# URGENT baby sparrow?!?



## ButterflyLordette (Nov 3, 2013)

My little sister and her friends brought home a fledgling sparrow, healthy looking, can't fly. There are cats in the area and I went back with it and waited half an hour, no parents came back. He's at home with me and I either need to know how to take care of him (I only have budgie seed) or to take him back straight away and walk away. Please help!


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Is there not a Wildlife Rescue or Sanctuary close to you? Your vet may well have a 'phone number.

I once reared a baby blackbird and it was six weeks of hard work! I had to take him to work with me and feed him more or less constantly.

I ended up with a baby dunnock last year and I took him to a Sanctuary close to me.


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## ButterflyLordette (Nov 3, 2013)

Sweety said:


> Is there not a Wildlife Rescue or Sanctuary close to you? Your vet may well have a 'phone number.
> 
> I once reared a baby blackbird and it was six weeks of hard work! I had to take him to work with me and feed him more or less constantly.
> 
> I ended up with a baby dunnock last year and I took him to a Sanctuary close to me.


There are no wildlife sanctuary's anywhere near us, just the RSPCA and they said just leave it the last time we called about them. I'd decided to take him back and leave him because I was sure his parents would come back, after another half hour we were walking back, leaving him to it, when we came across an adult sparrow, decapitated. I had to take him back, he ate a few grass seeds but I didnt feed him much but he's not attempting to eat any mealworms we give him now, I've set up a spare outdoor hutch with woodshavings and straw and some tissue and put some crushed dried mealworm on the floor. I doubt he'll survive, to be honest, but I'm trying so hard.


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

I began by giving the baby blackbird water in tiny amounts through a dropper.

For the first night, I just made sure he was plenty warm enough. (I put him in my airing cupboard), in the dark.

I fed him mashed up dog food and corned beef regularly for weeks, with drops of water, and when he grew, I fed him earth worms.

I eventually released him six weeks later, but it was hard work.

Have you tried ringing your vet for advice?


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

We had to raise 2 baby blackbirds which we took off some kids that had taken the nest out of the tree 

We used some round ended tweezers and fed them with meat based cat food, mushed up and small garden worms. They need to be kept warm too.

Both survived and fledged and hung around our garden for a good while. 

My advice for the future is the baby bird is better off being left alone as the parents are usually close by and will continue to feed it and also encourage it to fly.

Obviously, if it's in a dangerous spot i.e. the middle of the road, move it to some undergrowth nearby but preferably wear gloves so your scent does not put off the parents.


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## ButterflyLordette (Nov 3, 2013)

I read that sparrows cannot be fed liquid, I cannot keep him inside because of the budgies but he is very warm outside.
I know the parents were meant to be nearby, but as none came for him for a long time, and I found the deceased adult nearby (Also indicating there's a predator very close). I had to bring him back.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

He may be too small to feed himself so you will need to get the food into him some how. That's where the tweezers came in - hold them slightly above him, touching the beak. He will smell the food and hopefully open his mouth, then put the food right inside. There is enough liquid in the food so he won't need additional water.

All you can do is try


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## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

*The bird MUST be indoors...the next few nights are forecast very cold. A mash of hard boiled egg in tweezers will raise chicks...unfortunately if it doesn't beg there is little chance. 
You could try squeezing the sides of the beak very very gently at the base it may be possible to make it open...after a few feeds it will probably open on it's own.And (sorry Lurcherlad) very few birds have any sense of smell.

I've raised dozens over the years...unfortunately I've also lost many if they have refused to feed.

Good luck!*


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

poohdog said:


> *The bird MUST be indoors...the next few nights are forecast very cold. A mash of hard boiled egg in tweezers will raise chicks...unfortunately if it doesn't beg there is little chance.
> You could try squeezing the sides of the beak very very gently at the base it may be possible to make it open...after a few feeds it will probably open on it's own.And (sorry Lurcherlad) very few birds have any sense of smell.
> 
> I've raised dozens over the years...unfortunately I've also lost many if they have refused to feed.
> ...


Fair point! Our blackbirds responded that way, so I assumed they could smell 

Gently prising the beak open and putting some food in also sometimes encourages them to start feeding.

It is a lottery though - but the OP might be lucky, finger's crossed


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

My baby blackbird, (Chuckie), would never open his beak. I used to put my thumbnail in the side and gently turn it to open his beak, and plop the food on his tongue.


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## ButterflyLordette (Nov 3, 2013)

Update - brought him inside, when we checked on him he was barely breathing and almost on his way out! Brought him in when it was still light and warmed him up in a blanket for hours, he started moving around a bit and the breathing got better, and now he's fast asleep in the blanket in the spare budgie cage. Haven't scattered food on the floor or anything because he won't pick them up off the floor. Anything I should know or try before I go to sleep? He's an older fledgling, I'm not sure if he needs to be fed sometime when I'm asleep or if waking him up just to try would be too stressful? 
Thank you!


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## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

*Have you tried to feed him?...If not I would try first thing in the morning...hard boil an egg and mash it up ready.It may be too late though...stress often makes them just close down.It's too young to pick anything off the floor.*


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## ButterflyLordette (Nov 3, 2013)

I did try and feed him, he didnt want any of it, I'm prepared to accept the probability he won't make it, but will have an egg ready :L


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## ButterflyLordette (Nov 3, 2013)

He passed away in the night, it was probably shock from the kids carrying him around the place. RIP Felix :'(


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## Phoenix24 (Apr 6, 2013)

Sparrows typically nest in colonies, so finding a decapitated adult bird does not necessarily mean you found one of its parents. When finding a fledgling bird sitting on its own, the absolute best thing you can do is (if its not flying) move it to somewhere undercover, and then get the hell away from it. An adult bird will NOT come to tend its young whilst you are about, and the adult it most likely watching from a safe distance waiting for you to move away (well away).

If a fledgling really is in trouble, ie injured or sick when you find it, then only advice from a veterinarian will do - and most likely, if you find a bird that is in a bad way, it is not going to make it no matter what you do. 

A fit youngster will either try to escape from you, or if fit but hungry, will either beg for food or accept food offered. A fledgling sparrow I had once was tempted easily by crushed biscuits (really wasn't interested in seed at that point, but it takes time for them to learn how to de-husk it). They are fed insects by their parents but that doesn't mean they will recognise meal worms as food. If the fledgling begs for food it is easy to get them interested in unfamiliar foods. Force feeding should only be undertaken by someone experienced or else you might cause more harm than good. 

By the sounds of it your fledgling wasn't in a fit state - possibly it had been hit by a car (was it near a road?) or attacked by a predator. Cat attacks will almost 100% prove fatal even if the injuries are minor, because the bacteria a cat carries (particularly in their bite) quickly take hold and kill. 

Nestlings should always be returned to the nest if possible, as birds make much better parents than we do!

Taking in a fledgling (or nestling) is always a last resort, and best left to those experienced as hand rearing take a lot of time and effort, and is not always successful no matter how hard you try.


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## ButterflyLordette (Nov 3, 2013)

It wasn't so much that we thought it was the parent, it was more it indicated to us that there was a predator very close by, and by those standards I could not leave it. We did put it back and hid far back out of sight for a total of an hour with no birds paying attention to it, and the kids often carelessly ride their bikes through the area. He was not injured as far as I could tell, but I was not going to leave him there where he was almost certainly going to die. I had to give him a chance, despite what I believed was right. He accepted food when I first found him, but gradually stopped as he became more sleepy. 
He's buried in the backyard, with a big blue plant marking where he lay, and we've told the kids never to go near one if they see another.


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## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

*What did you feed him?*


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## ButterflyLordette (Nov 3, 2013)

poohdog said:


> *What did you feed him?*


We checked online to see what they ate, we mashed up a boiled egg, soaked and broke up some dog food, put some grass seeds, bought some mealworms (dried) and crushed them up, and tried some grass seed. He wasn't interested in any but the seed, but I was pretty sure he wasn't developed enough to be digesting that.


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## Phoenix24 (Apr 6, 2013)

Well you did your best anyway. There might have just been something not right with it, maybe it just wasn't fit enough to survive.


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