Eastern Kingbird In Distress

I was fishing on Wildcat Lake near Boulder Junction, Wisconsin last Friday. I saw two birds, Eastern Kingbirds, I am sure, diving and looking like they were fighting. One of the birds appeared to be a juvi and one a bit larger. The larger bird hit the smaller one about a foot above the water and actually knocked it out of the air and into the water where it floundered and obviously was unable to get out.

All of this took place about 10 feet from my boat and took only seconds. I tightened my fish landing net so it was paddle-like and dipped the small bird from the water. It fought a bit as I untangled it's feet from the net but it seemed uninjured. The bird let me set it on a back seat of my boat and did not struggle at all as I spread its wings on the warm plastic seat to dry.

I left the bird on the seat for about 15 minutes as I continued fishing and it just seemed to stare at me and never moved. When it looked pretty dry, I took the boat near shore and placed the Kingbird in a small tree and drove away.

I sure hope the little fella made it! Here is a picture of the bird drying and then in the tree.

The Drying Bird

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/photofranz/6018​620729/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/photofranz/6019​172356/

Cool story, he was fine before all this took place and a little water is not going to hurt him. It is young, the bigger bird was most likelly his mom, " so, you don't want to take a bath hey"

peregrineflier wrote in post #12892599
Cool story, he was fine before all this took place and a little water is not going to hurt him. It is young, the bigger bird was most likelly his mom, " so, you don't want to take a bath hey"

LOL, this is a class "A" Muskey lake and I was catching 3 pound Largemouth Bass right where this happened. Bathtime can be a dangerous time on Wildcat Lake!

Enjoyed the story with the photos. Thanks for sharing

Great story, you most likely saved the bird's life. Surface feeders like big Bass would make a quick meal of that little one. I remember years ago seeing an outdoor show that was demonstrating how big Northern Pike like to take ducklings from the surface. They had crafted a duckling lure with a treble hook on its belly and it didn't take long to hook one.

Well done.

Nighthound wrote in post #12892909
Great story, you most likely saved the bird's life. Surface feeders like big Bass would make a quick meal of that little one. I remember years ago seeing an outdoor show that was demonstrating how big Northern Pike like to take ducklings from the surface. They had crafted a duckling lure with a treble hook on its belly and it didn't take long to hook one.

Well done.

Thanks and you are correct about the Pike, I have seen it happen. The lure I was using for the bass is not quite as large as the bird, but has more mass. The bird was not at all far from where I was casting.

My Lure

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/photofranz/6019​588230/