I have a baby house sparrow that I have been raising...can someone please help with additional info?

Question

1. It is a fledgling...I am not sure how old it is...is there anyway to tell? It has feathers but is still bare around neck and under the wings.

2. It has been eatting a formula that I got off this website...I am begining to provide it seed to explore...it has begun short flights (not strong or long) I am currently in TN but have to go to NC...does anyone see any problems with taking the bird so that I could continue to rehabilitate? (I have been utilizing a heating pad and plan to get an adapter for the car.)

3. I read on the net that single birds who are fed by humans are not good candidates for rerelease...is this false? I think that it is possible that prior to my sister-in-law finding the fledgling it may have had siblings...is it still a good candidate for release???(when it has developed the skills)

I have had him for about 5 days. He is growing well and has new feathers...he appears to have adapted well to his current predicament.

Answer 1

Single birds raised on their own are not candidates for release back into the wild. They will not survive as they do not know they are "birds"  I have a starling as a pet and have heard that sparrows made wonderful pets also.  They also can be legally kept as sparrows, starling and pigeons are non-native species. Visit starling talk for all the info you need.....

Answer 2

It was a long long time ago, but I raised a baby house sparrow when I was in college. You are doing all the right things, and short of turning it over to an Audobon society or animal control, you are doing well. You will want to supplement the food soon with dead mealworms. You buy them live and drown them in water before giving them to the baby. And make sure they are really really dead, maybe even try freezing them before feeding. The mealworms are great for protein for a growing baby, and you can buy them at most pet stores that sell reptiles. Also house sparrows aren't 100% seed eaters. They do supplement with bugs and other things, so as it gets older offer a more well rounded diet. It is not a good candidate for release because it will have no idea how to fend for itself, feed itself, or even find water. It would be snapped up by a cat or owl immediately if not starved to death first.

Answer 3

i have had red birds, purple martins, and blue jays and released to the wild, it takes time but nature takes over, in a few months, say first part of Aug, move him outside, fed him outside, bed him outside, in a protected area away from cats ect, he will soon take short flights with other birds come back to you for food, slowly shorten his food intake from you, he will learn to hunt food on his own, when its time he will flock with his own kind. mine came back over short piord of times and then left altogether.

Answer 4

you are taking good care of him.

i study birds..

the young leave the nest 16 days after hatching..

your bird is probably a week and 3 or 4 days old.

you probably shouldn't let it go..because it could die because you have no way of teaching it how to live, let alone FLY!

so i would keep it..

If it has black and gray feathers around the beack..it's a boy.

if it has brown and white feathers around the beack..a girl.

Good Luck!