Saw a bird motionless at the bottom perch of my tube feeder, its head all the way in the hole. By the time we noticed it had been there probably an hour. Sad. Went to dispose of it.

Saw its legs were twitching feebly. Even sadder. I was going to have to put it out of its pain.

Tried to take it out of the feeder to do what I had to do. Realized it was moving all four limbs, but its neck was trapped. Worst of all. I would try to free it, but it was so tightly wedged, at such an odd angle, I was sure I would break its neck in the process.

Tried to pop the feeder apart. No luck. Got a long stick to reach through the tube to where the bird's head was jammed. Dug old seeds out to give it more wiggle room. Tried to use the stick to gently push the bird's head down and sideways, under the metal guide. Worked, worked. Gentle, gentle. Between efforts with the stick, held its body, wings and legs in my hand and tried to get a finger on its neck to guide it. No way could I get it out of there without breaking its neck.

Got it loose, finally. Bird flew away, without a moment's hesitation.

Life is fierce.