Operation Starling: Neighbors and firefighters rescue fallen baby birds

Fourteen-year-old Colin Brandes was mowing the lawn at his Damon Street home this month when he spotted something unexpected in front of him — a little pink bird that had tumbled from its nest to land helplessly in the yard. 

“He came in to show me, and then we walked back outside and saw the second one on the ground,” said Colin’s mom, Natalie. “So we’re both a little bit panicked in that moment, but thankfully, some of the neighbors were out.” 

One of those neighbors, Tiffany Thompson, “swooped into the rescue,” Brandes said. 

Thompson made some calls and connected with a bird specialist in Wayland who suggested ways to get the birds back to their mother. The babies were starlings — “cavity nesters” that build their homes in natural tree hollows. That made locating the nest difficult. 

“It’s tough because all the wildlife rehabbers are completely full because it’s baby season right now,” Thompson said. “So of course, I go on Facebook, and within like five minutes, I have a volunteer ready to take them.”

This volunteer — who wishes to remain anonymous — kept the fledglings overnight, feeding them every 20 to 30 minutes.

Finding mama

The following day, the quest to reunite the feathered family began as Thompson searched for the nest. 

A common myth, she said, is that handling the babies means the birds will retain a human scent, and the mom will reject them. “That’s not the case,” she said. “The rehabber said you can put them back days later and it will be fine.” 

When Thompson finally spotted the mother starling, she realized the nest was about 35 feet up. With no way to access it, she called the Acton Fire Department. 

“I spoke with a woman who said, ‘You know what? We might need to do a little bit of ladder truck training today,’” Thompson said. 

Firefighter Ian Ford and his partner Tim Lilley, who were on the ladder truck in the Acton Center station, took the call to aid the “two little birds, with not many feathers on them yet,” Ford said. 

“I put them in the little Tupperware, walked up there, and then individually, just put them into the little hole,” he said. “They scooted themselves down through the hole until I couldn’t see him anymore.” 

Ford said it was his first bird rescue, and “now I have a story to tell.” 

Natalie Brandes grew up in Acton and just moved back last summer. 

“I told my kids, ‘Thank goodness we live in a community where the people care enough to help in this sort of situation,’” she said. “So it was a nice reminder of that.”