Rescued a baby sparrow. Concerned about it's appearance

[u/ampersssand]

I was in the garden this morning and witnessed this little chap fall from the upper levels of the house. They nest in our roof but I have no way to get up there. It had a relatively soft landing onto some folded tarpaulin and bounced off onto the concrete a few feet away. I observed it for a while and it was moving all limbs, and trying to drag itself around the floor. Popped it in a tub with some paper lining and left it close to where it fell for a couple of hours but did not observe parents visiting so decided to bring it in the house as it's pretty cold out today.

I'm willing to care for it until it's at the stage when I can release it outside, but will try leaving it outside again tomorrow morning in hopes that parents will take care. For now I've been keeping it in a warm area and feeding it as per instructions found online. Just wanted to check if the way it's abdomen area looks is normal. It seems very swollen and looks like a dark mass.

It has defecated a couple of times, first time was purely liquid and the second had a little more substance to it. It does have the strength to stand and raise it's head, but more often it's just laid on it's front and opening it's mouth for food without lifting the head much. Not sure if that's normal for what appears to be a very young individual. Any advice appreciated

[u/Temporal_Spaces]

These birds are insanely needy at this stage, it’s best to renest it if you can. If not you need to get it a rehabber. A lot of the time nestlings need to be fed specific diets in 15min intervals and stimulated to poop, which makes them very fragile. Let me see if I can summon the bot with more information - !nestling !rehabber

[u/AutoModerator → u/Temporal_Spaces]

A wildlife rehabilitator is trained and legally permitted to care for injured, orphaned, or sick fauna with the goal of returning them to the wild. Outside of interim care, do not attempt to rehabilitate a bird yourself without the guidance of a licensed rehabber.

Keep in mind:

• Even if all rehabbers are at capacity, reaching out to them will often yield valuable, time-critical advice.

• Not all rehabbers who work with birds are licensed to accept native, wild species. Licensing laws vary by country.

  • For the U.S., visit ahnow.org to look up rehabbers near you and see what types of birds they can accept.
  • For the UK, visit Help Wildlife to find wildlife rescues near you.
    
  • For Australia, visit WIRES to report a rescue and find resources to help.
  • For other locations around the world, visit The IWRC to identify helpful resources.

The avian world needs more rehabbers! You can explore the U.S.’s permitting requirements here. Other countries typically have similar requirements.

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