評論
打印
Baby Birds
幼鳥
Gale Lawrence
蓋爾·勞倫斯
Every spring the "baby bird crisis" occurs. By May many birds have hatched their first broods and are feeding them in the nest while they grow their feathers and learn to fly. Baby birds have a way of tumbling out of their nests, and children have a way of finding them and bringing them home. What should a family do if faced with this "crisis"?
每年春天“幼鳥危機”都會發生。到5月份，很多鳥都孵出了它們的第一窩幼鳥。幼鳥在鳥窩里得到成鳥的哺育，長出羽毛，學習飛翔。幼鳥有時會從鳥巢里滾落下去，孩子們則經常能找到它們并把它們帶回家玩。面對這樣一種“危機”，家庭應該做些什么呢？
First, take the baby bird back to the exact spot where it was found. Look carefully for a nest nearby. If you find the nest and it is accessible, put the bird gently back into the nest. Contrary to popular belief, the mother bird will not reject a baby that has been handled by human beings. A deer, which has a keen sense of smell and fears the human scent, will reject a fawn that has been handled, but birds are different. If you find the nest and return the baby, you have done the best you can do.
第一種方法是把幼鳥送回它被發現的地方，仔細尋找附近有沒有鳥窩。如果你找到了那個鳥窩并且可以夠得著，就把幼鳥小心地放回鳥窩。與人們的普遍認識相反，鳥媽媽不會排斥那些被人類觸摸過的幼鳥。鹿的嗅覺很敏銳且害怕人類的味道，它們會拒絕被人類觸摸過的小鹿。而鳥則不同，如果你找到了鳥窩并將幼鳥放了回去，那么你已經做了你所能做的最好的事。
As a next-best measure, tie a small box onto a branch of a tree or shrub near where the bird was found, and put the baby bird in the box. The bird will thus be off the ground and out of the reach of neighborhood cats and dogs.
第二好的方法是，在幼鳥發現地附近的樹枝上綁一個小盒子，把幼鳥放進去。這樣幼鳥就遠離地面，不會被附近的貓、狗傷害到。
