Crookneck sparrow.. recovered thanks to BYC!!

[crazy hen quartet]

Just under two weeks ago I found a baby sparrow that had fallen from a palm tree in my back yard. I know people say put them back in the nest, but those of you with 30 ft tall palm trees know that just isn't an option. Plus, within a day of rescuing him I noticed he was holding his head down and to one side. I thought maybe this was just a baby bird lack of coordination thing, but it started getting worse to the point he began backwards somersaulting. Kindof funny at first, but then I realized we had a problem and this little guy wasn't going to live if he kept getting worse.

It started out like this:

And before long turned to this:

Thanks to this forum I did a bunch of research and started him up on Vitamin E, selenium and vitamin B. It's a little tricky trying to figure out how to dose a bird that weighs half an ounce, but I figured he was going to die if I didn't try so we had nothing to lose. I started him on two drops from a 200UI capsule of vit E twice a day along with a few sprinkles of selenium and a razor blade scrape of a B complex pill.

We started seeing improvements in about 36-48 hours, and as of yesterday (about 9 days of treatment) he hasn't had any unnatural head/neck stuff that I can tell. He also started flying small lengths yesterday, and likes to spend most of his time on people's shoulders playing with freckles, necklines, earlobes and stray hairs.

We call him "Tordu" which is french for "crooked". Not sure what the future holds for him as I understand he likely can't successfully re-integrate into the "wild" of urban bird life, at this time our plan is to teach him to forage for food and then put a birdcage on the back porch with food and water.. and leave the door open.

Thanks to nifty for this great site, it helps more than chickens!!

 

[Chick-a-roos]

Oh, how sweet! The little sparrow "Tordu" is very lucky to have someone with a HUGE heart find him!

Such an amazing recovery.

 

[artsyrobin]

That is a wonderful story! i have a rescued sparrow, she was found paralized and vitamins and lots of time pulled her out of it, found a great pet sparrow group on yahoo, http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/passerdomesticus
they are easy to rerelease if raised with siblings, but a single sparrow, they don't know they aren't people....

my sparrow loves interacting with my silkies..

 

[crazy hen quartet]

Thanks for the link OKrobin!

So I was wondering about this today, I was doing my backyard morning chores and Tordu was riding around on my shoulder. I kept thinking - what would I do if he/she just flew over the wall? I can imagine someone coming across him and all he does is sit there chirping, fluttering his wings and gaping waiting to be fed.

Do you keep your sparrow inside or outside? this little critter has no fear of anything, including our cat (luckily the cat is afraid of birds due to a peck on the nose by a chicken in the past) and I really wonder if by keeping him outside I might be sentencing him to an early demise.

 

[artsyrobin]

Most definately keep her inside, i am an artist and Clare lives in the art studio, here is a link to her story
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgortonart/sets/72157594503801179/

the problem is a lone hand raised sparrow knows nothing about dangers, and taking her outside is risking alot. She is imprinted on you and you are her flock. Clare loves talking to the other birds outside, and interacting with my silkies and finches. as far as the cat goes, i would keep your little one in their own space, and when she is out, have the cat in another room- i am glad you joined the pet sparrow list, they are a wonderful help! i have sheer curtains over the doors so there is no risk of any of my birds getting out- as they are human imprinted.

 

[chickensioux]

Yay for you and Tordu!!!

 

[JennsPeeps]

Bien joue!

 

[Ducklove334]

very cute,

but you're going to need to keep her/him,

he/she will never survive as you've fed and cared for her, become bonded to you.

we found a baby european starling last year, we had to keep hi, because he was about 3 days old when we found him, pink and blind.

he became inprinted on us, he lived for 7 months, then got really sick, and died within a few days, it had always been hard to keep wieght on him, we were thinking he had a digestion problem.

my grandmother had a sparrow she'd founf as a baby who had a crooked leg, he lived for 9 years.

 

[KayP]

Unbelievable dedication. You rock, Crazy, and Tordu is a lucky little bird. How do you know he's a he?

 

[crazy hen quartet]

Thanks Kay.

I don't actually know he is a he, I just call him he because.. well, he is a pest. Always must be with us, always talking loudly, always must be on a shoulder or in someones hair (literally) and likes to nibble on earlobes and play tug of war with shirt collars and sleeves. Seems like a rambunctious boy to me!

I guess we will find out when he molts and grows in his big bird feathers. He does seem to have a dark patch developing under his chin, which i hear is a bib that only males get. Not sure tho if I am just seeing things.