Saving Young Birds

name         Nory
status      educator
grade        4-5
location     FL

Question -   I am so glad I found this website.  I am a teacher
and at the school where I work there are alot of Hoise Sparrow
nests.  I found a baby about 3 weeks ago.  I thought it was going
to die and since I work in the 5th grade wing I didn't want the
students torturing the animal.  I picked it up and kept it, to my
surprise it opened its beak and aloud me to feed it.  She is now at
home in a cage and very spoiled, I let her out and she flies around
the house. She eats some seeds I bought for her and still calls me
to feed her.  My question is have I reached the point of no return
in the sense that I cannot reintroduce her to her habitat?  I tried
releasing her in my back yard and she didn't take to it to well,
she came back down to me.  I do not want her to be unhappy.  What
should I do?   Thanks     Nory
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I hope this reply is in time to help. The sparrow, like all young songbirds,
would be fed by its parents for a few days after it left its nest, so it is
still dependent on you for food. Put a little food out for it and leave it
alone, and it will fare as well as any other fledgling bird.
You should know that taking in native wild birds, even for the most sincere
reasons, is illegal, and if necessary they should be taken to licensed
rehabilatators. House sparrows, though, are not native to the U.S. and along
with starlings and pigeons, are not covered by the US Migratory Bird Act,
and there is no law against taking them in.

J. Elliott
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