How to raise a baby sparrow
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Disclaimer
To begin, I should mention that it is illegal to keep a wild bird in captivity. Given that, and the enormity of the challenge, it is always best to seek out an animal shelter or rehabilitator, and surrender the bird for proper care.
With the disclaimer out of the way, I will also say that your success in finding such a place may depend upon the type of bird you have found. Being as ours was a common house sparrow, considered a nuisance bird by most communities, I was not able to find anyone willing to take the little guy in.
Nuisance or not, he was still one of God's creatures, and we could not leave him to die. The following is our experience in in raising the featherless little nestling. Hopefully it will inform, entertain, or otherwise amuse you.
The rescue
My wife actually found the sparrow on the playground of the daycare, at which she teaches. The nest had been overturned, and he was the only survivor. He was in danger of being trampled by the excited toddlers, just as his nestmates had been.She quickly scooped him into a shoebox, with a towel to keep him warm, and took him inside.
With the entire nest being destroyed, we were convinced that the mother would not have returned. We have since learned differently. Upon speaking with experts, we learned the correct way to approach the situation, if we were to encounter it again.
If you find a baby bird on the ground that has feathers, do not touch it unless it is in immediate danger. This is a fledgeling, and has likely left the nest in its first attempt at flight. If it is in danger, you should put it on a branch, or under a bush, away from danger, and clear the area. If you have a cat, it would be wise to keep it inside for a day or two, until the bird is strong enough to fly to safety on its own.
If you find a bird that has no feathers, this is a nestling, and has probably fallen or been knocked from the nest. Barring any immediate danger, you should leave it alone, and clear the area. If the mother is going to return for her baby, she will do so within 20-30 minutes. She will not return, however, as long as there are people or animals in the area. If the baby appears to be in danger, you can return it to the nest. It is a fallacy that a mother bird will reject a baby that has been handled by humans. If you cannot find, or reach the nest, you can simply place the bird away from danger, on a branch near the spot where you found it.
Once you have removed the baby from peril, watch it for about 30 minutes. If after that time the mother has not claimed her nestling, you may begin the rescue process.
Imprinting
We did eventually find a shelter, but they told us it was too late. It seems that imprinting occurs within the first week of life, and if released, our bird would not be likely to thrive. As I understand it, this basically means the bird has accepted us as its family, and has become dependant upon us. It is possible to raise more than one bird for release, without fear of imprinting, but a single bird will always imprint upon you.
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Bringing home baby
Now is the time to start trying to locate a shelter. There are dozens of raptor rescue agencies in my area, but the sparrow doesn't seem to get much love. In either case, the baby is going to need shelter and food.
For shelter, we used a cardboard box. In the bottom of the box, we placed an electric heating pad, set on low. The preferred temperature is around 90 degrees Farenheit, but the heating pad worked fine. On top of the heating pad we placed a hand towel, to temper the heat. On top of that, was another towel, formed into the shape of a nest. The box should be large enough to allow some space around the nest. This is because the bird will not eliminate waste inside the nest. It will instinctively back up to the edge of the nest, and drop it outside. The heating pad is only required until the bird has grown all of its feathers. The first sign that we noticed was that he seemed to be panting like a dog on a hot day. After removing the heating pad, we kept an eye on things for signs of distress.
As for feeding, the bird will need an hour or so to get used to its new surroundings. After that, it will need to be hand fed every 20 minutes, for about 12 hours out of the day. If he is reluctant to accept food from you, try gently tapping on the top of his beak as a sign to open up. He should recognize you as a source of food within a few feedings. It may be difficult to find baby bird food specifically for wild birds, but the commercially available hand feeding formulas for domesticated birds worked fine for us. There are clear and easy to follow instructions for mixing and feeding right on the label. Give him all he wants. You cannot overfeed him. He will simply stop taking food when he has had enough. Do not be alarmed if, while feeding, you notice a lump forming on his throat. This is called a crop. It is where he stores the food before it is digested. It should be noted that you must NEVER give water to your baby bird. It will get all the water it needs from the formula. If you try to get it to drink, there is a very good chance it will drown, or get pneumonia.
The photo at the top of this hub, is of our bird telling us that he is hungry. Basically, this involves a shrill chirping, while "gaping". Get used to this, as it happens several times every hour. Continue to follow the feeding instructions on the formula, until he is ready to wean. As his feathers begin to grow, he will require fewer feedings. Every 45 minutes for partially feathered birds, and about every hour for fledgelings with all of their feathers.
Weaning
At around 4 weeks of age it is safe to start leaving small bits of food around the nest. The bird should start to eat these on its own. As it gets used to feeding itself, it will take less food from you. He should be completely weaned by 6-8 weeks of age, and will not take much food by hand at this point. Once it has been self-feeding for three or four weeks, it may be transitioned to an adult diet, which consists mainly of insects, and seeds. We started with bloodworms, which we chopped into small pieces, and he loved them. Avoid mealworms, as they have a shell that is difficult to digest.
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A word on cages
When you notice that your bird is hopping up onto the edge of his box to be fed, it is time to consider a more permanent shelter. In general, the larger the cage, the better. He will be wanting plenty of room to develop his flying skills. Bar spacing is of utmost importance. The space between the bars should be less than a half inch. This will minimize the chance of his head becoming stuck between the bars, which could result in strangulation.
Handling your bird
If you have more than one nestling, you should not handle them unless it is absolutely necessary. This will allow them to imprint upon each other, and it is more likely that they will be able to be safely released.
We, however, had just one. Since he could never be released, he easily became a happy member of our family. We handle him regularly, and he enjoys playing with us. We do try to maintain a healthy diet, but he will simply not allow me to open a bag of cheese curls without giving him the first one. He also occasionally enjoys a few rice crispies.
Below are a few photos of our sparrow ( his name is Drumstick) at various stages of his early life with us. In the first one, I have put a quarter in the picture for perspective.
Today, Drumstick is about 5 years old, and is happy and healthy. As I understand it, he may live to be 15 or 20 years of age.
As I have already said, this is an enormous undertaking, and should only be attempted if you have no other choice. I have also been told by some experts that it is rare for a featherless nestling to survive such a rescue. They generally die in transit, or fail to thrive in a new home. With that in mind, while praying for the best outcome, you should be prepared to accept a less than happy ending.
The year of the bird
That time in our lives has come to be known, by us, as the year of the bird. We encountered about half a dozen baby birds throughout that spring. Armed with our new knowledge, we were able to reunite most of them with their mothers. One, however, was never reclaimed. It was a baby crow. That one required a feeding, and a 60 minute drive to an area shelter. Following up a couple weeks later, we were told he was fine, but he would never be released. He was a single bird who had no choice, but to imprint upon the rehabilitator. If you have ever heard the boistrous caw of a crow, you will understand when I say better her, than us!
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Comments
Thanks for commenting, Mark. You raise a good point. Since the focus of this hub was raising a baby bird, I used the term, "wild bird", so as not to go into the tedious details of the US Migratory bird treaty act. This covers roughly 83% of all birds in the US, and states that it is illegal to possess these birds, or their parts or products. This includes feathers that you might pick up from the ground. The majority of the birds not covered fall under the endangered species act. While the house sparrow is not protected under either act, many varieties of sparrow are. Since it is nearly impossible to differentiate one featherless nestling from the next, I prefer to err on the side of caution. Thanks again.
rmr! I have had to try to rescue baby bird on numerous occassions as my kids were forever bringing them home. We've only had a half anf half success rate.
I loved your hub. regards Zsuzsy
Zsuzsy, it doesn't surprise me that you have done this. Somehow I knew that you were a friend to all of God's creatures! Thanks for visiting my favorite hub!
Awe, such a big heart and interesting hub
Excellent information, rmr! We found a beautiful hawk that had been injured in Oklahoma. We called the logical authorities, but it was a nightmare. Finally, we got someone to take it. That bird was a beautiful creature. Any time we came near the box, it would puff out its feathers and make a hissing sound- very courageous despite the injury.
Wonderful article! I live here in Missouri, and Sparrows are considered a pest, and people are incouraged to detroy their nests and babies. They are one of the bird's here that is NOT protected by the Migratory Bird Act. The reason for this is because they destroy the other wild birds nests, etc.
However, i am an animal lover of all kinds! Mnay time, people here shoot Sparrows, just for fun, leaving behind their eggs and babies. I am always on the look out! I take in the eggs and babies, and raise them. When feeding them, i play a tape of Sparrow bird sounds, lol.
Thank you for the insight. My cat brought me a baby sparrow, so I don't know what tree it came from. It had most of it's wings but couldn't fly yet. It's feeding well, and I will try to get some blood worms. I'm assuming I could just get earthworms from the backyard? Since the bird already had feathers, will I be able to release it? Anyone know?
Earthworms are ok, if you don't use fertilizer on your lawn. You probably need to cut them up for a baby-sized beak, though. As far as releasing it, I suspect that depends upon the age, and extent of the injuries. Thanks for commenting.
thank you for all the information on the birds. my boys were outside playing and knocked over a nest. i put them back in and then i waited roughly 3 hours before realizing that mommy wasnt coming back. i did go to the petstore and bought food and now i am on the wonderful journey of getting these nestlings up to par and ready for release. i called around and no would take the poor things. so for the time being i have them in a box with a homeade nest and some clean hamster bedding and then under a light to help keep them warm because i dont have a heating pad. then in the morning god willing i will the routine will start again. thanks again
Thanks for the hub i found a baby bird which i think is a sparrow after seeing your guys photo it doesnt have many feathers since no one will take it i guess i got a new pet if it makes it. It has a pretty bad cut on one of its wings so prayer would be nice for anyone willing.
I found a baby sparrow that I shouldn't have picked up but didn't know any better. Now I'm wondering if he can be released by into the wild soon. He has a lot of feathers. I think they're almost all there. Can you tell me anything about what might happen next?
Dena, You probably should seek the advice of your local Humane society, or animal shelter. If it already had feathers when you found it, it may be able to be released. It could just have been a fledgling, attempting its first flight.
Thank you for the information. I raised wild birds when I was a teenager and had success and failures but I was younger. Last year I rescuded a morning dove. His mother was dead on the ground. After not being able to find a place to take him I feed him exact hand feeding formula for parrots. He is now a year old and lives with us as he imprinted himself on us. He wouldn't fly away no matter how much we tried. He would just fly and land on our head. He is a wonderful bird. About three weeks ago we had baby robins in our tree outside our window. Two hatched and flew away. About a week ago I found 3 baby birds on a rock in my mulch bed with no feathers on them. I couldn't find a nest. I took them in figureing they would die outside and probably not last the night as I never took care of anything that young besides my 4 kids. 8 days later all three are doing well. I took the nest from the robins that they were no longer using and put it in a flower pot in my house. Then a couple of days ago one learned to jump up on the edge of the nest then fly to the top of the flower pot. He escaped but we soon found him. Now they are in a aquarium that I raised the dove in. It has a screen top with a towel on the bottom and the nest is in there. I am only having contact when feeding as I want them to be wild birds. They never stop chirping the past two days and I must say it's anoying but I will continue to raise these litte birds untill they are ready for release. Is your site correct about them not being weened for 6 to 8 weeks. I feed them some little seed the other day but they didn't do great with it. They won't eat food just from a small container in there cage although I tried. Thank you for being a caring person and taking in the little bird when rehabers wouldn't.
we have had our sparrow (sophie) for coming up to 7 years and she is as much a member of the family as anyone else! we found her with her dead siblings after her nest had been got at by cats, we assume. she was so frail we didn't expect her to make it through the night but she's still here today plodding on!
So three days ago my baby sparrows started chirping constantly even when they are not hungry. Late at night after there last feeding they finally quiet down after I cover there nest with a face cloth and turn out the lights. Do they ever stop chirping? I was just wondering as they are driving me crazy a little bit but I will continue to raise them. I was just wondering if they ever stop chirping or if someone knows of something that will quiet them down some. Between them, my dove I rescueded last year and my cockatail it is noisy in my house nad the sparrows never stop.
Sorry Nancy, but my sparroww is several tears old now, and still VERY talkative. Sometimes I put his cage outside, and that seems to help, but he loves to communicate.
I sparrow may not be too bad but 3 can drive your nutty, but I love them and like I said before will continue to care for them. I'm hoping for release some day but we will see. That's what I wanted for my morning dove, doodle is it's name, but he didn't want to leave. Last night in our storm my morning dove flipped out in his cage at midnight and I notice his wing was caught in the cage. We got it's wing unstuck an took him out to fly around a little. He lost a couple of feathers in that wing and he has a small bump on it but he appears to still be able to fly and he doesn't appear to be in any pain. He more just likes to sit on your lap or hand. I make him fly at times as I think he needs to for exercise. Thanks for your info on the talkative sparrow. I'm glad you took in the little guy and gave him a great life. My sparrows are still very small. They are about the one inch long right now. Tails just starting to grow.
Hi, I just wanted to mention it is not illegal to keep three species of Non-native birds in captivity- the Pigeon (rock dove), the Common English house sparrow and the European starling. These introduced birds compete with our Native songbirds, and are considered pests. I had some Sparrows actually throw my Bluebirds eggs out of a nest box! But I, too, could not let the little Baby I found die either! Having raised Lovebirds by hand, I knew how to tell if the baby was in need of help. He didn't have all of his feathers and was ice cold- and thin with an empty crop. One of his siblings was dead on the floor about a foot away.
While I would like to release Jack- I can't see adding to this population in the wild- nor could I have surrendered him to be euthanized! He is bonding nicely to us and our Cockatiel!
It probably was attempting it's flight. It can fly from it's bowl to me but just loves to stay in the bowl (big basin) and hide under a towel. I'm living in China at the moment so no humane society to tell me what to do. I think I'll try releasing it after it can fly better. How do I do that?
I am sad to say that on the evening of June 11th one little baby sparrow died, the second one died on June 12 and the last one appeared to be doing great. However he died during the night last night. Like I said in earlier posts I raised baby birds and released them when I was younger. I raised a dove last year and still have it and did nothing different with these little sparrows. I had made a comment to my boyfriend that they got big so fast but then they were at a stand still. I had found them on a big rock so they probably fell a good distance. Maybe they had some injuries from that and just couldn't live anymore. I tried my best and although sad I feel as though I gave them a better short life then just leaving them on the rock hairless for the several cats in my neighborhood to eat them or for them to fry in the hot sun on the very hot rock. They are all laid to rest in a container of a face cloth with a cloth covering them and will be buried today. Thanks for the help with this site and the feed back I got.
we adopted a baby sparrow, roughly 4 weeks old, we have had him a couple of days now, he is doing really well, eating well ,making lots of noise and obviously enjoying our care, he is a very content little thing who has taken a liking to mashed potato!!!! im hoping we can give him the start in life he would never of had, he is lovely and seems very strong and determined, so fingers crossed, we will keep you informed of his progress xxxx
I too found just one. And yes, she is doing well. I've had her for two weeks and took her out side today. She definitely will be like drumstick. Do you keep him in a cage when you are not at home? I guess you take him out side to fly a little. I would very much like to converse with you as I am afraid when she is old enough to release her. She is very attached to me and my mother and if I have to keep her, I want to take good care of her.
Hi, good hub. it really helped me. I also have a sparrow and have had him since yesterday.
Hi :) My husband and I came across a baby bird a few weeks ago. It was just starting to get it's pin feathers in. We had a hard time figuring out if it was a sparrow or starling, but it is deffinitely old enough to be identified, lol. My question is now the little bugger is 22 days old (loves flying through the living room, lol) and quite the talker. Is there anyway that it could ever be released? It was about 10 days old when we got it. (it was on our patio when we came home one day. We left it out there for 4 hours, but then it started to rain. We made the decision to bring the little squirt in when the patio started flooding.)
Just wondering if I could ever let her go. :)
Great reading. We just found a little featherless sparrow. He's on day four of his emergency rescue. We found him and a sibling on the ground together and thought it might be best just to leave them. The small one didn't make it but in the morning the other one did, so we took it in. We harrassed a veterinarian with hundreds of questions and they recommended Gerber baby food-a mixture of meat, fruit and vegetables heated up a little warmer than lukewarm. He's already started growing feathers and seems to be thriving. I'm sorry to hear that he will have to be in captivity (sorry for him), we think he's delightful. Question--Will we be able to let him go outside and come back or will he fly away at his peril? We are all amazed that he's still alive. I know God answered my prayers.
For all you people who just found a sparrow. I can only tell you this much. I have heard and experienced for myself that if you just have one wild bird of anytype they imprint on you. They don't have any other birds to see as one of them so they see themself as one of you. Usually they can not be released into the wild if you have just one baby bird. However if you are a animal lover and you can allow them to come out of there cage once in awhile and fly around the house they make great pets and enjoy your company. My morning dove that I have had for a year likes to take just a little fly then land on mine or someone else's head in the house and then just sit on us on our finger or leg. The dove has been known to even land on the dog and catch a ride on it's back as my dog is looking like get this thing off of me. My dog is very good with my bird. Good luck raising your little guy and enjoy him
i mentioned last week about our little sparrow rescue, i am pleased to say he or she is doing really well, seems to growing really quickly and is also trying to take flight with no joy as yet,poor soul. could someone give me some tips as to what i could feed him now he is getting bigger, i think i should start introducing something other than soaked dog biscuits but im not to sure what, any advice will be greatly appreciated, thanku xxx
If you go back and read the hub, I gave a brief outline of feeding a bird at this age. Sparrows are basically insectivores, but as they get older, they may enjoy seeds, and some fruits. There are other resources available online if you do a little research. I hope that helps.
th anku for your help, i look forward to trying him with new things, he is a little piglet so it shouldnt be too hard, thanx again xxx
RmR. I Love your Hub. Great Work.
Hello, I am a new owner of a baby sparrow. We had to adopt it because the nest was destroyed and all of the babies died except "Spike" our sparrow...It has been two and a half weeks and he is just flying and is very active..He loves our family therefore we can not release him,,,We are quite sure he has imprinted on us...I found help with Starling Talk website and the moderators we very helpful....thank you for posting your story..Every bit of information helps with our new journey..Sincerely Sharyn and Spike. :o)
rmr
do you have any recent pictures of drumstick? i didn't know that sparrows could be that adorable!!
ProCW
I have also enjoyed many experiences raising wild birds. Once a common house wren when I was young that did leave the next and actually came back the following spring to say Hi. I was outside and it landed right beside me and I touched it. Didn't see it again after that, but it was really nice knowing it has survived.
As an adult I have raisied many starlings. The really hated bird but when a baby needs help, I don't care. I succeeded in raising them most of the time and they also left the nest. I contribute my success rate to the fact they love to eat. Would wake me up in the morning screaming for food. Once they got so big, I would take an empty milk carton and cut out a hole in it. Then place dried grass and a bit of the towel they had grown up with in their nest. We would hang the carton outside to start thier freedom trip. I remember one of our birds yelling at me early the morning of his first night outside. He was upset. I would then leave them on their own, place tidbits of bologna around where I knew they would find it to be sure they weren't hungry. Eventually the birds left home. I have a video of one of them sitting on my shoulder while I was talking on the phone outside. It's a wonderful memory.
Thanks for your wonderful article that brought back some great memories.
Barb
I always enjoy hearing about the success of others with these poor birds. I have always said, nuisance or not, they are still God's creatures, and deserve a fighting chance.
ProCW, I'll see what I can do about updating the hub with new photos.
2 days back I found a baby sparrow on the ground he was fully grown baby. when i found him he didn't fove or try to run I watched him from a distance about 50 ft, I was there about 2 hours I didn't see any sign of its mother as it was getting dark i brought that baby with me, to my wonder he was no struggling to escape of show any sign of distress. next day early in morning about 5 am I fed him with bread crumbs and took him out to the area where i found him. and put him on the branch . i wass happy to see him fly and joining his group.
Excellent, thorough advice. I've rescued a couple of injured birds in my time, but they have never survived. If it ever happens again, I'll know what to do!
Me too, Marisa. The kids and our cats always seemed to be finding a variety of baby birds that were abandoned or injured. Guess I'm a bad bird doctor, none that needed help survived that I can recall. Most of the time, if they were feathered and didn't have any apparent injuries, we would leave them be. Often, they were gone by the time we checked back a few hours later. The really young babies though, I wasn't much help for, I'm afraid. Same thing for my son's lizard. Guess I'll stay out of medicine.
Great hub, rmr.
Great hub, I had a friend who kept a crow that was injured, it was considerable work but that bird did listen to her, although at times he was a hell-raiser.
"it will need to be hand fed every 20 minutes"
No wonder a nestling I tried to rescue when I was small didn't survive.
This is great information. Thanks.
do we feed them with dry bread pieces efter softing them with water .?
how much time duration for water demand ?
I found a sparrow baby and he/she is doing well - this is week 3 and I am presuming it was a 5-7 days when I found it. It only had tube feathers. From reading the site and my experience with this little fellow, it is apparent that he has bonded with me. I am ready to accept the responsibility for his captive life, but would like to introduce a friend. What type of "tame" bird would you suggest. I read the entire hub and someone mentioned a cockatiel. My little guy is about 4" and has just this week developed his tail feathers. Any suggestions?
Thank you for documenting your sparrow rescue. This is the first that hasn't ended in tradgedy for me. God Bless.
abrar, it depends on how old your bird is. We hand fed ours with EXACT hand feeding formula, and it worked well.
Foxcorgi, adding a friend can be dicey. Sparrows can become quite territorial. I tried putting a plastic toy bird in with ours. He attacked it, immediately. Eventually, I put a mirror in the cage, and he seems to accept his own image as a friend.
I'm sorry if your taking
this comment as "rude" i might say
but why the heck..would you raise a bird.
Sorry if this was..uhm rude =l
Xotinyyxo, I always try to help those in need. When we found this bird, he was nearly dead. All of his nestmates were dead, and the nest was destroyed. We simply couldn't turn our backs.
Sorry I have forgot to describe the actual age of my sparrow bird.It came out from the egg two days ago its mother sparrow struck in celing fan and died 7 days ago.Actually I want to separate the nest from the exhaust fan.Exahust fan is very essential in the summer season particularly in the jun and july.I had no idea in my mind that there would be a bird in the nest in the Exhaust fan chamber.She rushed out side and struck in the celing fan and died.I am feeling very sorry after that time.I put the nest out and settled it under a tree.there was three egg in the nest. After two days there was one baby in the nest.
xotinyyxo Why would someone raise a baby bird. It's called compassion. I have raised many baby birds who have flown off in the past and now I have a morning dove that I have had for a year. Some people out there just have no compasion in this world. They have just as much right to live as humans do rather or not they are wild. Have you seen some humans in this world that roam the streets and do more damage then any bird could ever do. Even if your not a bird lover it is comapasion not to see a animal suffer so yes I took your comment as being rude. If you don't like birds or want to rescue them then stay off sites like this. This site is not for rude or riduculous comments. Sorry to all you bird lovers but that comment really upset me.
Hi,
I found a baby sparrow where I work laying on a slab of hot cement. I figured it was was only a day old. the sparrow nests are about 2 stories up so it couldn't be put back into a nest. The first couple of days were trial and error on how to feed it plus lots of worring. We finally went and bought kaytee Exact formula. I am so glad we did. The baby bird named Blueberry is now thriving on this. My 3 boys and I are committed to caring for this little bird and know it will not be able to be released into the wild. The imprinting has begun as its eyes opened when it was 5 days old. It is recognizing that we are the ones who provide its food. Its wing and tail feathers are getting longer and I can see where feathers have begun to grow on its head and back. I was worried about its legs but it has recently started to shakely stand on them. I have a few questions. How long will I feed the formula to the baby bird? Should I start feeding it the Kaytee Exact conversion and weanind diet? If so, when should I start that particular Kaytee conversion foodd. I read on the Drs. Foster and Smith site about the food When it is old enough to eat seed, do I just buy good quality wild bird seed that had seeds fruits and nuts in the bird seed? I don;t want my Blueberry to eat cheap seed. I figure it will also need grit. After its big enough to go into a cage, can I buy it Finch or Parakeet toys? When can I introduce toys and other safe items to keep it entertained? Seeing its a Sparrow, do we have to worry about how warm its to be inside our house during the long winter months when it is fully feathered and in its own cage. Our house is usually around 70 degrees year round. Right now its in our homemade incubator and loving it. Our little Blueberry is already spoiled and has become a wonderful pet for our family. I just want him to have a happy and healthy long life with us. I would any advice.
jorgensen, please refer to the paragraph, above, titled Weaning. It it not the only explanation available, but it worked for me. once they're weaned,seeds are good but, sparrows need the proteins from insects, as well. Mine also goes crazy for millet.
rmr
I left my first comment right after I found "Ms Piggy". She loves her cage - so much so, if you try to take her out, she just won't have it! We still feed her however, she is beginning to peck. I put a couple of feeders I bought at the pet food store in the cage with her - she doesn't seem to like that or bright colors. She had begun to eat some seeds and freeze dried crickets. I started leaving small pieces of apple and plum hanging inside the cage with a chip clip. She LOVES the apple however, in her jumping and playing (feeding is a game), she backed up to the wet, sticky fruit and it got all in her tail. Her tail looks wet and is stiff. I tried putting water on it (she does not want to take a "birdie bath" yet. As a matter of fact, it looks like one has broken off. She is very happy, playful and talkative but I am not sure what to do. One is broken and I don't want the others to break however, nothing I have tried is working. Her tail feathers now look like long, thin dark sticks. I have tried researching this on the internet to no avail - any suggestions on what to do or who to ask??
Paula, don't worry too much about the tail. Ours had the same issue, and it worked itself out. As far as bathing, if you leave some water in the cage, it will bathe, when it feels the need. I have also misted ours, with a spray bottle. He seemed to enjoy it.
If you are giving yours fruit, you may want to do a little research. I seem to remember reading that some fruits may be toxic to them. Ours likes white grapes. We cut them in half, so he can get at the soft flesh.
As for the cage, everyone tells me that I have to let Drumstick fly around whenever I can. Well, I've tried. He actually did, once. But, usually, he just beats a quick path back inside. I did hang a small nest inside the cage, and he loves that!
Thanks for the information. I assumed since every recipe has applesauce, the apples wouldn't hurt. She seems to love peaches as well. I am not good at this internet thing - where did you find the research??
I sincerely appreciate your reply - do you think I can continue with the apples and peaches?
http://www.starlingtalk.com/ is where I got started. Over the years, I have visited too many websites to remember, but this one is probably the best.
It is refreshing to see so many animal lovers.
I've never raised a baby bird but the 1 dove, 2 robins and a seagull all got well. The dove and robins were around for the season and the seagull stuck around for almost 2 years. He would show up in the yard about sundown everyday.
Health Conscious, thanks for reading! With the incredible amount of diversity at hubpages, animals and animal lovers seem to be a common theme. It's just one more reason to love it, here!
i have a bird. its been injured. and i need helpp? its young
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If it's injured, your best option is to seek a shelter, or veterinarian. Without knowing the nature, or extent of the injuries, I can't tell you much more than that.
rmr
Got a reply from you a couple of days ago about Ms. Piggy's tail - did drumstick loose some feathers as well? I have noticed she is loosing a few feathers.
Yup. He lost a few feathers. It all worked out, though.
My little Sparrow Blueberry is now 2 weeks old. I am so glad we have the weeks behind us. The first week was so full of worry. I am so proud of myself, when I was at work last week, I didn't call home to see how Blueberry was doing. My boys have all pitched in to care for the little bird. blueberry is almost completly covered with feathers. I'm thinking my Sparrow is a little girl. The markings and coloring so fare resemble a female. Unless thats how all the young sparrows look. I just moved Blueberry from the ice cream bucket nest to a 10"x15" rubbermaid container with a mesh cover. The sides are about 8 inches high. Last evening was her first night in the new home and she huddled in a corner surrounded by paper towels and tissues. I have about an inch or tow of Aspen on the bottom. This morning she was exploring more and playing with the toys. I have a small bird ladder laying down so Blueberry can get use to grasping the ladder rungs with her feet. She still seems to have a leg and foot problem. I am still feeding her the Kaytee formula from a syringe and have a jar cover finch seed in and also a millet sprig hanging in the new home. I'm not sure when to offer water yet. Maybe this week as I am on vacation and can concentrate on caring for Blueberry and possibly weaning her from the formula. she sure is having fun trying to fly and was playing on a towel this morning. she was acting like she was having a sand bath as I've seen the wild Sparrows do in our driveway. I'm going to get Blueberry some play sand and make a small sand box for her. My friend from work who is an expert on birds gave me a beautiful cage and accessories for Blueberry. She is the one who gave me the little home Blueberry is in now. Its so nice to have someone I can talk to about birds. I really needed her advice these past 2 weeks. So all looks good for Blueberry. I just love being able to hold her and her hear chirps when I walk in the house after work. Life is finally calm and good around here with Blueberry in our lives.
I absolutely love your hub. My family and I saved a blue jay growing up and had it for almost a year. I now imagine it flying in the trees with all of its friends. :)
Thank you so much for your insight. I am a veterinary nurse and have been for nearly 10 years. Birds are much different than cats and dogs. lol! I have been very blessed while hand raising orphaned birds of many kinds, doves, pigeons,chickens, scrub jays, and of course sparrows. However, I had never thought to check out the internet to make sure a release is the right thing to do> I assumed, and we all know what that does, that they would probably be ok, although I did worry about them fending for themselves. We usually keep the doves and pigeons, they imprint to readily, but it seemed that the "wild"birds would be best off by allowing them to be free. So we take them to this beautiful park that has plenty of shelter, food, ponds and gorgeous trees. I wish I would have read these hubs and websites before! I feel horrible about releasing my other babys and hope that they had their little guardian angels watching out for them. I have a "house" sparrow, they all look so much alike, I think she is female , I named her Jack so she could easily be called jackie> :) I have lost track of time, but she/he is eating seed and not asking for food from me as much as she use to. I use Kaytee bird formula for all my babies, works great for me. well for them...I tried to only have contact when feeding her and would not let the rest of the family, two legged or four legged come around so that she would not be accustomed to them. She knows who I am and flutters her wings but still gets very nervous if I try to put my hand in her cage to put in seed or change her water. So I am very torn, It breaks my heart that she will never experience flying out in the open, I can't let her fly around in the house she would hurt herself or the 4 legged critters would. Should I make her more accustomed to me and the family so that she does not appear so affraid or "spooked" by us??? I want to do what is best for her and if that means keeping her then I will but I want her to be happy. We have 20 acres, but there are cats and hawks out here, I am afraid she would not make it here. I cannot take a cage to the park and set it up for her to come and go until she is ready, if ever, because, well it is a park. I also live in the Central Valley in California and it gets extremely hot here. 112 a few weeks ago, bit of a cooling trend lately low to mid 90s, but it is creeping back up to the triple digits, that was one of the big reasons I had not released her yet. I did not realize that other sparrows might also be mean to her> how do we know that??? is there someone who watches and studies this??? lol! anyway I guess I just need reasurrance that I am doing the right thing by keeping her> She is not loveable like it appears that some are, I am sure because I have tried to have minimal contact. Please offer your suggestions, I made a promise to let her go if she made it and now I may have to go back on that. Thank you so much for your time. You have inspired me to start a hub of my own on hand feeding orphaned kittens and puppies and the special precautions that need to be learned about these special kids. God bless you! It is very refreshing to see how many people feel like I do about any living creature. I too have heard my share of negativity regarding animals in my career, such as the comment above asking why would you take care of a bird, I have learned that education and compassion towards these wayword people works best. An animal will touch their heart at some point in their lives and then they will understand what we already know! Prayers and blessings to all of you and the babies you are caring for.
Need help urgently! I was thrilled to discover this forum! My husband & I, both extreme animal lovers, are apparently in good company with many other fellow 'baby bird magnets'! My husband works at a mountain golf course...lots of trees, lots of opportunities for baby birds to be left orphaned as a result of the many predators in the area, such as birds of prey, coyotes & cats.
In the last two years we successfully hand-fed & raised an orphaned baby band-tailed pigeon, Ferdinand to incredibly handsome maturity & recently found ourselves (in the same week!) the lucky adopted parents of TWO orphaned baby birds, an itsy bitsy, all-attitude hatchling sparrow, we named Stripe, from the movie 'Gremlins' (sparrow parents can relate!) & a precious, dainty hatchling dove, Periwinkle.
We can relate to EVERY experience all of you have shared here! Trying to do what we thought was right by saving the babies, we learned the hard way that not only do we imprint on the precious baby birds, but the harder part is they imprint on our hearts. We've been told by pet store 'experts', bird breeders & avian vets that once a bird is hand-fed it cannot be released back into the wild because it won't be able to fend for itself. So now, our happy family, which includes our beautiful 20 year-old chihuahua princess, 5 stray cats, an orphaned mouse & a band-tailed pigeon, is growing again!
But we have a problem we hope one of you wonderful bird parents can help us with without our having to resort to morgaging the house for avian vet bills!
The baby sparrow is now about 3 1/2-4 weeks old, active, feathered & starting to fly. Less than a week ago we noticed what seemd to be a slight red line under where his feathers meet the top of his beak, I think it's called the 'cere' area. Then about 4 days ago he developed a white bump next to his nostril on the top of the beak that bled slightly. We panicked, checking the internet for possible causes. One of the possible causes suggested an injury from hand feeding. We had been syringe feeding him formula with a tiny 1cc size syringe & were very gentle & careful, so we thought we could rule out that.
It seemed to start to get better, then it swelled up again. When he rubs it on the perch it sometimes bleeds slightly, but it definitely appears to be more of a nodule or tiny cyst, similiar to a white-head, than an injury. With the baby being so tiny, this bump appears huge on him, causing us a great deal of anxiety.
We're worried it could be those damaging mites some baby birds are born with. In an effort to do SOMETHING, we clean it with a cotton swab & put a dab of Neosporin antibiotic ointment on it. We've also started to administer a very, very small dose of Albon avian antibiotic we had from another bird in case we're dealing with an infection of some sort. Except for this distressing beak boo-boo he seems happy, alert & has a VERY healthy appetite! Has anyone raising baby sparrows (birds in general) heard of or seen anything like this??
We'd so appreciate any help at all with this.
To RMC, hello. I just have to say I chuckled with your baby's name, because it is so very true. Anyway, as a vet tech. for a small animal hospital I deal with mostly dogs and cats, some rodents and a cicken once in a while. The one thing that I do know is a birds appetite is the most important thing for us to monitor. A bird that is not eating, as one vet put it, is a dead bird. It sounds like Stripe has a great appetite. I would be careful with the albon, but keeping that area clean and applying neosporin is a good thing. I will check with one of the vets I work with and get back to you on this, but you are doing a great job already. It could just be irritated by him rubbing that area. "Jack" or "Jackie" has started to do that quite a bit when I feed her, she seems to hate the bird formula on her beak. She is eating seed, but still asks for her handfeedings, but the 3cc's has turned to 1cc and she wipes her beak as if she is no longer happy with the cook. lol! I too feed her with a 1cc syringe and it never touches the outside of her beak. The other thing that it could be is if he is starting to fly is he pushing his beak up against the wires of the cage? Well I wish you the very best and I will do my best to get an answer as soon as possible for you. God bless you and all your furry and feathered friends.
Thank you for stepping in, animalnurse. I haven't experienced that particular issue, yet.
Wow. Alot of information I never knew. My husband rescued a baby squirrel that fell out of the tree. We named him Curyly (the squirly). He died and we cried. Sorry for the ryhme.
Thank you! Thank you, animalnurse! We've been losing sleep checking round-the-clock on baby Stripe.
The reassurance & knowledgeable support you so compassionationety shared gave us a much needed sense of relief. Your validation of our efforts was priceless & we'll thankfully await any further vet info you may have. We'll actually get some sleep tonight thanks to you!
I can't begin to tell you what your thoughts regarding our efforts meant for our peace of mind. The ongoing Neosporin 'dabs' 2-3 times-per-day seem to be helping. I've also continued to give Stripe less than .25 cc's of Albon until otherwise advised. As of tonight, he doesn't seem to be experiencing any negative effects from it. Baby dove, Periwinkle is also happily thriving & doesn't yet appear to have any similiar symptoms as Stripe, yet we're still seriously concerned about these horrible knemidokoptic mites we've read about on the internet (I sure wish we hadn't! double yuck!).
My husband suggested I mention to you the fact that when we first noticed the tiny red (blood?) line on the right side, under Stripe's upper beak, he was still in his little solid plastic 'incubator'. You know, those bright colored containers pet stores sell for small furry animals. It was extra padded with a nest & bedding, so he had not been exposed to the bars or wires of a cage yet. It's possible our little wild man flailed around & conked himself at some point, though! The slightly bloody bump was already present when we transferred Stripe to a larger regular cage, since he's spreading his wings this last week...beak bump & all!! It continues to ooze very slightly but also appears to be trying to scab over (cautiously optimistic!). It has not gotten any larger or worse. Prayers sent...fingers crossed...guardian bird angels on duty!
Please know, your reassuring comment regarding one vet's experience concerning a bird's appetite was so unbelievably comforting. Stripe continues to chirp...eat...play...eat... fly...eat...sleep...eat...& eat some more!!!
The vet you work with is a lucky doctor indeed to have you. In my experience, whether we're dealing with human or animal doctors, the nurses are as incredibly important as the doctor themselves.
Thank you, our own wonderful Florence 'Nightengale' for taking to the time to reach out to two very concerned bird parents!
working
Mark Knowles says:
3 months ago
Awesome hub. I didn't know it was illegal to keep a wild bird in captivity though. And that sort of imples there are "tame" birds that you can keep. I didn't know there were tame birds either. :D