Behavior Of A Sparrow

[zERo]

I thought it would be cool to make a thread for Milly and record/explain her behaviors and how I care for her and what seems to work/what doesn’t etc.
I think it will also be interesting to show her interactions with the parrots when she is introduced to them.
This will probably 6 months or more down the road.
I’ll get into her care later, right now, her behavior!

This is a picture so you can’t hear it! But she’s making what I call curious peeping, she doesn’t do this often, mostly when she sees my phone or a new toy/food.

She enjoys, sigh, aggressive skin preening! If there is a piece of skin around your fingernails, she is removing it! Period!

I don’t have a pic of her hormonal dance but she only has done it directed at my dad, she reeeeally likes him!
She turns into a fluffy ball, flutters her wings rapidly, and makes rapid peeping.

I’ll go into her care and what she eats when I have time!

 

[zERo]

I’ll talk mostly about her care now,.

Her cage is 30in. L, 18in. W, 18in H.
Not a huge cage but it suits her needs.

She can jump 6-10in high is she can reach higher perches.
I have 2 platforms for her, and 1 corner platform. She has a swing that she attacks but won’t stand on.
She has a non-fuzzy but she doesn’t go in
She has other perches too.
I swap out many of them probably monthly but it seems to bother her.

Her diet is simple, I offer her a large variety but she’s pretty selective.
She won’t eat chop, but I offer it daily anyway.
The only veg she eat is greens, she LOVEs mustard green and kale.
She eats 5-6 mealworms daily.
I leave Dr. Harvey’s finch mix for her 24/7, she mostly just eats the different millet kinds, red, Japanese, and gold.
She has egg food often too, but I can’t tell if she eats it.
Most recently, I’ve started putting a dish of crushed egg shell in her cage, I can’t tell if she’s eating it or just throwing it
I also added a cuttlebone.

I keep a 50 ceramic heat lamp on for her all the time too.

I keep her supplied with toys too, she likes to toss crinkle paper around, and shred vine shapes the most.

Yep, she’s not too hard to care for! I hope I’m doing it right!

 

[LaManuka]

Awwwwwww, I love Milly, she's such a little sweetie! And I like your description of her "aggressive skin preening" of you, I think that's what Lovejoy does to me too

I wonder if she might prefer a little seagrass hut to hide out in, rather than the "non fuzzy" version that you mention? I have one like this for Lovejoy, it originally belonged to Lilly who was THE most hormonally overactive hen in the world ever, but it triggered no egg laying or any broody response at all in her. Lovejoy doesn't use it as much as Lilly did, she used to sleep in or on top of hers whereas he will often retreat into it if he hears one of the outside birds start up an alarm call. I do think that some little birds like to have somewhere they can tuck themselves away for some privacy or a nap sometimes, though you do have to monitor to ensure they don't get TOO unhealthily enthusiastic about them!

 

[zERo]

Awwwwwww, I love Milly, she's such a little sweetie! And I like your description of her "aggressive skin preening" of you, I think that's what Lovejoy does to me too

I wonder if she might prefer a little seagrass hut to hide out in, rather than the "non fuzzy" version that you mention? I have one like this for Lovejoy, it originally belonged to Lilly who was THE most hormonally overactive hen in the world ever, but it triggered no egg laying or any broody response at all in her. Lovejoy doesn't use it as much as Lilly did, she used to sleep in or on top of hers whereas he will often retreat into it if he hears one of the outside birds start up an alarm call. I do think that some little birds like to have somewhere they can tuck themselves away for some privacy or a nap sometimes, though you do have to monitor to ensure they don't get TOO unhealthily enthusiastic about them!

View attachment 49687

I love her too! And I love Lovejoy! He’s such a handsome guy!
I admit though, skin preening is never fun!

I’ve thought about getting her one of those, but I almost think her head could fit in the holes?
I’m not sure, I have a few mats so I could make one but I’ll have to see if the holes are small enough first.
She’d probably like to shred it!

 

[LaManuka]

Ooooohhh good point about getting her head stuck! I just had a look at Lovejoy's and there are a few spots where that sort of thing might just happen with a tiny wee bird like Milly, I keep forgetting just how little she is!

 

[zERo]

Ooooohhh good point about getting her head stuck! I just had a look at Lovejoy's and there are a few spots where that sort of thing might just happen with a tiny wee bird like Milly, I keep forgetting just how little she is!

I wish she was more budgie sized! I’m hoping to train her to stand in the scale so I can see how much she weighs. She can’t have the smallest Birdie bagels to play with either.

 

[zERo]

Here’s her chop with mealworms.

She’s started taking seeds from my hand, if I don’t hand her the kinds she likes she bites me!

She dispatches the worms immediately

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Here’s her chop with mealworms.
View attachment 49784
She’s started taking seeds from my hand, if I don’t hand her the kinds she likes she bites me!
View attachment 49785View attachment 49786
She dispatches the worms immediately
View attachment 49787

Those mealworms look yummy- are they live?

 

[zERo]

Those mealworms look yummy- are they live?

Yep! I go to a local pet store for them.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Yep! I go to a local pet store for them.

She must LOVE them! I bought a few hundred live ones on Amazon once for the outdoor wild birds and it was amazing how they went nutso over them! Chickadees and woodpeckers would swoop in and fill their beaks full and fly off to feed them to their kids. Kind of a strange thing to store in the fridge, however.

 

[zERo]

She must LOVE them! I bought a few hundred live ones on Amazon once for the outdoor wild birds and it was amazing how they went nutso over them! Chickadees and woodpeckers would swoop in and fill their beaks full and fly off to feed them to their kids. Kind of a strange thing to store in the fridge, however.

Oh yeah I bet wild birds love them too!
I’ve got a designated meal worm shelf

 

[LaManuka]

She’s started taking seeds from my hand, if I don’t hand her the kinds she likes she bites me!

Tee hee, sounds like she's training you very well, love it!!

 

[HSRivney]

I’ll talk mostly about her care now,.

Her cage is 30in. L, 18in. W, 18in H.
Not a huge cage but it suits her needs.

She can jump 6-10in high is she can reach higher perches.
I have 2 platforms for her, and 1 corner platform. She has a swing that she attacks but won’t stand on.
She has a non-fuzzy but she doesn’t go in
She has other perches too.
I swap out many of them probably monthly but it seems to bother her.
View attachment 49683
Her diet is simple, I offer her a large variety but she’s pretty selective.
She won’t eat chop, but I offer it daily anyway.
The only veg she eat is greens, she LOVEs mustard green and kale.
She eats 5-6 mealworms daily.
I leave Dr. Harvey’s finch mix for her 24/7, she mostly just eats the different millet kinds, red, Japanese, and gold.
She has egg food often too, but I can’t tell if she eats it.
Most recently, I’ve started putting a dish of crushed egg shell in her cage, I can’t tell if she’s eating it or just throwing it
I also added a cuttlebone.

I keep a 50 ceramic heat lamp on for her all the time too.

I keep her supplied with toys too, she likes to toss crinkle paper around, and shred vine shapes the most.

Yep, she’s not too hard to care for! I hope I’m doing it right!

I raised a nestling a few years back. He was so sweet, finally reintegrated him to the yard with the flock after 6 months. He flew in the house on Christmas morning to say farewell and he’s been outside ever since.
I need help, though. I found a nestling on my driveway last week. Been feeding Exact. Two days ago its legs seem to have given out. I’m at a loss with what to do. Can anyone tell me what to do? It’s still eating, I have to move it out so it can poop but it can’t stand and one leg seems worse than the other. Any ideas are welcome!

 

[zERo]

I raised a nestling a few years back. He was so sweet, finally reintegrated him to the yard with the flock after 6 months. He flew in the house on Christmas morning to say farewell and he’s been outside ever since.
I need help, though. I found a nestling on my driveway last week. Been feeding Exact. Two days ago its legs seem to have given out. I’m at a loss with what to do. Can anyone tell me what to do? It’s still eating, I have to move it out so it can poop but it can’t stand and one leg seems worse than the other. Any ideas are welcome!

Oh no!

If I were you, I’d make a thread about this baby so that more people will see and be able to answer your questions more effectively.