Baby Sparrow - Rescue

Violet_Diva

Member
Aug 30, 2016
843
Media
6
Albums
1
19
Norfolk (England)
Parrots
Bella (Vosmaeri Eclectus Female) + Dexter (Red Sided Eclectus Male) + Gerry (Vosmaeri Eclectus Male)
A couple of days ago, our outdoor cat brought us the gift of a deceased mauled fledgling :(

Yesterday I was in London for some training for work. On the way back on the train, my partner messaged me to tell me he had the sibling sparrow in his possession as he'd found it in the alleyway (note: alleyway full of cats). So rather than leave the poor thing to be mauled to death, he brought it in, and put it in the top part of our vegetable steamer (like a little plastic box). He knew he shouldn't really bring it into the house because of the parrots, so swiftly took it upstairs. He Googled what to feed it.

I came home to find a small tub of cat meat floating in water in with the bird, luckily it didn't drown! I told him that Google meant soak biscuits to make them soft (so at least he knows should something like this arise in future). I didn't have any hand feeding formula and the only small seeds I had were sesame. The little bird showed no interest in the seeds. As it was late evening when I got home, I put the bird to bed inside a box with a t-shirt in the bottom, couldn't find the heat pad, so just had the windows closed all night to try to bring the room temp up.

In the morning, I took the bird to work with me and left it upstairs with a small heater pointing at one corner of the box to bring their temperature up. I went into town on my break, bought a boiled egg from the cafe and proceeded to attempt to feed warm chunks to the baby. I tried with swooping tweezers, pinched fingers. Baby was having none of it. Played a YouTube clip with the sound of baby sparrows being fed in the background, again, not interested. By this time, the bird hadn't eaten for at least 18 hours as it was picked up by my partner at 6pm, and it was now getting on for 2pm the following day!

I ended up having to hold the bird in one hand and be a bit more forceful to ensure they got fed! About a kidney bean sized amount of boiled eggwhite got down it in the end! The crop was visible and shapely. So I left the bird in the warm box. It was tricky trying to judge how much to feed, this bird was puny! I'm used to pigeon squabs, not teeny tiny micro birdies! I was so worried I'd overstretch the crop. I kept checking on the baby during work, and each time it seemed more and more lively with the crop reducing in size! :)

At the end of the day, my lovely colleague drove me to the nearest wildlife rescue for the birdy to be raised and released!

Mission successful!



Please note,
Intervention in this instance was only because this bird would have definitely been mauled to death in the location it was in. At this age, all they can do is jump, which to the alley cats, looks like a fun toy :(
If you find a baby bird, leave it on the ground to be fed by visiting parents, only remove the bird from its location if it is in immediate danger and you are able to take it to a suitable rescue facility.
 

BirdGeeks

New member
Mar 26, 2018
153
Media
9
1
U.S
Parrots
Pita (Goffins Cockatoo) Misha, Cass and Sammy,Crowley and Ruby(Budgies),Tango the Mango(Sun Conure)
I'm so glad you helped the little guy/girl! Even sparrows matter :)
 

texsize

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Oct 23, 2015
3,899
Media
5
4,794
so-cal
Parrots
1 YNA (Bingo)
1 OWA (Plumas R.I.P.)
1 RLA (Pacho R.I.P.)
2 GCA(Luna,Merlin) The Twins
1 Congo AG (Bella)
5 Cockatiels
Thank you for taking in this little guy.
I wish I had been as successful with the baby raven that ended up in my back yard.

No one in my area was willing to take it in for rehabilitation or care of any kind.

texsize.
 
OP
Violet_Diva

Violet_Diva

Member
Aug 30, 2016
843
Media
6
Albums
1
19
Norfolk (England)
Parrots
Bella (Vosmaeri Eclectus Female) + Dexter (Red Sided Eclectus Male) + Gerry (Vosmaeri Eclectus Male)
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #4
I'm so glad you helped the little guy/girl! Even sparrows matter :)
In my opinion, a life is a life!
I try to help stepped on snails if I can, and killing flies and spiders at my place of work has been banned by me :D
 
OP
Violet_Diva

Violet_Diva

Member
Aug 30, 2016
843
Media
6
Albums
1
19
Norfolk (England)
Parrots
Bella (Vosmaeri Eclectus Female) + Dexter (Red Sided Eclectus Male) + Gerry (Vosmaeri Eclectus Male)
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
Thank you for taking in this little guy.
I wish I had been as successful with the baby raven that ended up in my back yard.

No one in my area was willing to take it in for rehabilitation or care of any kind.

texsize.
It's a shame about the raven. I'm lucky about living in Norfolk, it's countryside, so lots of nature around. I did controversially go to the RSPCA wildlife rescue. I don't agree with all policies of the RSPCA in general, but a healthy wild sparrow fledgling stands a very good chance with them. Unfortunately grey squirrels on the other hand would be euthanised, whereas a red squirrel would have surgery to have pins correct a broken leg. In my personal opinion it's squirrel racism!

Your post has inspired me to make this thread
http://www.parrotforums.com/rescue-centres/75259-wild-bird-rescue-your-area.html
 
Last edited:

AmyMyBlueFront

Well-known member
Apr 14, 2015
6,315
Media
4
3,034
Connecticut
Parrots
Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
I'm so glad you helped the little guy/girl! Even sparrows matter :)

When I was thirteen my neighbor found a little English sparrow even smaller that yours,and coz I was into birds she brought him to me to "help"
Mom made a couple calls to a vet or two..long story short,that little guy lived and thrived and was every ones friend
One day I took him outside and I sat in a chair reading as he walked about eating grubs and such..Little did I know (or see) the neighbors CAT saw him too and had him in his mouth before I could react :11:
The poor thing died from a heart attack,being scared to death!
A few weeks later,the cat got it's due when a car hit him as he crossed the street. Was I sad about it??? NO not really!


Jim
 

LordTriggs

New member
May 11, 2017
3,427
24
Surrey, UK
Parrots
Rio (Yellow sided conure) sadly no longer with us
the RSPCA aren't great but if they're what's there then they do help

in regards to grey squirrels it's because they're an invasive species that nearly wiped out the red squirrel whose numbers whilst rising are incredibly low with around 140'000 last time records were updated. A minuscule number compared the grey's 2.5 million in the UK alone
 
OP
Violet_Diva

Violet_Diva

Member
Aug 30, 2016
843
Media
6
Albums
1
19
Norfolk (England)
Parrots
Bella (Vosmaeri Eclectus Female) + Dexter (Red Sided Eclectus Male) + Gerry (Vosmaeri Eclectus Male)
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
I'm so glad you helped the little guy/girl! Even sparrows matter :)

When I was thirteen my neighbor found a little English sparrow even smaller that yours,and coz I was into birds she brought him to me to "help"
Mom made a couple calls to a vet or two..long story short,that little guy lived and thrived and was every ones friend
One day I took him outside and I sat in a chair reading as he walked about eating grubs and such..Little did I know (or see) the neighbors CAT saw him too and had him in his mouth before I could react :11:
The poor thing died from a heart attack,being scared to death!
A few weeks later,the cat got it's due when a car hit him as he crossed the street. Was I sad about it??? NO not really!


Jim
Maybe karma? I feel bad for both the bird and the cat!
 
OP
Violet_Diva

Violet_Diva

Member
Aug 30, 2016
843
Media
6
Albums
1
19
Norfolk (England)
Parrots
Bella (Vosmaeri Eclectus Female) + Dexter (Red Sided Eclectus Male) + Gerry (Vosmaeri Eclectus Male)
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
the RSPCA aren't great but if they're what's there then they do help

in regards to grey squirrels it's because they're an invasive species that nearly wiped out the red squirrel whose numbers whilst rising are incredibly low with around 140'000 last time records were updated. A minuscule number compared the grey's 2.5 million in the UK alone

Thanks for the stats LordTriggs. I hadn't really looked into the numbers, so that was interesting.

In all honesty I understand their reasoning, but in my opinion, human beings are a pretty invasive species that wipe out nearly everything they come into contact with, and most other animals are fewer number than us, so by the same reasoning, humans would rate quite low on the 'justification scale'... :D
 

Mariar

Well-known member
May 9, 2014
1,021
169
Clearwater Florida but grew up in Wisconsin
Parrots
Doolie,Yellow nape amazon(r.i.p.03/10/15)
Sissy,severe macaw(rescued on 03-16-15) chirpy,sparrow(beak less) jack,Jill,chase,fiona,finch, and tiger,sulfer crested(rescued 04/15/20
I have a sparrow.Back on july i posted about the one I rescued and her lower beak fell off. My intentions were to release her. After alot of restless nights.and bringing chirpy to the restaurant with me...she learned to eat and drink on her own...she even eats seeds. Becuz of the lack of beak..her tongue split and she sings and mimics sissy..the mini macaw all day long.we even put a finch in her enclosure...to help her be a bird..awsome little creatures. No stone unturned..no animal left behind.
 

Attachments

  • 20170726_113523.jpg
    20170726_113523.jpg
    89.8 KB · Views: 74
  • 20170803_104713.jpg
    20170803_104713.jpg
    80.5 KB · Views: 107
  • 20170921_151118.jpg
    20170921_151118.jpg
    94.8 KB · Views: 76

Mdjandt

New member
May 16, 2018
53
0
Oh how wonderful!!! When I was a child I would walk my dog, with my budgie Halo on my shoulder, searching for baby birds who fell out of the nest. Oh the wildlife rescue loved me! Lol. They ended up giving me a basket for my travels and happily picked up any birdies I’d found. Hehe. My mother hated it but my dad didn’t mind it too much... he knew I was a humanitarian when I made him release all of the fish we caught after one long day fishing.

When in high school, I had a cat who brought me live animals. Always alive. He brought me home a grown sparrow. It had to be nursed back to health so I set up a cage and got him food. He eventually got better and released.

You both did an incredible job! So glad you didn’t leave it there to be mauled by the alley cats.
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top