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Arthur (1 Viewer)

deboo

deboo

.............
ARTHUR.

I may have been a naughty boy recently...
The kids found a baby bird last wednesday on the pavement outside a neighbours house.
As the resident 'Birdman', I got called out to pass judgement and advice.
I said I'd take it home, put it in a box and place it under the stairs, so it wouldn't get too stressed.
I lied and said I'd ring the RSPB, to find out what to do....there was a gathering of 10+ little kids with parents in tow too...
So I could hardly say that I was really just waiting for the poor little bag of featherless bones to die.
Anyway...
Arthur did not die...Arthur....named after his % chance of survival...
We gave him the chance to live and he took it!
He comes to work with me and is fed every 20 minutes. We found a good website about raising young Starlings etc etc..
He is now at least 10 days old...and is thriving...Oh BTW he/she is a House Sparrow....
I suppose we should not be trying to raise a wild bird...but come on!
What would you do in such a situation?..
Anyway...
Forum folk, What should I do when he starts to fledge??
Are there any places near to Cambridge, that will take in a young Sparrow?
I'd like him to go to an Aviary, where he can fly about...
Please advise me...I only want to do right...
Thanx Dave.
 
Good boy! How came, just yesterday I happened to join a meeting where I was given Anthony Bosley's excellent guide on this topic: Loukkaantuneiden tai muuten apua tarvitsevien luonnonvaraisten lintujen hoito. It can be obtained from Heinola Aviary in Finland. In case You find finnish a bit tricky language, here's some info:
Young sparrows can be fed with paste made of following; 0,5 dl breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon honey, yolk from an egg boiled 15 min, 25 crushed hazelnuts, a little bit chopped sallad or Taraxacum leaves, tiny bit of crushed eggshell plus some drops of vitamin or codliver oil, and milk or water, but not too much to maintain it pastelike. Mix it & squeeze thru a sieve. Keep the bird in cage, floor matted with paper; later You can offer seeding wildflowers collected from somewhere out there (so the fledgling learns to collect it's food). The bird also needs water. When it is old enough, it does not beg for food, and is ready to be released in a place suitable for sparrows.
deboo said:
What would you do in such a situation?..
Click to expand...
I would pass it to Heinola Aviary... But there must be some place closer to You. Any rescued wildlife is worth it.
 
Good on yer Dave!

Why not just start leaving it outside when it starts to fledge? Obviously you and the family will have to devise a rota for total supervision - keep any cats away! Feed it outside, leave it a saucer of water etc... Bring it inside at night but maybe make it half an hour later every night that you bring it in?

If it looks as though it has no chance of making it alone then maybe take it to an aviary, but I reckon give it a chance to go wild and it should be a good laugh as well!

In extreme circumstances maybe dress up like a House Sparrow and dance around to condition it to its own kind? You know like they do in America with the Cranes. Perhaps get one of the smaller members of the family to do it! ;) 3:)
 
tom mckinney said:
In extreme circumstances maybe dress up like a House Sparrow and dance around
Click to expand...
I am gonna waste my 1000th post on this but I have to pass comment!!!! :D
Dave, I would pay good money to see you dressed as a House Sparrow mate!
I can just imagine you perched halfway up a tree......or rolling around in the gutter pretending to have a dust bath.

That's it, next time I see you I'll be thinking about that!

Teehee!
 
Oi Simon, you aint getting your own 1000th post congratulatory thread from me pal! Not after the other died flat on its arse! I was hoping Darren would get some serious abuse from the more sensible members - no such luck!
 
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SimonC said:
Dave, I would pay good money to see you dressed as a House Sparrow mate!
I can just imagine you perched halfway up a tree......or rolling around in the gutter pretending to have a dust bath.

That's it, next time I see you I'll be thinking about that!

Teehee!
Click to expand...

Frankly it would be worth organising a BF event to see that.

To see Dave perched on a tree going Chirp Chirp would be excellent.
 
tom mckinney said:
....... I was hoping Darren would get some serious abuse from the more sensible members - no such luck!
Click to expand...
You should've said, I'd have made more of an effort to remind folk of some of his misdemeanours!!
Oh well, he might stick around for 2000 ey?! ;)
 
tom mckinney said:
In extreme circumstances maybe dress up like a House Sparrow and dance around to condition it to its own kind? You know like they do in America with the Cranes. Perhaps get one of the smaller members of the family to do it! ;) 3:)
Click to expand...
Hmmm, how to learn to fly? According to Tom Petty, coming down is the hardest thing. Douglas Adams said, that the trick is just to fall off a building but miss the ground... But I would see that Dave has a "pest bird" problem there, so maybe the solution is not to jump off the roof, but stay there and scare the bird away with that Spongebob laugh.
 
I've been out 'feathering' for the last few days...
Surprising how many you need, to cover your larger than average Deboo. Managed to adapt a traffic cone for me beak..so I'm almost ready to begin flying lessons....
Arthur is doing really well..feeding on dog food,apple puree, boiled egg and bread mashed up....
He loves it, but I'm still struggling to wipe his derriere....
...he can take a mouthful of food, spin on a sixpence, and deposit a splosh as quickly as Zinedine Zidane.....strange comparison, but I'm sure you know what I mean!!....
He has got an appalling taste in music...he chirps away quite merrily to Marion Winnans(sic) and Britney...
..but remains shtumm when something decent comes on the radio..
I was gonna take a pic of him wrapped in the flag of St George...
...but I ain't got 1.... ;)

Dave.
 

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Aww bless him, he's really cute. It's nice to know that people do care, and that I'm not the only one who would attempt to do what you are doing. Hope little Arthur makes it to adulthood, and lives a happy life. I read a book called Bird In My Hand, Sparrows in the Wild by Lorraine Hodgkinson,see the link if you wanted to get a copy, it was a brilliant book, she hand-reared one too, ,and he was released and raised a family which he brought back to her to show off! It may give you some tips.

http://www.abebooks-titles.co.uk/Title/96822/Bird+in+My+Hand.html

Good luck, please keep us informed how he gets on won't you?
 
Thanx Songbird,

I'm sure all on BF would do the same, given the opportunity..
I wish I'd taken photos of him everyday...it is amazing how quickly he has developed...
Of course, as the wife points out (she is Welsh!) we are not sure if he is Arthur or Arthurette!!!
We shall try and seek local advice this weekend..as to what to do with him...
Gut feeling...he will be staying with us for the forseeable future!

Dave.
 
Dave,did I once see you had an Avatar featuring your cat!!,maybe I have it wrong,hope so!!.You are doing a marvellous job,as long as he/she does not have to share your "Dave Deboo dinners!!"Keep us informed as to progress,
 
Arthur update...

He's now pretty much full size and his feather growth is almost tangible!
There is no problem yet with feeding....only that he doesn't want to feed for himself yet.
We've moved him into a plastic fishtank...
He is quite happy on the window ledge, watching the birds in the garden....
I think he does recognise other sparrows...because he chirps to them and attempts to fly.
Who knows, he may fly off to be with the others...wouldn't that be great!!
We'll keep you posted.

Dave.
 

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