Thread: URGENT: What to feed to a young sparrow?

URGENT: What to feed to a young sparrow?


Sparrows have a nest in our roof. One sparrow fell out, and there is no way to lift him back into the nest.

The little sparrow seems to be alright, nothing broken. It is very vibrant, but it cannot fly. The flying feathers are not fully grown yet.

It is raining right now, and so to protect the sparrow from the rain and cats we put it into an old car, where birds can fly in, but a cat cannot get in.

The elder ones were coming to feed it, as the sparrow was still on the ground next to the house. But I'm not sure whether they will still find it in the car, or for how long they will keep up the feed.


Please tell me what to feed to the little sparrow, and how much.


We have cherry trees, the cherries are overripe and wormy. So I collected some, put them in water for the worms to come out. I can feed the sparrow those worms.

What else?


Thank you.

Go to your local pet shop, buy baby bird feed. mix it with water until you get a oatmeal -like substance. feed him every two to three hours. Besure to keep him warm. If the baby gets cold, he will die. I am actually taking care of a baby sparrow. they need constant attention. Beleive or not, if you don,t talk to it, if you dont show your face at a regular basis, babys do get somwhat depressed.
whe you get the foood. Use a toothpick at first. You might have to force it at the beggining for baby sparrows will not have an idea what you are doing. They are not use to being fed by toothpick. If you are persistant. within two days, maybe even a day, the sparrow will understand that you are feeding it. Once it eats, try useing your finger to feed it. There is more intimacy by doing that. I am actually taking care of a sparrow gith now. He will not eat at all until i put some food on my nose. He went ape shit and now is constantly eating.

If you can not get baby bird feed, try mixing puppy food with cornmeal. That works but its much much better to buy the bird feed. Ther is a much better chance that it will survive.

Do not be surprised if it dies. IT is very difficult to take care of a baby sparrow if you are not attentive. Its like taking care of a real baby but much more fragile. Set your clock at 4am to wake up and feed again.




The mother would probably push him out. He stands a better chance with the continued care of you. You REALLY NEED to get him some baby bird gruel. The rice crispies will not provide him the needed vitamin and minerals that baby birds need. Do you have a PetsMart or a PetCo close by? They sell a powder that you add warm water to, and feed it to baby birds. It is like a instant cream of wheat cereal. You need to get some of this. Also, here are some links on caring for orphan birds; http://www.starlingtalk.com/babycare.htm http://www.bamabirds.com/../yard/babybird3.htm


I have raised dozens of wild baby birds. If you can get them to live through the first day or two, they will probably make it ok. It is a lot of work. The part that I hated, was getting up at dawn to feed these babies, seeing that birds awake at dawn. Michele, the bird will pretty much let you know when it is time for it to be released in a safe area. He will start pecking at food on his own, and he will start flying. Please feel free to email me if you have any other questions about this sparrow.

it was wery young and i fed it , now it is eating on its own but it does not want to fly too much, but hops and hides under the bed and his feathers are not like an adult, you can see it's skin on the chest etc. today he had like a crisis like he was chocking i flapping on the bottom of the cage,and flipping it's heat to a side with the beak opened, i took it and i don't know if i helped but it came back and is ok now. but is he in danger of choking? and why aren't his feathers growing? i fed him bread and exotic bird seeds , it was all i could find . he seems to like the bread very much . am i doing ok? anything that i am doing wrong or have omitted? any suggestions ? thank you in advance .

The house sparrow is one of the most hated birds among the birdwatching crowd. If your baby bird somehow survives he will grow up to be a rather aggressive fellow, attacking any other species, like say bluebirds, that might compete for nesting site, punching holes in their eggs, killing the hatchlings, and like that.

I would recommend just letting nature take its course.

What do you have the ability to psychoanalyse that particular sparrow.
And aren't we humans a part of nature. Humans is just another mammal species.

Your saying that if we find an animal hurt on the ground we shuld not help him. All veterinarians would be with out work if we are not suppose to interfere whit nature.

Originally Posted by Harold14370

The house sparrow is one of the most hated birds among the birdwatching crowd. If your baby bird somehow survives he will grow up to be a rather aggressive fellow, attacking any other species, like say bluebirds, that might compete for nesting site, punching holes in their eggs, killing the hatchlings, and like that.

So?
If a person wants to take care of a bird and have fun at it, why not? A few years ago, fox hunting was banned in England. The Africa is full of poachers and legal hunters who kill, and you are telling us that helping one bird survive is bad?

I would recommend just letting nature take its course.

The fact that sparrows attack other species and compete for nesting sites is nature in action. It's the survival of the fittest. Helping one bird grow up won't change much.

What do you have the ability to psychoanalyse that particular sparrow.

You don't psychoanalyze birds, you observe behavior. The behavior of house sparrows is well documented.

The fact that sparrows attack other species and compete for nesting sites is nature in action. It's the survival of the fittest. Helping one bird grow up won't change much.

A bird falling out of the nest is nature in action.
I just thought I'd point out a few facts. If you want to encourage house sparrows in your yard, have at it. I'd rather help the bluebirds, but that's just me.

all in all nobody answered my question . please read my post above and answer my question, because it is not about what u are arguing about . your fighting does not help me . i need advice and an an opinion about what i wrote in my post yesterday . thanks

Originally Posted by saturnine02

all in all nobody answered my question . please read my post above and answer my question, because it is not about what u are arguing about . your fighting does not help me . i need advice and an an opinion about what i wrote in my post yesterday . thanks

I think no one has addressed your question because cosmictraveler wrote a quite detailed response to the original OP, as well as including several links for more information on the care of orphaned birds before you even posted.

to pikkhaud and blackfoxtrade - if you found an injured cockroach, would you take the time and effort to nurture it back to health? A simple fact of the matter is that some species of animals are considered to be pests, and most people would sooner squash one than help it. To birdwatchers, people who greatly appreciate the natural beauty and diversity of other, possibly more endangered, bird species, sparrows - that are vast in number, and just as aggressive toward other birds as harold described - are equivalent to cockroaches. Now, if you want to help a baby cockroach, or a baby sparrow, no one is going to stop you - it's just that not everyone shares your viewpoint.

Hi, saturnine02, I was wondering if you ever figured out what to do abou what the sparrow as doing? i have a young sparrow and it's doing the same thing, thanks.[/quote]