How do I teach a sparrow nestling to survive on its own?

Question

I found a sparrow nestling a week ago in my yard, in its unbroken nest. Its dead siblings and mother were laying next to the nest. I got help from my local Wildlife Rehab Center on how to care for and feed this nestling; they gave me a recipe for a "fons diet" and I am feeding him that mixture with a syringe while keeping him in a box lined with toilet paper and I make him a fresh TP nest every day. The box is on a heating pad set on low and at night I partially cover the box. Today I gave him a little bath; made sure he was warm and dry after. He is doing well and growing fast. But I am concerned that he won't be able to survive on his own if he doesn't learn to search for water and food. He has lost almost all his pin feathers and yesterday started standing and flapping his wings at feeding time. How will I know when he's ready to learn to fly and how do I do that and how do I teach him to search for food/water?

Answer 1

Good job rescuing the baby!  You cannot raise a single baby and then release him back into the wild.  He will become imprinted on you, meaning that he will think of you as his own kind.  He will remain dependent on your for his water and food, he will not find it on his own. If raised alone and released outside then he will more than likely land on people as he will not be afraid because he will think of humans as his flock.  People can become startled and he may be injured, or worse.  He will need to remain as a pet and I have heard that sparrows make wonderful pets.  If raising for release then he needs to be raised with another sparrow and not handled.  Be careful when feeding with a syringe as to not aspirate the baby. Please go to starlingtalk and read through the site. It has been a very supportive place for me in all my journey's of raising orphaned baby birds.  There is a message forum with many great people that are more knowledgeable and would be of great help. Please go into my about me section for the website link as I can't seem to post links through here.

Answer 2

If you have been with the bird for awhile then he might have gotten used to you and will count on you for food and shelter. First see if he waits for you when it's feeding time. And see if he'll try to look for food. Just wait for what happens.