A Frozen Bird

Before I get to the Bible passage, no birds died from the cold weather.  All are fine that I am aware of.

Luke 3:
8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
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I have heard of this happening, but never experienced it, until Friday.  We saw a bird “frozen” in fear.   We had a lot of bird activity that day.   At times, it all would cease. I’d not see or hear a single bird. We suspect they are hiding in trees or bushes.

This time, however, I saw a Blue Jay in one tree, looking around.  Later I found Peanut (our Yellowhammer) on our power pole, but this one bird was the most interesting. 

It’s a common House Sparrow, a female. She was absolutely still with her head cocked like you see here. She held that pose for a long time, only moving her head slightly now and again.  She was perched at that spot for near an hour.  We’d do something and happen to pass the window.  “Yup, she’s still there.”

We’ve never seen an immobile HOSP before.  They flee at the slightest anything.  I have heard people talk about various birds “freezing” when a hawk would come in the yard.   Here is a link that goes into more detail of how the birds protect themselves.

Even though we looked through several windows and actually let the dog out back during this time, we never did discover what the threat was.   As flighty as HOSP are, even the sound of the back door did not cause her to let her guard down.