Let me tell you guys a story about
THIS LITTLE GUY!! Yes, he was so amazing he deserves bold capital lettering in color. This ball of feathery floof changed my life.
Once upon a time there was a little bird... Meet Jiro, my little hedge sparrow, back when he still looked like a crazy scientist. (more under the spoiler tag because... long story, lots of photos. Grab tissues).
[spoili]I found Jiro in my backyard in 2007. I couldn't find his nest, and being an animal lover at heart (plus animal care is also my job) I couldn't just leave him there - my cats were hunting him, and I heard him squeaking in the bushes. I actually almost stepped on him with barely an inch to spare when I went out to search for him.
Either way, I took him with me, figuring that he'd probably die of stress within a day or two, like little hatchlings mostly do.
Little did I know that I had just met the most AMAZING animal in my entire life, and that's not even an exaggeration.
"Feed me! >C"
Jiro beat all odds. I kept him in a cage next to my PC where I spend all my free time, and often he napped in my lap inbetween feeding sessions. Within 3 to 4 days his wings and tail feathers fully grew in, and I had him practice on my bed until he got the hang of it.
I grew really,
really attached him in those few short days, and I guess it was selfish of me, but I didn't want to release him back into the wild. I told myself "he might not make it out there"... so I kept him.
Cue the beginning of a wonderful friendship that lasted two and a half years!
Jiro amazed not only me with his intelligence, but also the bird experts I got to talk to. I never kept him locked up, his cage was always open so he could come and go as he pleased. But he knew that his cage was the place to sleep for the night. I didn't have to teach him that, he just knew.
Every night he would perch on his favorite spot on the shelf above my monitor, all poofed up and watching me work, before going into his cage when I went to bed (or, when he was being
a little shitplayful, he'd make me catch him first).
I'd always tell him good night before I switched off the lights, and he'd always softly chirp back.
And because I like to sleep in, I always left his cage open at night as well, so he could come out whenever he woke up, and not have to wait for me to drag my ass out of bed. As a result, most mornings I woke up with either
- Jiro sitting on my pillow next to my face, or
- he'd be stomping all over my back and butt and peck at my sheets to wake me up.
I once had a friend sleeping over, and she told me she woke up and found Jiro sitting on the edge of my bed giving her the stink eye.
Most of the time Jiro entertained himself, running around over my floor and what-not. He was very playful though, and if I wasn't giving him the attention he wanted, he made sure to
get it.
I often wore my gaming headphones, and Jiro would make sharp dives and zoom right over my head, close enough I could feel his toes through my hair, in order to get my attention. Or he would literally hover in front of my screen and get in the way. That, or he would chase my fingers all over the keyboard and peck at the keys while I was typing. This happened so often I had to give him an old, unused keyboard for himself, because he kept pooping on mine. He loved that keyboard.
He'd also often chase after my fingers if I dragged them over the floor. He could also play 'fetch'! He just never brought it back lol.
"Grubby human! Your finger offends me!"
Jiro knew his name, always reacted when I called. He disliked men for some reason. He also knew when something was wrong. I'm rarely sick, but I came home early one day and went to bed straight away. Within minutes Jiro fluttered to my bed and made himself comfortable on my hand, keeping me company until I dozed off.
He didn't often sit on my hand! Stood on my fingers often enough, but rarely actually perched on my hand to just
sit. So this was rather special.
He had this metal bowl in his cage, which he used as a bath every day. And there were times I hadn't refreshed his water by the time he wanted to take a bath... so he would
literally sit on the edge of it, and splash water in my direction until I got the hint! This was the only photo I ever managed to snap of him bathing. He didn't mind photos and videos, I've plenty of those... but whenever he noticed the camera while he was (trying to) bathe he'd nope the hell out of there until I put it away!
I woke up one morning, Jiro was already running around doing his thing... I went down to get breakfast, came back up to my room, and was met with a disturbing lack of happy chirping. Jiro would always greet me when I entered my room, but this time there was only silence.
He wasn't there.
You should know that I'm paranoid about my animals escaping. My room is in the attic. My windows have mesh in front of them, but they were intact. I always squeeze myself through my door and close it behind me as fast as I can, so nothing can follow. Jiro's wings made plenty of noise, I would have
heard him had he flown out after me. My room is as animal proof as I can make it.
I completely panicked and turned my entire room upside down that day, terrified he'd gotten stuck somewhere and I would find his dead body behind the closet or something.
I didn't find him.
Jiro had been my best buddy for two and a half years... and now he was gone. I figured he must have escaped somehow... and to this day I still don't really know
how. The only way I can explain it is if he followed me
over the floor when I left my room, meaning he stayed right behind my feet and out of sight even when I turned to look behind me to make sure nothing followed, and then
waited until I was gone before flying down the stairs (where he'd never gone before) and finding an open window somewhere.. That is the ONLY explanation I have... and if it's true, well... I always did say he was extremely intelligent.
Even so, I really,
really missed him.
Then one day, about 3 weeks later, I was in our backyard drinking coffee and reading a book - this was in the summer - when I suddenly heard a chirp. A very familiar chirp. I looked up and there, only a few feet away from me, sitting on the pergola, was a hedge sparrow.
Now you should know that hedge sparrows are extremely flighty birds. You rarely see them, and if you do, it's mostly a quick brown blur under the bushes. So for a hedge sparrow, this was unusual behavior. And I instantly knew it was Jiro! I listened to his chirping for over 2 years, and recognized it instantly. The way he sat there quickly beating and flapping his wings, something he always did when he was being playful, this one did as well.
He flew off after a minute or so, landed in our chestnut tree and began preening himself. He looked really good, and I suppose I should never have worried in the first place about him not being able to make it in the wild, instinct and all.
In the year and a half after that, I saw him occasionally. Even saw him with another hedge sparrow once, so I like to think he actually found a mate somewhere, and every once in a while he'd visit here to let me know he was doing okay.
Then, the visits stopping coming. Made sense I suppose, he'd be 5, almost 6 by then. I have no idea how old hedge sparrows get to be in the wild if they're not caught by predators, but I'm sure that's pretty darn old for a tiny bird. I didn't see him for at least a year.
Then... in 2012... I was getting ready to leave for work. I stepped outside and the first thing I noticed were two birds... one of them being a hedge sparrow. Of course my mind immediately went "Omg Jiro!!!" even though I knew how unlikely it was.
Still, I made the whistling sound I always made when he still lived with me in my room, and to my utter surprise, the sparrow in question turned around, fluttered up to the pergola, looked at me and chirped back!!
I WAS FREAKING OUT! I was so excited, so happy! I use the same whistle on wild birds all the time and they always ignore me!
I was late for work though, so I walked to the garage, huge derpy grin stuck on my face, and got my bike. I parked it near the fence and turned to put on my work boots, and as I did I looked at the pergola. Jiro was no longer there... instead he was sitting on the roof of the garage, chirping and acting all excited! He'd actually followed me! He flew into the bushes then and disappeared from view, but I could still
hear him!
I was CONVINCED that was Jiro, even though he had to be downright ancient by then!
That was the very last sighting, I haven't seen him since.
I still miss him greatly, even to this very day. I still have dreams about him occasionally, in which he comes back. Jiro was so special to me, I've never shared such a deep, strong emotional bond with any animal before, and I think I can safely say he lived a good life. I'm actually tearing up a little now that I've looked up all his photos and remembered all these little things we experienced.
So yeah, that's my story, about how one little bird changed my life.[/spoili]