Two Kelowna children saved a baby birdsa国际传媒檚 life on Monday sa国际传媒� with mom and dadsa国际传媒檚 help.

Nora Tower (eight years old) and her brother Lincoln (11 years old) were playing with the dog in the backyard of their familysa国际传媒檚 Black Mountain home when she heard chirping.

sa国际传媒淚 went under the cedar trees and saw it,sa国际传媒� Nora told the Capital News. sa国际传媒淚t was a goldfinch, just a little baby. I tried to keep him safe because my puppy was sniffing [the bird].sa国际传媒�

Nora and Lincoln immediately told their parents of the discovery.

sa国际传媒淲e had to make some calls to figure out where to bring a little bird because we have never had to do that before,sa国际传媒� the childrenssa国际传媒� father Ward Tower explained.

After searching around, the Towers brought the bird to a local sanctuary, which will release the bird back into the wild within the next few weeks.

sa国际传媒淚t was in good shape. If its mouth is yellow, itsa国际传媒檚 not really hungry but if itsa国际传媒檚 red, itsa国际传媒檚 really hungry. Buddysa国际传媒檚 mouth was red,sa国际传媒� said Nora.

sa国际传媒淪he nicknamed the bird Buddy,sa国际传媒� her father added.

Although Buddy was seemingly healthy, he wasnsa国际传媒檛 moving or flapping his wings which had Nora and Lincoln worried.

The sanctuary told Nora and Lincoln it will feed and take care of the bird before releasing him, which put them at ease.

The staff at the sanctuary told the Towers that if there was one bird, there are likely others. Goldfinch birds often nest close to the ground, so the family went back into their backyard to search for a nest and to see if any other birds needed their help, but no nest was anywhere to be found.

sa国际传媒淭hey usually nest close to the ground, but we never found one,sa国际传媒� said dad.

According to the BC SPCA, itsa国际传媒檚 common to see healthy-looking birds on the ground that cansa国际传媒檛 fly in the spring/summer months. These young birds are called . Birds at this age are just learning how to fly.

sa国际传媒淭he parent birds are usually close by for protection but will not feed the fledglings as often. This makes the young birds hungry, so they hop out of the nest to explore,sa国际传媒� the BC SPCA website states.

However, if the bird doesnsa国际传媒檛 seem to be moving much and is close to cats or dogs that may hurt it, the BC SPCA recommends you call them for help.

Nora said the sanctuary had another goldfinch it was saving and she would put Buddy with it so that he isnsa国际传媒檛 lonely.

Nora said the experience taught her and her brother to sa国际传媒淎lways help an animal.sa国际传媒�

READ MORE: $185k in grants to go to five different Kelowna youth programs

READ MORE: Kelowna Paddle Centre hosts open house this weekend

twitter.com