Baby Sparrow on my Window?

[wedmonds]

Hi People,

Thought i would join and say hello as i was hoping you can help with a few questions i have.

I purchased a £3 plastic box type bird feeder, the clear type which sticks onto your window with three suction cups. We happily filled this with some seed that my brother provided for me for wild birds. After around 3-4 weeks the birds started to make regular visits to the garden. We had the usual suspects making visits to the box and larger birds looking on enviously. We recently changed the seed to slightly larger wild bird feed resembling small peanuts.
Around 3 days ago a sparraow which looks bigger, rounder and fluffier than the norm visited the box and liked it so much that it has decided that its going to be his/her home.

To explain a little more see pics (sorry they are a little blurred but you get the idea)




At about 6pm he goes to sleep




He flys around happily enough and leaves the feeder from time to time but is always nearby. I am wondering the following:

1) Is the bird ok? I assume so as he/she has food and water and is mobile.
2) Is this likely to be a baby bird or could it be pregnant? It has very fluffy feathers in part but is bigger than the other sparrows we see.
3) Should we move the feedr to a higher window? We are worried about a catch getting to it in the night.
4) If we moved it to an upstairs window would it move to this or would it struggle to find it?

Hope you can help!

Regards

Wayne

[almostnormal]

hello.

definitely a juvenile house sparrow. they look bigger than they should because of all the downy feathers. he looks ok and i should leave the feeder where it is as its unlikely a cat will be able to get to it without alerting the sparrow to its presence. its obviously fleged and should be able to fly away

[buzfuz8149]

Hi there,

A warm welcome to WAB, you are doing everything right for this fledgling it will make it's way into the world in it's own time. There are lots of youngsters around at the moment and I try not to disturb the too much, as long as they are out of harms way.

Carol.

[wedmonds]

Thanks for the replies.
All good
Its already at the stage where we now enter the kitchen in darkness after 8pm as we dont want to wake him
A hedgehog walked by last night and set the external flood light of and its about 1 foot from him. He did not stir and probably enjoyed the warmth
Thanks all, will update if i notice a 'For Sale' sign up!

[toadpole]

That is soooo very sweet I have 2 window feeders but not 1 bird has ever fallen asleep in them .....and i would do exactly what you do in not turning the kitchen light on after dark ......we are so soft when it comes to animals and birds are'nt we ?

[Vixen]

I will add that dryed bread and peanut that are not in a wire feeder should not be fed.
always soke the bread first as it can swell in the stomack and kill birds, also some birds will try and feed the peanuts to there babys witch can choke them.

I would stick with wild bird seed in an open feeder.

[wedmonds]

In the case of the bread it was definetly soaked... (have you seen the rain we have been having recently ) It was not around long enough as the startlings took that
We have replaced the nut type seed for fear of babies choaking and purchased some lovely (approraite) seed for them. I got home last night and he was not about so i took the opportunity to fill up one end of the feeder (as he sleeps in the other) and around 8pm he appeared jumped up and down on the seed a little before wiggling his bum and body into place and falling asleep. His feathers are starting to look a little more adult now so i dont think it will be long before he 'sells up' and moves house

[Bramble]

He/she is a beautiful little thing.