Girl Helps Save Injured Snowbird Found At St. James School

ST. JAMES, NY — A snowbird is healthy and back in the wild — thanks to the quick thinking of a young girl — after a near-death situation last month.

A student of Saint James Elementary School found an injured bird on school grounds in mid-October, according to the Smithtown Central School District. The dark-eyed junco was found on the ground, unable to fly, as it may have flown into a window.

The bird was taken to the clinic at Sweetbriar Nature Center by two St. James teachers and given to the experts who could help nurse it back to health. Just two weeks later, the junco had made a full recovery.

Sweetbriar staff brought him back to St. James Elementary so the student and her classmates could watch his release. Dark-eyed juncos visit Long Island in the winter and are often called "snowbirds." Juncos breed further north, most commonly in Canada.