Compass is eating on his own now! Oh, Happy Day!

Remember Compass, our injured pigeon rescue?   When he arrived he had a broken jaw, broken wing and a concussion.  Now, he's halfway to recovery!  Here's the update:

Compass is hardly recognizable as the needy injured feather-ball that he arrived as.  After two weeks of syringe feeding him, his jaw is lined up perfectly again and he is eating seeds on his own!  He tries to fly too, although his wing is still bandaged.  When I come in the room he begins to flap up furiously until I take him out of his crate and let him explore my son's bedroom.  He likes to hang out by the mirror and see his reflection.  He is so fiesty now and I suspect he is looking forward to getting home to his life-mate (as pigeons do.)

I'm soooo happy I saw him eating seeds today.  When he first arrived, the wildlife rescue worker told me that a broken jaw is a "death sentence" for pigeons... not true if someone is willing to nurture them for a few weeks.  I noticed lately that instead of his jaw being lax and him readily swallowing mooshed food, that he struggled when I had to pry his beak open and seemed to not be interested in my offering.  I started "force" feeding him less and less and was hoping that he was eating on his own when I didn't see.. then today I saw him.  So happy.  It's a reward comparable to potty training my first child..lol!

Actually, we saw Compass' family hanging out under the overpass near the highway ramp where he was found and I felt a maternal twinge "Gasp!... I'll be worried about Compass balancing around on those thin ledges when he has just recently healed...."   Maybe I'll let him practice on the screened in porch for a few days before releasing him in two more weeks.  Here he is at his last vet check:

For more on Compass, click here.