Well-meaning person brings an “abandoned” baby bird to a wildlife rescue clinic, but the veterinary nurse knows better and returns him to the exact spot where his family is waiting

As animal lovers, we should all educate ourselves on how to treat the wildlife we encounter - because it's nothing like dealing with pets or other humans.

I remember the first time I saw a baby bird with my own eyes. They look nothing like the beautifully feathered creatures we know and love. I was around 6 or 7 (no Gen Alpha pun intended), visiting distant relatives who lived in an open, wide, and green village, and who had a boy around my age. When I, the city girl, was visiting, I'd always stay for a whole weekend or holiday, having fun in the nature around, playing with my distant cousin friend for days. His father was a big hiking fan, knew a lot about plants and animals, and always took us outdoors. But one day, he called us to the backyard to see a sight I've never seen before - a baby bird, bald and pink, seemingly abandoned on the ground next to the wall of their property edge.

My friend and I (and his little brother, then still a toddler who waddled along) came rushing out to see this. His father explained, while lifting the little, helpless creature in his large hands ever so gently: "You see this tiny baby bird? He fell out of his parents' nest (as he pointed to a hole in the property's wall). If we leave him here, a prey bird or a stray cat will take him. I already checked in the nest, and the parents are away, probably out searching for food to bring to their babies. This little one fell while they're out. Let's return him to safety before the parents return, so they won't see us do it. If they see us returning him, they'll freak out, thinking we are huge prey animals." We were fascinated.

We watched as he gently put the little baby bird back in the hole where his family nested, and returned to his siblings waiting for their parents' food delivery. He told us we could take a quick look and then go back inside, so as not to take any chances that the bird parents would return to see us. On the surface, it's an experience with not a lot happening. It's not an action-packed story, no moral deliberation of good vs. evil, no epic tale spanning time. Just a girl learning how to gently tend to wildlife in need, barely protruding, watching a helpless creature being helped into a thriving chance again. It's a memory etched in my soul, and it's all thanks to one baby bird and a distant relative who cares deeply about nature.

Not every animal lover has a similar childhood memory. But baby birds are this sort of litmus test of knowledge about how to care for them when they look abandoned… when they're actually not. I don't blame well-meaning people who just want to help these tiny creatures, and just don't know any better than to just leave them be until the parents return. But we're here to learn.