We found a bird...

[HardHatOptional]

We found this little on our path earlier, make no attempt to fly or move when approached.

I think it's a house sparrow, we've put him in a ventilated box with padding. Given some water in a bottle lid and left it for a couple of hours in a quiet room.

Just been to check and it's alert, so took it outside and tried to set it free. Little bugger was sat on my hand, tucked his head in and went to sleep. No attempt to leave.

What do I do? I admit I'm useless and know nothing about birds.

Sorry for all the errors and typos. I blame fat fingers 😳

I don’t know what to do but he is cute!

If its a fledgling then its parents would have been close and likely feeding it. Could you put it close to where you found it?

Yes I can put it back on our path (right outside our door) but there are a lot of cats around and I don't think it would last long ☹

No advice but He's so adorable.

Probably fledging and can't fly properly yet. It's a really vulnerable time for them. Unfortunately it's a bit late in the evening for its parents to try to protect it, I think, it wouldn't stand much of a chance in the garden overnight. Generally the advice is to leave them alone but obvs it's too late for that. If it was me I'd keep it overnight and cross my fingers (quite often they die) but I have absolutely no idea what you would need to do for food and water. Regurgitate some worms or something?? Keep us posted though. A pet sparrow would be cool (joking of course, I'm sure that's illegal)

Is there a bush nearby?

It's a fledgling, should have left it alone and watched from a distance to see if parents are about. If you've had it indoors for several hours the parents might have given up looking for it.

Put it somewhere safe nearby and watch carefully for a couple of hours. If no parents return looks like you need to start googling as you have a chick to raise!!

I would put back on path. If it hasn’t fledged it’s mother will be looking for it. We had the same thing happen to us and my dad, who knows lots about birds told us it would die quite soon in the box we had it in with water and seeds etc. It needs its mother to feed it at that age and it’s mother will be looking for it. We put it back near to where we had found it. No idea what happened to it but feel we at least gave it a chance.

Oh no I really hope he makes it though the night! Does anyone at all know of anything we can attempt to feed him?

He's so beautiful and innocent 😇

yeah, you shouldn't really touch them unless they are injured. The parents may not be about if you've had it indoors for a while

You can’t really put it back now especially if you can’t see any signs of the parents

It would be incredibly vulnerable to predators

Contact a wild life rescue and they would be able to take him in but if you can’t make the trip tonight, they can advise what to do in the meantime

I'm reluctant to put him outside, there are cats all over the place (every house on this street has at least one cat). I can't physically sit and watch it, I have a toddler and work to do!

Worms, bugs, fed with tweezers would be as close as possible to what he'd get in nature I suppose. I expect he'd need fed pretty frequently at this stage. Is he cheeping for food at all? I can't imagine something that young and tiny will last long without feeding.

Do you have a wildlife rescue centre near you? Google it and if so give them a call, or any vet surgeries in the area might have some contacts who can help you (I think many vets themselves don’t deal with wild animals/birds)

www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/orphanedanimals/youngbirds

I found an injured pigeon outside my house. I called the RSPCA and they told me to take it to a vet. Luckily one very local, they took it off me. I didn't have to give any of my details and they didn't charge me. I have no idea what happened to it after that.

The RSPCA told me that because the pigeon is a wild animal then the vets have a duty of care to take it off me.

If the fledgling makes it through the night I would try to find a vet in the morning.

I took an adult woodpigeon in on Sunday. He was injured and almost attacked by a cat. I rang a few local wildlife rescue but all full. Your best bet is to ring either a vet, RSPCA or local wildlife centre. Good luck!

Aww. I wouldn't put it outside just to watch it get eaten by a cat. Can you not see any nest nearby where you found it?

They’re hard to feed because the mother regurgitates their food. You could try with a pipette with well soaked and mashed up mealworms, but it won’t be easy.

Why is it illegal to have a pet sparrow?

There's a wildlife sanctuary near me who take in all kinds of wildlife, hopefully there's one near you but if by some chance you're in the East Staffs/South Derbyshire region google Linjoy Wildlife Rescue. Brilliant place.

@Deelish75 I'm afraid to tell you this but my friend is a vet and as pigeons are considered pests/vermin they're quite often taken out the back and put down

slight diversion, but last year we were driving down the road and saw a lame duckling straggling along behind his little mum and siblings, really couldn't keep up and a big magpie was watching him from a tree. I scooped him up and took him home (figured taking him away from his family was a preferable option to certain death) and put him in a rabbit run in the garden with peas and oats and water. He survived the night (duck shit EVERYWHERE) and I took him to a vet in the morning. Vet said if he recovered I could keep him! But unfortunately he had an open fracture to his leg that would never have healed and was already looking infected.

You can look for a nest that it might have come from and put it back, but really bringing it inside is the worst possible thing to do - were you going to hand rear it? A bird that age needs its parents - they can't help it if it's in a box in your house. It would be better off taking its chances with the cat as now it will more than likely die anyway. Put it back where you found it asap and it may have a chance.