I found a baby sparrow, a hatchling. What do I feed him?

Question

When I found him he had a few feathers. I called a vet and she said to feed him canned cat food. I have had him for about a month and he is doing well. He has his flight feathers and I let him go outside ever so often to roam around. When he wants in he will get on a small tree in front of the house and chirp. When I walk outside, he flys on my shoulder. Then I feed him. My question is, How do I wean him from the canned catfood to find food for himself outside? What are they suppose to hunt outside? Please advise.

Answer 1

he is probably way to domesticated to go into the wild now. his mother would have helped him, but she isn't around. however, i think it's an amazing feat that he's flying

Answer 2

Do NOT feed your bird earthworms if it is a house sparrow (English sparrow) -- the kind where the male is chestnut-colored on top. Earthworms carry parasites that will kill house sparrows. Only feed them other kinds of bugs.

Mealworms may not work so well, particularly if they're too big for the bird and you have to cut them up--I cared for a house sparrow once and unless she was really hungry she refused to eat them, I guess their guts taste nasty.

Crickets work extremely well, my sparrow even licked their juice off my hands; they're a favorite! They're just rather expensive. I spent maybe $250 on crickets alone to feed my sparrow.

I personally wouldn't recommend the dogfood formula; I've heard of people using it successfully, but we followed the recipe exactly and all it did was make our sparrow sick. I'd also be leery of anything involving eggs.

Answer 3

Try mixing some earthworms, crickets, etc. into his diet little by little. Just add a little more of that and less cat food every feeding, and he'll eventually be able to eat that himself. As to how to find food outside, you could be a "tough love" sort of person and leave him outside to fend for himself for a while, but I wouldn't recommend that alternative, since cats etc. might come after him. He's probably too domestic to find his own food outside anyway.

Answer 4

worms,bugs,

Answer 5

Pizza

Answer 6

The regular, bugs, worms,small animals, and leaves.

Answer 7

you should immediately find a wildlife rehabber in your area to take over the care of the bird.  it has to be able to find for itself.  unfortunately, it sounds like you turned it into a household pet.

Answer 8

either raw eggs,wheat bread with water,mushed up earth worms, or pea flavored baby food i know that because i have a bunch of babies and fledglings around my house and i have stray cats so i take them in and put then in one of those big storage boxes with an old window screen on top if you feed them the eggs or baby food use a medicine dropper and stick it down there throat like there mommy did

                                            good luck love Olivia oeller if u need any more help my email [e-mail]

Answer 9

Try earthworms, wax worms, and soft-shell (shed) crickets.  You can get all 3 from a pet store that sells reptiles or a bait store.  Avoid mealy worms, the shells are mighty thick.

How cute, you're his mama!