On July 5, 2003, I received a call from my friend at the vet hospital to tell me that there was a baby bird that needed care. I had been waiting for the opportunity to help a little orphaned bird with the intention of releasing it into the wild.

I went to pick it up and found a tiny 4 day old sparrow with a severely infected right eye and a badly splayed right leg. She was pink and naked except for some fuzz on her head and tiny pin pricks sticking out of her wings. She had a lot of spirit and drive to eat every 20-30 minutes, and was very demanding.

It was immediately apparent that this was not a releasable bird and that we would do best to treat her eye, try to force her leg into a more normal position and make friends with her. This is what we did and over the next 2 weeks. Baby Bird, who we also called Sweetie, became a beautiful, adorable brown house sparrow.

She would take naps in my hand, loved to be hand fed (a much more efficient way of eating if you are a bird), and started to fly in a clumsy, beginner way. Since she had only one functional eye, it was hard for her to maneuver around obstacles, so we had to intervene and give her flying lessons. We would hold her 3 feet away from her cage and let her fly to it. Eventually, we were able to move back far enough so that she was able to get around the living room and kitchen area like a pro. Although her legs were not in proper alignment, she learned to perch on our shoulders and fingers, and also figured out how to get around her cage. Although she wasn’t crazy about the cage, we used it like a dog crate. It was a safe place for her to be when we couldn’t be there to watch her. She soon decided it was a good place to eat her seed, and rest in her little basket nest. We kept the small cage as she isn’t good at changes in her “stuff” and she is out so much it didn’t seem that exercise and freedom were a problem.

She made her food preferences well known. She never missed a meal of Special K WITH milk, loved grapes and mozzarella cheese. Pizza, hard boiled eggs, lettuce, apples, cookies, corn, broccoli, chicken soup- noodles, carrots, and chicken, are among her favorite foods.

Baby Bird has become an important member of our family. She is sweet and friendly with all our family members. She has her routine down and seems to enjoy knowing what’s coming next. She gets a grape every morning, along with toast and her special seed treats. She gets a variety of other foods during the day as I come in and out from working. She likes to eat with her family, and she isn’t shy about taking what she wants. She takes a bath in her little yellow bowl and enjoys the fuss we all make over her. Her bedtime routine includes one last fly around, a snack, and a special tissue in her basket nest.

She is fun to have around. She flies around playfully, sits with us when we are together, and loves to help with computer work. Baby Bird takes quiet time naps in my hand and likes to sit with me when I do paper work or just watch the birds outside. She sits on my shoulder when I cook, visit with friends or do homework with the kids. Her songs and chatter are a pleasant part of our noisy household.

She is now 1 ½ years old and we are happy to have such a wonderful little bird sharing our lives.

Article © Melissa Shapiro DVM 2005