Participant Photo: Goldfinch recovers after hitting window

American Goldfinch hit our kitchen window, even though it has bird-proofing stickers on it, and fell to the ground, face down in a snow pile on a very cold day. He would obviously be dead in seconds. I picked him up and brushed all of the snow and ice from under his wings and took him into the kitchen, where he sat very happily in my hand for about 30 minutes. I took him outside and opened my hand, but he wasn’t ready. I took him back in for another 30 minutes and then took him out again. This time when I opened my hand, he sat there looking around for a while, walked up my arm a ways, then flew away into the treetops.