AUDUBON: She thought it was goo. That’s what my 5-year-old said later about noticing the little pink-and-gray heap on the ground as we walked home from the park. I was in a hurry; it was lunchtime and starting to sprinkle. But I turned back with my 2-year-old to see what my older daughter, calling to me from the driveway of a blue house, had found.

The goo was a baby bird. Its bulbous eyes were still sealed shut, and it clearly couldn’t yet fly. I started to explain gently that these things happen sometimes, a chick falls from its nest and dies—but then noticed it wasn’t dead. It was kicking. It craned its neck, gaping for food. 

“Can we help it?” my daughter asked. Read more.