A couple of you might remember my tale this time last year when I found a baby sparrow in my cat's mouth. It was my second bird, the first I had to care for for two weeks until I finally found a rehabber a few hours away that had a free spot. With the second bird, I never found a rehabber, and was advised over the phone of how to proceed and wild her out myself. To my knowledge, all went as planned.
Over a week ago I was called up by a friend's coach at a barn. A baby bird had fallen from the rafters in the arena as miraculously did not get stepped on throughout the lesson before someone noticed it. Apparently there was a great argument about whether the bird should be put in a stall with hopes it would be stepped on or whether they should give it to me. Fortunately they ended up calling me. Familiar with the drill, I've raised her as I did the other two. I wasn't convinced she would survive, particularly given the manure lodged in her eye but I did manage to kill the infection.
And here lies my dilemma. It appears this "swallow or chickadee" is quite clearly a sparrow and she's almost fully feathered. At least enough to show interest in flapping her wings around. I recall last year's couldn't be free fast enough! This one is quite content to hide in her nest trusting me only enough to receive food despite how completely young and bald she was when I received her. She really is terrified of me. I was aiming for a healthy fear like I did with the others by making minimal contact but I worry there's such thing as too fearful.
I contacted the rehabilitator who took in my first bird to wild him out (he was fully feathered by the time she got him) and she advised me to just make sure she's feeding on her own before releasing her which is what I planned on doing. She seems completely confident I can handle it which I appreciate but it's difficult not to feel terrified when you know the bird's only chance is with you. As you can imagine, once again, everyone's "full" here and will only euthanize.
Is it possible she's just slower...? You'd think birds would work on the same schedule to keep up with their siblings. I'm just surprised she has no interest in flying yet. I've taken her outside several times and all she does is bury herself in the grass. This is opposed to my younger sparrow last year who took off for the nearest tree with the first taste of freedom. Does this seem off to anyone else?
Over a week ago I was called up by a friend's coach at a barn. A baby bird had fallen from the rafters in the arena as miraculously did not get stepped on throughout the lesson before someone noticed it. Apparently there was a great argument about whether the bird should be put in a stall with hopes it would be stepped on or whether they should give it to me. Fortunately they ended up calling me. Familiar with the drill, I've raised her as I did the other two. I wasn't convinced she would survive, particularly given the manure lodged in her eye but I did manage to kill the infection.
And here lies my dilemma. It appears this "swallow or chickadee" is quite clearly a sparrow and she's almost fully feathered. At least enough to show interest in flapping her wings around. I recall last year's couldn't be free fast enough! This one is quite content to hide in her nest trusting me only enough to receive food despite how completely young and bald she was when I received her. She really is terrified of me. I was aiming for a healthy fear like I did with the others by making minimal contact but I worry there's such thing as too fearful.
I contacted the rehabilitator who took in my first bird to wild him out (he was fully feathered by the time she got him) and she advised me to just make sure she's feeding on her own before releasing her which is what I planned on doing. She seems completely confident I can handle it which I appreciate but it's difficult not to feel terrified when you know the bird's only chance is with you. As you can imagine, once again, everyone's "full" here and will only euthanize.
Is it possible she's just slower...? You'd think birds would work on the same schedule to keep up with their siblings. I'm just surprised she has no interest in flying yet. I've taken her outside several times and all she does is bury herself in the grass. This is opposed to my younger sparrow last year who took off for the nearest tree with the first taste of freedom. Does this seem off to anyone else?
