PSA re that mitzvah about mama birds

zaq

Thu, May 27 2021, 3:33 pm

What do you call it when Barbie breaks up with her bf? Shiluach haKEN.

Which is a great way to remember the correct term for this mitzvah. KAN is the smichut form of KEN and means “a nest of ( something)”. A nest alone is a ken, but a nest belonging to birds or full of birds is kan tzipporim
, just as a house is a bayit but a house of study is beit midrash , a mouth is a peh but the mouth of the well is pi habe’er, a woman is ishah but a woman of valor is Eishet chayil and Rabbi Meir’s wife is eishet rabbi Meir.

Success10

Thu, May 27 2021, 3:37 pm

I've grappled with this for ages. Thank you. I would also like to take a moment to dispel the myth that if you touch the eggs, the mother won't come back to sit on them. Not true, from my experience, which is with mostly pigeons and doves.

Iymnok

Thu, May 27 2021, 3:41 pm

It also must be on public property. If you have mafkered your windowsill, then you could do the mitzva there. Only before the nest is made.

MrsDash

Thu, May 27 2021, 3:44 pm

I've been handfeeding birds of all species for years. I'm not sure if it was meant to be a metaphor, but there is no truth to it. Try doing that to larger birds, and you'll be pecked like crazy.

Motherhood

Thu, May 27 2021, 4:30 pm

Success10 wrote:

My experience was different. We just did shiluach haken about a month ago. We took the eggs and put them back. The mother came back, but shoved the eggs off the windowsill. They say the birds smell if you touched their eggs.

chanatron1000

Thu, May 27 2021, 4:49 pm

Sometimes birds abandon nests that have been disturbed. They can't smell much.

MrsDash

Thu, May 27 2021, 5:51 pm

Motherhood wrote:

The chicks in the eggs probably died from lack of warmth from the nest, or damaged in some way. They rid themselves of the eggs because they can sense if an egg isn’t good anymore.

Motherhood

Thu, May 27 2021, 5:55 pm

We didn’t disturb the nest when shooing away the mother bird, but she may have messed it up while abandoning the nest. The eggs didn’t lose any warmth by being exposed for 2 minutes, since the mother bird came back after a few minutes. The next morning I checked outside and saw the egg smashed on the sidewalk right under the windowsill where the nest was.

MrsDash

Thu, May 27 2021, 6:27 pm

Motherhood wrote:

I’ve had parrots who, when they got spooked, stepped on an egg or two. The eggs are so fragile, that the tiniest little crack can damage the embryo inside.

etky

Fri, May 28 2021, 2:03 am

zaq wrote:

In biblical Hebrew.
In modern Hebrew (Bialik nothwithstanding) the tzereh is retained even in smichut.