My Baby Chipping Sparrow

by Christa
(Hilton, NY)

During my big 4th of July picnic, my brother noticed a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest.

Being the animal lover that I am, I had to remedy the situation.

The little bird had luck on its side.

Everyone at the picnic had parked on the grass and he was laying about an inch from one of the tires.

We found the nest in the tree above him and put him back inside.

The next day I went to check on him and he had fallen out again and the nest was on the ground next to him.

My mother knew he would not survive if we tried to care for him ourselves.

I was heartbroken at the thought of him starving to death but there wasn't much else I could do.

I found a big pine tree branch and covered him up so he would be out of the sun and hidden.

As I was walking away, he started squawking and when I turned I saw the mother bird land on the branch and feed him!

Both parents have been feeding him and sleeping with him at night inside the pine branch.

I put a small fence around the pine branch so that no one would mistakenly step on him and it would keep our dog from hurting him.

Yesterday he emerged from the pine branch and is roosting on the fence flapping his wings and trying to fly.

I'm sure "Herbie" will be leaving me soon (they grow up so fast!) but it has been so exciting watching him and his parents over the last several days.

This story is proof that not all baby birds are abandoned or orphaned.

I'm not sure he would have survived without the shelter of the pine branch so I'm glad I was able to help out but I'm also glad I knew enough to leave him where his parents were able to find him.

Nature is amazing!

Comments for My Baby Chipping Sparrow

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Jun 07, 2011

Henry The Baby Chipping Sparrow
by: Anonymous

Henry The Baby Chipping Sparrow- On June 4th me and my family went to cinnamon lake to swim in the lake and pool.

While we where there we found a baby bird laying in the sun baking with no brothers or sisters or mom and dad.

So we were searching for the nest and could not find it and the bird was real hungry. so we found a worm and chopped it up and fed it to Henry. Henry ate like a beast.

By the way Henry's eyes are closed and he has some hair and is really red.

Sooner or later we found Henry's nest but he was the only one. So on the way home we took Henry and his nest to our place.

I looked up some ways to feed him and found out really good ways like mashed up dog food.

So now Henry is still with us and eating EVERY 20 mins and is eating 3 worms in between the mashed up dog food every 20 mins.

Henry's eyes OPEN yesterday

My mom and dad NEVER thought he would survive but Henry is a strong little Chipping Sparrow. (: <3

Jun 04, 2010

alternate ending to a similar story
by: Lori

I too found a baby chipping sparrow on my patio. It was very young...eyes not open yet.

I searched for the nest, but to no avail. I decided to take it in and find out what I could on the internet about caring for it.

After reading how important it was to put the nestling back where it belonged, I sat on the patio trying to figure out what to do.

Suddenly I noticed a sparrow flying in and out of a large shrub under my kitchen window.

I brought out the step ladder to get a closer look. After my investigation, I decided this must be his nest. The birds inside appeared to be the same age.

I went back for the nestling, climbed the ladder, with the agitated mom very close by, and gently placed him in the nest with his siblings promising her that I would not bother them anymore:)

Feeling very happy that I was able to give nature a little hand, I went about life for the next two days.

This morning, as I did a little gardening around the patio, I noticed that I had not seen the mother or father sparrow flying in and out of the shrub.

I decided to take a peek and found that the nest had been abandoned and all of the babies were dead!

When I finally found the nest the first time, I wondered how the baby had gotten some 20 feet from the nest.

Now I think possibly the parents had removed it themselves for some unknown reason or else, against popular thought, the parents DID reject it after I had handled it.

Either way, I feel awful and next time I will either let nature take its course or just try to care for the bird myself.

In this case, only one bird may have perished rather than all 3:(

Aug 25, 2008

fledgling found in Pa
by: Anonymous

I too have had a recent similar experience....On a Sat.

I noticed something in the grass prior to mowing the yard. I realized it was a baby bird bald with no feathers.

I did find its nest and placed it back...only to have the darn thing fall out a couple of hours later.

Took me a bit to figure out that after the mother was feeding...when it left it was tipping the nest and the little guy would topple out.

I moved the nest up to another branch and it worked....This past Sat. (1 week later) the baby is fully winged and cagey.

You can tell it was ready to go!...Sure enough after I kept my eye on it for a couple of hours...It was gone.

Thinking it fell again...I looked around and didn't see him. I shook the tree slightly and he flew out and made it quite a ways before landing on the ground.

All seemed ok and the mother did find the baby, fed it and led it to a planter area.

Nature does work mysteriously, and am truly fascinated at the whole progression.

Jul 10, 2008

Amazing
by: Tina Gerlach

Christa,
This is such an amazing and wonderful story, it brought a tear to my eyes.

I too think nature is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. It's nice to know that there are caring people like you in this world that realize the importance of nature and how to live with it, not against it.

SO proud to know you.

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