Americana residents came home from work on Friday to a big scene. A fire truck, firemen removing a drain cover and climbing inside, someone (turns out it was my husband) frantically running towards the scene with nets. A small crowd gathered to see what the commotion was about. Did a tiny dog fall down the drain? Is it Baby Jessica all over again? Are my husband's tortoises attempting to mutate and form a crime-fighting gang named after Italian Renaissance artists?

Nope, just a baby bird crying for its mama. 

Resident Kelley Owens was on her way to the YMCA when she heard a commotion coming from the drain. "He must have just fallen in today because his voice was strong enough to catch my attention," she says. "Plus, the parents [in a nearby field] were cutting up and crying out too." 

Killdeer lay their eggs this time of year, very often in the gravel, but also in pastures and fields far from water. They're known to get loud if someone approaches, intensely flapping their wings. Interestingly, both the male and female parents incubate the eggs for the 24-28 day cycles. 

Owens says that after the baby killdeer was rescued, she placed it in the grass, and it ran towards his little bird parents in the nearby field. 

Shout out to this Good Samaritan and the ZFD. In the words of Paw Patrol (which plays incessantly in this house), no job too big no *bird* too small!