Golden Crowned Kinglet Rescue

This morning I had the surprising honour of rescuing a golden crowned kinglet from a spider web.  Who would have guessed that would happen?!  

I had put out a couple of handfuls of seed for my usual chickadee and nuthatch friends, and enjoyed watching them have their breakfast seeds.  I went back to the kitchen and heard a small thud, which sounded like a window bump from a bird.  I have yet to put up the bird-repelling dots on 3 of my windows.  I went back out to see if I could help a bird, and was shocked to see not a bird on the ground, but instead a tiny bird hanging in front of the window, dangling from a thick spiderweb strand.  I did not take a picture of that.  I immediately reached up and gently took the bird out of the web.

It was very clear that the bird was a golden crowned kinglet. It was so very tiny in my hand.  I could see the spider web stretching across it, so at that point I went inside with it, grabbed a box, a towel, and the camera, and went back into the porch. You can see the web strands in the image above - they look minor, but they were so sticky! 

I very carefully detached the thick web strands from the bird's feathers.  It was amazing to me how thick the webbing was, and how delicate the wings were.  The web was really impacting the poor bird's ability to use its wings.  It was also gaping, which they tend to do when stressed, so I wanted to handle it as little as possible and just get the web off so it could sit and recover.

Fortunately, once I removed the web material, the kinglet began to perk up, and I ended up not needing the towel and the box.  My little friend took off fairly quickly and I hope it had a much better day after this morning's adventure.  I thought it was quite fitting that the day after the queen's funeral, I would have a visit from a "crowned" bird.  

So glad I heard the bump and was able to help this tiny friend.