I spotted a tiny sparrow chick in the garden this morning. It was on the lawn and a cat was watching it from about a yard away. I quickly ran downstairs and scared the cat off. The little bird seemed alive and well, as far as I could see; so I gently lifted it up on to our large feeder table. The two adult sparrows were perched on cables above and making warning calls.
I left the chick at the table and it just stayed there, quite motionless. After ten minutes, it came to life; the male adult went to an adjacent feeder; and, while the chick opened its beak and chirped, the adult fed it.
It jumped down to the ground precariously and into the foliage while the adult kept an eye on it.
That's the last I saw of it.
3 comments :
That seems quite lucky. Usually the parent birds will reject the chick if they smell any new scent on it (like the smell of your hands)
But good job!
That might explain why, initially, the adult came to the feeder and ignored it; hoever, in its second visit it found the wee devil irresistible!
This must be a crucial 24 hours for these chicks; they are so vulnerable to predators.
I watched a sparrow chick on our back gravel yesterday afternoon and it just stood there for over an hour while the parents came back every ten minutes to feed it.
A cat could easily have pounced in that time...
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