A sad thing happened this week-end. I had to have a young, very sick, Humming bird put to sleep. The bird was on the ground by a large tree. I wanted to put it in the nest, needed a laddar, it was Saturday, no maintenance on apt. duty. Here's the story.

I brought the Humming bird inside, looked on computer for Humming bird information. Humming birds are protected species. Their life span is one to three years. I found information under "Humming Bird Society" wrote phone numbers. All closed Saturday. I read how to care for it thinking it was a baby bird, eyes were closed. My son and I noticed one wing looked damaged. We bought a syringe, gave it fruit nectar mixed with water. Humming birds eat a large amount of sugar, eating every ten minutes. I would watch one flying over my floral plant on my balcony. Humming birds are so beautiful and tiny. They fly backwards and hover. I felt so sorry for this little bird. I put it in a small container with tissue. Every half hour I fed it more liquid which is suppose to be done, staying up all night. The bird was so weak. Monday morning I called several hot line numbers. I live in Los Angeles. There was a preserve for Humming birds in AZ and San Diego, CA. all far from me. It was good I called, because one woman told me to describe a red color under the neck. It was not a newborn, but a young adult bird. Putting it back in a nest would have done no good. The father bird would have thrown it out. Usually only mother takes care of the nest. This woman was 73 who takes care of hundreds of injured Humming birds, licensed by "Fish and Game Association". There was no one to pick the bird up, she lived very far away. I called another number, the woman told me to describe the bird. The eyes were closed. She told me the bird was in too much distress, too injured would most likely die in a few days. The Humming bird was suffering too much. I kept feeding it the liquid mix, it seemed to perk up, but kept falling over to one side. The wing was damaged. I cried. I love birds. I have a parott. I sat thinking should I give it a few more days. I did not want to take the bird to the animal shelter, not trusting how they handle animals here. I called a vet emergency, made the decision to put the bird to sleep. Emergency people were very nice, I knew they would be gentle. They normally charge $95 but a nice young man said he would do it for free. They inject the bird, it goes to sleep quickly. My son drove the bird, they took it into the back. He left. Somehow in my heart I wonder if they decided to try caring for the bird. We did not actually see the Humming bird put to sleep.