Posted by janet on June 5, 2005

Q: For the past two weeks we had a bird-house full of baby sparrows. Just this morning the mama bird was feeding them, as usual. Now, this afternoon, they are GONE. They still looked very funny this morning (small, fuzzy, all lips and beak) and it is hard to believe that they could actually have flown away?! What do you think is going on? I dont hear or see them anywhere.

I read on another website that when the babies leave the nest they return to it to sleep for a little while. It is dusk now and they are not back. What do you think?

thank you -

janet

A: All sounds as though it is progressing normally. Baby birds reach a point when they're ready to leave the nest and are called fledglings. Although they may not be able to fly well, they can hop around the ground and/or flutter up into low tree branches. Over the next few days their flying ability quickly improves. During this time the parents will continue feeding their babies - they're not abandonded. As time passes, the parents will feed their babies less and less as the babies begin to feed themselves. This is often the time when well-meaning people find a baby bird, think it has been abandonded, and bring it in to their home to "rescue" it.

Your baby sparrows will NOT return to the nest to sleep although the parents may decide to renest there. Looks to me as though you'll have some more sparrows flying around you home in the near future. Thanks for your question.

John Wiessinger ( June 6, 2005)