House sparrow left behind (1 Viewer)

Hi guys. I've been living at my current address just over a year now. It has a small garden where we put up a couple of bird houses and feeders. During the summer months we had a flock of 20+ house sparrows hanging around everyday. Now we haven't seen them since the autumn bar one. He has never left the garden and often finds his way into the house. At night he sits on one of the tables with all his feathers puffed out. I'm wondering why did he decide to stay and if there is anything we could do to maybe keep him warm as he nearly always has his feathers puffed out. We put fresh seed out everyday as we have a couple of coal tits bull Finch's and the odd robin come everyday. I look forward to hearing from you. Darren.

Sounds like he's not well Darren, and that's the reason he hung around, and why he is less wary than normal. You are doing the best things - offering fresh food and water and some shelter, but I'd caution against intervening too much as you can't be sure of the impact. Birds in such a state can die from stress quite easily, so let the bird dictate what it wants - you just offer options.

Be prepared for the fact it may die as winter is the time of greatest natural mortality - they don't live that long and it may just be an old bird.

Mick