I've noticed several of these birds: Out on our driveway (not on a city street) where we put out dog food in the evenings for the foxes and raccoons....sometimes in the daytime there are little birds out there picking up specks of crumbs...when they are disturbed, most will fly away, but one will quickly run into the weeds, making no attempt to fly....tonight I had one of my cats outside with me in our fenced back yard....one of the little brown birds had apparently been on the ground beneath two finch feeders and when disturbed, began to quickly run away, making no attempt to fly...it caught my cat's attention and the cat captured her in her paws, not in her mouth...I rescued the little bird from her and held it until I could release it out of my cat's sight....when I did release her into the weeds of the pasture right outside the fence, she quickly ran for cover, again making no attempt to fly.
These birds aren't babies....at least they don't seem to be...they are fully feathered and don't seem to have any deformities or injuries. I've raised rescued baby birds before and this one did not seem to be a nestling.
Small, sparrow- or wren-like; Light brown and tan flecked; a small bill. We're in NW Arkansas.
Is there a bird of this description whose habit is to run along the ground than fly ? These birds don't look ill and were eating.
I am puzzled. Your help would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Midge
