Mohawk

This is Mohawk. He/She (we're not sure) is a robin that's taken up residence in our yard this year. Mohawk and it's mate have had at least two sets of babies. I had decided before I got home from work that he would be the subject of my blog today. I can't believe I hadn't taken pictures of him before. We call him Mohawk because of his "hairdo" and also because he's upset all the time. The babies get out of the nest, Que (the chihuahua) chases the babies, Mohawk chases Que... Much bird drama. Or so I thought. Today we had some REAL drama.

I was trying to get pictures of Mohawk when I got home but he was agitated. The closer I got to the fence, the more agitated he became. Then Scott spotted this in the grass. Ah! A baby. That made sense. We couldn't figure out why it wasn't moving. Scott decided to try and get a closer look. That's when he made a gruesome discovery.

The baby had a brother or sister. They were attached at the leg by what looked like dental floss. Scott thinks the robins must have used some to build their nest. Anyway, the sibling was dead - and had been for quite some time. It was covered in maggots. So this little guy has been dragging around a dead sibling, unable to get untangled. Scott decided to help. He stepped on the dead baby and I ran to get the scissors.

While trying to avoid being pecked by Mohawk and his mate, Scott managed to get the floss cut. That's when we found that the live baby's leg is broken. We decided to leave it alone and went in the house.

When we went in the backyard a little while later, we found the dead baby about halfway across the yard. Could Mohawk have picked it up and carried it? We're not sure how it got there.

And just now, Scott came in to report that the live baby is about halfway across the yard. Halfway to the field. I'm not sure if he'll make it, but I hope so.

Because Mohawk is really sad.