baby sparrow

liz s. · #1 (**permalink**) 28-06-2007, 05:10 PM

2 days ago we found a baby sparrow on our terrace, which must have fallen from a nest on the roof. we have been keeping him in a box inside at night, and in the daytime we put him back on the terrace where his parents come and feed him. It's a good system, but we have a couple of questions. We don't know if the parents feed him enough so we've been feeding him in the evening too, and he seems very eager to eat (I was giving him bread and watermelon mashed up with milk) - is this a good idea? Also, he seems to be very scraggy - round the neck and under his wings his skin is bare and red, might he have an infection, and if so can anything be done about that (he has normal feathers on his wings and back) ? He was preening or pecking at that part of his body today. Also, how long will it be before he flies away and we can stop worrying about him?! we'd be grateful if anybody could reply soon! thanks

wildliferescuer · #2 (**permalink**) 28-06-2007, 06:14 PM

Well done for your initiative - putting him outside in the day for the parents to feed him. The food you are giving him in the evening though will do him no good at all I'm afraid. bread & milk are bad for animals & I don't think watermelon would provide much in the way of the nutrients he needs. As a short term measure, just get some good quality meaty cat food, mash it up finely with some water, so that it is fairly sloppy & give hime this instead. Without knowing how old he is it isn't possible to say how long before he flies but from your description of feathering I would say quite soon.
there are often bare, reddish patches on baby birds, this is perfectly normal although it could possibly be mites of some sort causing it. He would have to be checked at your nearest wildlife hospital to ascertain this.
Good luck!

liz s. · #3 (**permalink**) 28-06-2007, 07:46 PM

thanks very much for your reply...in fact, after posting my query, we went to check up on him and found him gone. Unless a magpie had taken him for supper, we suppose that he'd flown off with his parents and is now snuggling up to brothers and sisters in nest! we've learnt a lot, not least what not to feed a baby bird - next time we'll know better. and we've seen first hand that parent birds do come back to feed fallen babies!!!