During the winter storm there was a ton of damage to homes and property, and stories across the state of people struggling just to stay alive. But it wasn’t just people who were fighting for survival. Fransisco Saldana was out and enjoying the snow when he found a bird on the ground that was almost frozen and couldn’t move to warmth. He took it under his wing to try and help it get better and survive the cold weather.

“I was outside playing with my siblings in the snow and I saw something kind of hopping and I also heard a little chirp so I went to check it out,” Saldana said. ”I saw this bird that looked stiff and barely alive so I immediately took it inside.” 

The bird had been freezing from the cold weather and it couldn’t move enough to shelter to get warm. The freezing temperatures made it hard for the creature to get through the weather. 

“It was really cold outside and starting to freeze everything so imagine being a creature flying through that cold weather,” Saldana said. “It’s going to freeze, the poor thing.”

In fact, the prolonged period of subfreezing temperatures in Texas, combined with limited food resources, affected a number of fish and wildlife species, according to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Bats and birds have been hit hard. Zoos were hit as well, with animals dying in the extreme weather.

“I never, ever thought my office would turn into a morgue, but it has,” Brooke Chavez, executive director of Primarily Primates, told the San Antonio Express-News. Among the casualties at the facility she directs were a chimpanzee, many monkeys, some lemurs and countless birds.

As for Saldana, as soon as he spotted the freezing bird in his yard, he immediately went to work to save it. He put it inside a cage with hay and blankets and added a heat lamp that he uses for his rabbits. 

“I tried to get it warm and to keep it warm,” Saldana said. “I also fed it bird food, and I gave it some water.” 

Despite Saldana’s effort, the little bird did not survive.

“I woke up the next day and went to check on it and it wasn’t responding to anything,” Saldana said. “I poked it and patted it, but it wasn’t responding. I wish it would’ve lived. I think I found it a bit too late.”