"Looks kinda big to be new." LOL, believe me, we all shake our heads wondering why Chicago spends so much money planting such big specimens when we all know it doesn't really make much sense from a transplanting perspective. This is a fairly high profile location, so I think they are so concerned about maintaining appearances they throw common sense (and our tax dollars) out the window, and they also claim they need bigger trees to start so that kids don't damage them (which is possible, unfortunately). and if you think this is a crazy size for a new B&B tree, they planted 30+ foot gingko columnars in front of the Field Museum, it made my wallet hurt just looking at the heavy machinery needed to put them in the ground. The park district forester told me it's very possible it had the borers when it was planted last year, so hopefully they will either drop the nursery from their suppliers or will really make them shape up. They've planted probably hundreds of trees in the downtown area, and most do survive, so I'd imagine this was just a fluke.

Lisa's information is correct about the bird in a bag. A shoebox with air holes also works. The key is to place it in a protected spot where a cat or dog can't get the bird while it is recovering.Make sure it is released as soon as it is well, so it doesn't hurt itself trying to escape. What you can do for the bird strikes is buy or make a couple of hawk silhouettes to place on your windows. We have many large windows on two sides of our living room and we were having many goldfinches strike the windows until we found out about the predator bird silhouettes years ago. Stores that carry bird feed will often carry them, or you can cut your own from black construction paper. The shape is that of a diving predator bird. Unfortunately, this also keeps the birds form coming as close to your house as well, but well worth it in my opinion to save their lives. We haven't had any bird strikes since we put up a couple of silhouettes on the side the birds were hitting, and we had been hearing the 'thump' and finding about two dead birds a week before that. In our case, this also helps with keeping the birds away form our two pet dogs, as the windows where the silhouettes were placed also are on the side of the house where we have a dog run, so the silhouettes are also serving to keep the birds out of our canines reach as well. Best of luck with it. Jean

Yes, indeed, poor thing. We had taken out the screens in that window but put them back up so that if a bird hits the bottom part, they have a bit of a 'cushion.' Trouble is the screens are only at the bottom, there's plain glass up above. I do think, however, that most of hits we've had have been on the bottom. Swainson's thrush...hmm, my bird book shows it to be brown. Size is probably right. We're tried various decals for the windows esp. that window since it's not too far from a feeder and right now there are several dogwood trees heavy with berries. But nothing seems to work. Ideas? One thing...I saw the bird hit and it did not hit straight on but came in from the side almost as if it was seeing its shadow and attacking. Thanks for your help. I think I saw another bird of the same type and have my outdoor camera set up to try to catch a picture of it. Linda...

Juvenile Cooper's hawk ... the "teardrop" feathers on the chest are the key. Adults have crosswise rusty barring. Sharp-shinned hawks are smaller with a squared-off, strongly banded tail. ================ Bird feeders create a buffet for predators as well as the seed eaters. And a hawk's gotta eat. Make them work harder. Make sure the birds have plenty of close bushes to hide in whilke waioting and after feeding or bathing. Put the feeders where a predator can't sit on a nearby power line or branch and swoop down. Give the feeder some overhead screening. from a branch or arbor.