Violet_Diva
Member
A couple of days ago, our outdoor cat brought us the gift of a deceased mauled fledgling 
Yesterday I was in London for some training for work. On the way back on the train, my partner messaged me to tell me he had the sibling sparrow in his possession as he'd found it in the alleyway (note: alleyway full of cats). So rather than leave the poor thing to be mauled to death, he brought it in, and put it in the top part of our vegetable steamer (like a little plastic box). He knew he shouldn't really bring it into the house because of the parrots, so swiftly took it upstairs. He Googled what to feed it.
I came home to find a small tub of cat meat floating in water in with the bird, luckily it didn't drown! I told him that Google meant soak biscuits to make them soft (so at least he knows should something like this arise in future). I didn't have any hand feeding formula and the only small seeds I had were sesame. The little bird showed no interest in the seeds. As it was late evening when I got home, I put the bird to bed inside a box with a t-shirt in the bottom, couldn't find the heat pad, so just had the windows closed all night to try to bring the room temp up.
In the morning, I took the bird to work with me and left it upstairs with a small heater pointing at one corner of the box to bring their temperature up. I went into town on my break, bought a boiled egg from the cafe and proceeded to attempt to feed warm chunks to the baby. I tried with swooping tweezers, pinched fingers. Baby was having none of it. Played a YouTube clip with the sound of baby sparrows being fed in the background, again, not interested. By this time, the bird hadn't eaten for at least 18 hours as it was picked up by my partner at 6pm, and it was now getting on for 2pm the following day!
I ended up having to hold the bird in one hand and be a bit more forceful to ensure they got fed! About a kidney bean sized amount of boiled eggwhite got down it in the end! The crop was visible and shapely. So I left the bird in the warm box. It was tricky trying to judge how much to feed, this bird was puny! I'm used to pigeon squabs, not teeny tiny micro birdies! I was so worried I'd overstretch the crop. I kept checking on the baby during work, and each time it seemed more and more lively with the crop reducing in size!
At the end of the day, my lovely colleague drove me to the nearest wildlife rescue for the birdy to be raised and released!
Mission successful!
Please note,
Intervention in this instance was only because this bird would have definitely been mauled to death in the location it was in. At this age, all they can do is jump, which to the alley cats, looks like a fun toy
If you find a baby bird, leave it on the ground to be fed by visiting parents, only remove the bird from its location if it is in immediate danger and you are able to take it to a suitable rescue facility.
Yesterday I was in London for some training for work. On the way back on the train, my partner messaged me to tell me he had the sibling sparrow in his possession as he'd found it in the alleyway (note: alleyway full of cats). So rather than leave the poor thing to be mauled to death, he brought it in, and put it in the top part of our vegetable steamer (like a little plastic box). He knew he shouldn't really bring it into the house because of the parrots, so swiftly took it upstairs. He Googled what to feed it.
I came home to find a small tub of cat meat floating in water in with the bird, luckily it didn't drown! I told him that Google meant soak biscuits to make them soft (so at least he knows should something like this arise in future). I didn't have any hand feeding formula and the only small seeds I had were sesame. The little bird showed no interest in the seeds. As it was late evening when I got home, I put the bird to bed inside a box with a t-shirt in the bottom, couldn't find the heat pad, so just had the windows closed all night to try to bring the room temp up.
In the morning, I took the bird to work with me and left it upstairs with a small heater pointing at one corner of the box to bring their temperature up. I went into town on my break, bought a boiled egg from the cafe and proceeded to attempt to feed warm chunks to the baby. I tried with swooping tweezers, pinched fingers. Baby was having none of it. Played a YouTube clip with the sound of baby sparrows being fed in the background, again, not interested. By this time, the bird hadn't eaten for at least 18 hours as it was picked up by my partner at 6pm, and it was now getting on for 2pm the following day!
I ended up having to hold the bird in one hand and be a bit more forceful to ensure they got fed! About a kidney bean sized amount of boiled eggwhite got down it in the end! The crop was visible and shapely. So I left the bird in the warm box. It was tricky trying to judge how much to feed, this bird was puny! I'm used to pigeon squabs, not teeny tiny micro birdies! I was so worried I'd overstretch the crop. I kept checking on the baby during work, and each time it seemed more and more lively with the crop reducing in size!
At the end of the day, my lovely colleague drove me to the nearest wildlife rescue for the birdy to be raised and released!
Mission successful!
Please note,
Intervention in this instance was only because this bird would have definitely been mauled to death in the location it was in. At this age, all they can do is jump, which to the alley cats, looks like a fun toy
If you find a baby bird, leave it on the ground to be fed by visiting parents, only remove the bird from its location if it is in immediate danger and you are able to take it to a suitable rescue facility.
