Feeding a baby Sparrow?

Question

I was out side yesterday and a tiny little Sparrow came hopping into my garage. He's smaller than an egg. I looked for his nest and couldn't find it. I ask my girlfriend and she said there was nothing I could do. I left him outside; hiding under a flower pot. This morning I got up and he had made it through the night. I mixed up some sugar water and have been feeding it to him through the day. He's alive. He can't fly. His parents can't lift him back to the nest. And I don't think he can live on sugar water alone. Any ideas on what to feed a tiny little baby bird?

Answer 1

It's a myth that touching a baby bird will cause the parents to reject it. If you can get it back into the nest do that asap. If not you can feed it with a pair of tweezers.

I raised 4 baby sparrows once. A good readily available food for baby birds (insect eating birds) is Science Diet Cat food. Soak the food in water until its nice and soft. It's OK if it's wet because they need hydration too. Break the pellets into little pieces that are between the sizes of a lentil and a pea.

He probably won't open his mouths for you because you don't look like his mother so you may have to carefully grasp his beak on each side and open it up. Then you stick the food deep into his throat. Aiming to the front of his body. There is a sack there called a crop. You can actually feel the food in there when a bird is full.

Feed it about a half of a teaspoon every 3 hours.
Keep it in a little box (like a nest)with layers of paper towel (so you can pull out the pooped on pieces). Drape half of the box with a dark towel letting it sag down so it will touch him if he crawls under it -this is so he can feel safe and stay warm.

It's amazing that he survived through the night. Usually they get sick from being so cold. Since they have no real feathers yet they depend on their parents to keep them warm. Make sure he's warm.

Eventually he will eat the food eagerly and begin to fly. He'll want to perch up high and only come down for food. At this point you can start leaving a nearby window open in the mornings and he'll fly out when he's ready. Don't let him leave late in the day. It doesn't give him enough time to figure out what to do out there before dark.

Answer 2

is the feathered yet? If yes, he may have already fledged the nest and has not learned to fly yet and the parents are feeding him. If he is big enough to hop...that makes me think he might not have fallen out of the nest, but left it on his own. You might want to watch and see if the parents are feeding him, they may have to watch for a while to them feed. If he is not feathered, the he probably did fall out of the nest..and unless you can find it and get him back into it..I suggest a rehab..they will know what to feed him, as just a sugar water diet will not keep him alive. Good Luck.

Answer 3

If you can reach the nest than I would put him back in it. If you want to keep him then feed him canned dog food. I have rescued many baby birds and the wildlife sanctuary that I worked at always fed the baby birds canned dog food. If you don't want to keep him and you can't reach the nest then I would try and find a wildlife sanctuary near by to take him to.

Answer 4

You might call a wildlife rescue place to find out if they will take it in. Otherwise, I don't think there is much you can do to save it. It won't last on sugar water and needs proper care by an adult sparrow. Call your state Natural Resources Dept.

Answer 5

Please return it to the nest! Most birds have a very poorly developed sense of smell so your scent is not something to worry about. If the parents do not return please get it to the nearest wildlife rehabilitation center immediately. Improper care or feeding will kill a baby bird as surely as neglect.

Answer 6

These sites explain all about what to do for orphan and injured birds -
http://www.crowsystems.com/rehab/babybird.html - this is an excellent article - be sure to read down the entire page for info on how to care.
http://www.stokesbirdsathome.com/q&a/archive/qa108.html
http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-happened-when-nestling-fell-out.html
http://www.projectwildlife.org/find-babysongbirds.htm
And these Yahoo Answers too -
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aq1GdvtmX27UJrgshR77Jersy6IX?qid=20060711181307AAZ59uh
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=1006050608886

I've got a lot of links to wildlife carers from a lot of countries on my site, at
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/links under "Wildlife Assistance" - just click on them all, click on your country and state, have a browse, 'phone them and ask their advice.

Very very best of luck.

Answer 7

Go to Starling Central or Starling talk, they have the recipe for what to feed the baby, Just yahoo or google search their website, I dont have it on this computer.

Answer 8

millet?