it and assume it will fly off. Like my bird, it might need time to recover from a hard knock on the head and will need a safe space to do so. Put it in a paper bag or a box and release it away from people, vehicles, and animals.

My little guy survived, and that made it a very good day.

No poop in the cap so back it went atop my head