A blue jay perched on his apartment window ledge is too much for ornithophobic Sheldon to handle. As no one - even the authorities (gasp) - seems to want to help him shoo away the bird, a scared Sheldon does whatever he can to get rid of the bird in any way he can. He turns to his two biologist friends, Amy and Bernadette, who try to help him get him over his fear. Their attempts have unexpected results. Meanwhile, Penny asks Leonard if he wants to go see a movie with her. He realizes that Penny's invitation is not a date, despite he deep down wanting it to be. But once he gets over the notion that this event is not a date, Leonard is able to relax and enjoy his time out, even more than when they were actually dating. As Leonard makes it abundantly clear to Penny that it not being a date has its own consequences, Penny decides to take her own actions to prove to Leonard that it is indeed not a date.