“At first, I wasn’t even sure what it was …”
By Caitlin Jill Anders
Published on July 11, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Ivy Knight stepped outside one morning to get some sun and immediately noticed something lying on her deck. She was confused — until she realized it was a little pink baby.
“At first, I wasn’t even sure what it was until I saw the tiny little arms that would eventually become wings,” Knight told The Dodo.
Knight froze, unsure what to do next. She wanted to help, but was worried about hurting the fragile baby. She yelled for her fiancé, who sprang into action as soon as he saw the helpless bird, whom the couple named Mumble after the movie “Happy Feet.” He grabbed a bowl and some cloths and made a makeshift nest to put Mumble in. They put a heating pad underneath to keep him warm, then placed the bowl under a vent where they knew a bird family had made a nest.
Knight began contacting wildlife rescues in the area for advice on what to do next. The team at West Shore Wildlife told her that the baby bird’s best chance of survival was to get him back into his nest, and this time it was Knight’s turn to spring into action.
After buying a ladder and a flashlight, Knight climbed up to the vent to investigate. She peeked inside and was relieved by what she found.
“I saw another baby bird that was the exact same size as him and immediately knew where he belonged,” Knight said.
Once she had confirmed that the vent was indeed Mumble’s home, Knight put a plan into motion to reunite him with his family.
“Getting him back into that nest was honestly one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done,” Knight said. “I was standing on the last step of a ladder, leaning over my second-story deck railing. My hand wouldn’t fit into the vent, so I ended up using a spatula to carefully place him back into the nest. I had the baby bird in one hand and my phone in the other, using it as a live monitor because I couldn’t actually see inside the vent.”
Knight felt like a surgeon, knowing one wrong move could spell disaster. She navigated the whole process as carefully and gently as she could, and finally, she managed to get the day-old baby safely back into his nest.
Almost as soon as Knight had climbed down, Mumble’s parents flew back into the vent, thrilled to have their baby home.
Knight and her fiancé are now invested in making sure the bird family stays safe and healthy. They improved the vent to prevent either of the babies from falling again and even installed a backyard bird feeder to keep them all fed.
“A couple of days later, I checked on the nest again and saw two little hungry mouths bobbing up at me,” Knight said. “That was when I knew Mumble had truly been accepted back into his family.”
The couple now consider the birds a part of their family, and they’ll do everything they can to make sure all four of them are protected as they continue to grow and thrive.
“What started as a stressful day turned into one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had,” Knight said.