You can always let it try to grow back. You are out nothing but perhaps some small effort if it fails to come back. Plants can surprise you! FataMorgana

with me it was a young northern flicker this fall. I assume he was on his own for the first time. He would come 3 or 4 times everyday perch on a branch or feeder and just look around and maybe peck at some seed or whatever. after we started geting the heavy snows and very cold weather a lot of the birds other than the juncos and chickadees left out for a lower elevation. a few of the spring birds are starting to return now that the weather is not so drastic. I'm hoping he will show up too

Thanks! Yes, we have a large population of wild turkeys in the area but I have never seen one in the yard. I guess due to their increasing numbers they are beginning to frequent urbanized areas...I'll be watching (so will the retriever!). Thanks again, hortster

Thanks to everyone who tried to console me instead of chastising me, but I can take up for myself. #1, I'm NOT sorry that I said I hit the cat. It's not like I beat him black and blue. I just applied my hand to his backside, not even very hard. I can't even imagine a cat with an identity crisis! The only identity crisis my cats have is that they think they're human. I also spanked my kids. They don't hate me, and neither one of them has an identity crisis. #2, I'm NOT going to find another home for my cat. I've had cats all my life, some killed things, some didn't. I didn't send them anywhere else to live. #3, The cat did not bring me a whole baby bird as a prize, he ATE IT! Yes, that's what cats do, but finding bits and pieces of a baby bird on your dining room floor is DISTRESSING! I love birds, so it made me angry. What if your dog brought a kitten in and tore it apart on your DR floor, leaving bits of fur and bones lying about? Would you be upset, or would you just say "Oh, he's just doing what dogs do." Does it make it any better because it's "just a bird?" Birds have separate personalities, and are very individual. Even chickens, ducks and geese. I once had a neighbor's dog break into my chicken pen and kill all my baby chicks. He didn't eat them, he just killed them. I threw a brick at him. I didn't hit him, but I wish I had. And I would not have felt at all bad if I had. I had a friend whose dog tore his cat to pieces right in the LR. He took it out back and shot it, because he said it now had a taste for blood. #4 Quoting the Wikipedia to me, (which in my opinion is about as reliable as the weather in Florida) to prove a point is just...I don't even know what it is, but it ticks me off. I'm not going to defend my actions. I'm sure some of you, even those who jumped on me, have done worse things in your life than pop your kitten on its bottom, so I'll quote the bible "Let he among you who is without sin cast the first stone." I feel much better now.