www.tropicalbirdsforum.com - Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind

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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/07/23 18:52 I found a rather mature male fledgling house sparrow that apparently is lacking eyes. I have been hand feeding it a diet appropriate to a house sparrow at it's age. There was no parent taking care of this bird. I suspect the mother abandoned the bird at the stage where the bird should start eating on its own. In the mid-80's I had a male house sparrow (who had a broken leg that healed wrong), and I am familiar with their calls.

I cannot see any eyes whatsoever, and the eye sockets are sunken into the bird's skull. There are no signs of infection or injury and therefore I suspect a genetic birth defect is the cause of this bird's blindness. The bird's eyelids remain practically closed and the bird relies on sound and touch. The bird is able to fly as it flew vertically for a few feet and landed on a chandelier so I am not 100% sure if it is totally blind. I still have to do a vision/motion test with extreme contrast. But I know that the bird cannot see me or any objects as I have other pets and the bird shows absolutely no fear being within inches of my dogs and cat. I did that one time to see if the bird would respond. I guess the parent(s) could not teach him about predators.

The bird has a healthy appetite and has started to drink a little water. It preens itself and plays with objects (pretty amazing as the bird is totally blind). The bird has no fear of humans and wants companionship as these birds are gregarious in nature. It responds to my calls as I can imitate a few of the calls. But I just don't know all of them. I hope I can train it to eat/drink on its own.

I was wondering if anybody has any experience in caring for blind birds.

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/07/23 19:22

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aloha
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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/07/24 14:56 I have not

But I just wanted to say - you're remarkable. my compliments. it is hard caring for a healthy bird. let alone one who can't see

do you think he suffers?

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jonrf

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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/07/26 06:01 Today he started to sing softly while he was sitting in my hand. I don't think he suffers any. He has good balance and hearing. He only scratches his head while preening and doesn't seem to be in any pain.

Thank you for you compliments

I raised some rescued house sparrows in the mid-80's when I was younger. In that case, the newly hatched chicks fell from a tall bird house during a severe storm. One of the 3 birds broke it's leg during the fall, but I didn't notice it until he started to stand up on his own. His two sisters were released later, but I ended up keeping him. He made a great pet and I trained him to untie difficult knots for a peanut treat. He became a pro at this and other puzzle games. He even learned to recognize the word "peanut"! And would get so happy that he would flutter his wings even as a mature adult.

Yes, it is a bit difficult. I know how to imitate a few of their calls, but I guess I have to study up on the rest somehow. Since the bird probably never seen anything in it's life, it doesn't know anything different. The bird again is very tame, or the parents could never teach it what dangers look/sound like. That's what he should be learning right now - what foods are good and safe to eat and what dangerous animals look like.

Being altricial in nature, these birds MUST learn how to survive by their parents. For the bird I had in the 80's, he visually imprinted on me when his little eyes opened some days after rescuing them. That made it easy to train him and keep him. But this little guy is going to be different and may prove difficult. He is at the last stages of baby birdhood. The next stage is what's going to be a challenge. I am going to buy some millet sprigs to hang in his cage for him to play with and ultimately eat. I had him next to some flowers yesterday and he discovered a dried up flower head. He started pulling at it and when he had it pulled free he started chewing on it but it was rather big and he dropped it. Watering is going to be the other challenge.

I have to get a new rodent waterer as the one I have has no ball valve and the water stays within the tube. I figure if he finds it he'll nibble on it and soon will discover that its water.

I figure he will learn that the water is on one side and food on the other. And once he graduates to this stage and starts to eat and drink - he'll do fine.

He's very attentive to sounds and seems only to become frightened by squeals and the hissing of a water faucet. I have two dogs and he doesn't mind them at all even when they bark.

If his condition is a result of a genetic mutation, as I suspect, he never could see and doesn't know anything but being without sight.

I will post his first song tomorrow.

Again, thanks for your sympathy.

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/07/31 06:39

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jonrf

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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/07/28 02:29 I know I said I was going to post his first song, but I need to find the cable I use to connect my cell phone inorder to transfer and convert the audio.

I spoke with a local ornithologist/wildlife rehabber just a little while ago, and he told me I was doing everything fine. Since young male house sparrows look almost identical to females, I was pretty sure that my bird was a male just because he sounded like a male when he chirped. I told him about my bird's song, and he confirmed that only males sing. He even offered to treat my bird for free if I ever needed it!

Aside from the somewhat darker and browner back, beak and feet, my bird looks just like a female. Some juvenile males can have pinkish beaks and feet, but mine does not.

I bought some millet spray sticks today so he should be happy when I introduce it to him. I had him outside for a few hours yesterday and today. He seems really happy to hear his kind and shows no sign of distress. Whenever I hear their "come here" chirps I make my calls to let him know that I am next to him and that everythings fine. He just settles down and puffs up his throat patch and begins to sing softly in contentment.

Yesterday, a group of house sparrows became rather concerned when they noticed me and my bird. One female in particular was rather upset and came some feet away from us sounding mad and staring at us both, especially when he opened up his big mouth expecting some food - the whole lot of females really became unglued realizing it was a youngster. I quickly went inside and brought out his food and fed him in front of the female (who I suspect is the mother) and several of his relatives. Instantly they all calmed down and fully became aware that I was taking good care of him especially when they heard him sing and saw him snuggle up in the hollow of my hand.

Today the whole group of house sparrows (15+) spent the rainy day between my neighboor's yard and mine. And were fine with my presence. And they were feeding from the feeders and some of them fed the few remaining fledglings regurgitated birdseed. That only told me that I should continue changing his diet to consist of mainly grain and seed. I even noticed where the adult birds went to get some grit after they had eaten. I started to add small quantities of the same grit as I leave more bits of seeds in his food. I had to guess on the size of grit but I think I got it right.

I remember those same sparrows were very timid, and if I even just glanced at one of them for a second they all would fly away at once. But since I showed them my little happy bird is safe with me, I can just sit and watch them at the feeder, and they seem to be comfortable with us now. It is amazing how intelligent these little birds are.

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/07/31 06:29

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/07/31 06:43

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jonrf

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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/07/29 03:24 Here's what his song sounded like a few days ago, I need to make another recording as he is improving the melody and tone quality. Today he sounded like a parakeet minus the loud Ch! Ch! Ch!...

In this recording you will notice the raspy tones but the complexity of his song is rather broad.

http://www.jonrf.com/firstsong.mp3

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aloha
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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/07/29 07:22 I'm reading this with great interest. I cannot do anything else but repeat my compliments: you are doing a t-e-r-r-i-f-i-c job!!! He does sound very content on the recording, indeed

I am so very happy you write about your experiences with this little guy here. I gather it is a quite handful of work but it also is so very rewarding, isn't it? I mean to see the acceptance of the flock of sparrows and that this little fellow looks so content?

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jonrf

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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/07/31 06:03 I had the little guy for just over one week now and lives in my room now. Just the other day I got him use to my AC window unit. His appetite is increasing again - he's even attempting to eat seed on his own. I am going to add a small water dish on the bottom and away from his perches. I eventually will try to find a branch that I can trim to fit in the upper corner for him to roost for the night in.

I may eventually look for a larger cage if he starts to fly a lot, but even though he can fly he knows the space inside the cage and sits in a few places. Every once in a while he'll climb up the side of the cage. Just fluttering to make it easy to get up.

Eventually, I will probably add a blog on him. Could I copy these posts and make a link back to this site? I ask because I notice you are the admin.

I still have to do more research on the genetic angle. It seems that there were just one pair of house sparrows that were introduced into Central Park back in 1850. All the stock in the millions of these little guys come from that one couple. There are varying reports that another pair or two maybe were latter released elsewhere in the New York City area. That means the genetic viability of all their offspring from these few individuals have sustained their entire genetic biodiversity in the U.S. for over 160+ years. One sparrow's brood of about 3-5 chicks can become over a thousand birds in about five years according to one paper.

There was a pigeon breeder, who was crossbreeding pigeons for over three decades, and around 1940 he had discovered a white Carneau female that had a very similar condition. The pigeon had rudiments of eyes that were non functional and were about 2 millimeters in diameter. She had miniscule eyelids as well. That pigeon had offspring of her own even though she was completely blind.

I want to know just how rare the condition may be. But it is difficult to know since any bird being born blind would have little to no hope in surviving more than a month and we may never be able to survey enough of them to get an accurate idea.

For now he's happy with me.

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/07/31 06:22

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jonrf

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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/08/12 20:57 Well, he's starting to eat seed on his own! And he knows where the water is at too. I have actually seen him swallow the seed whereas before he would spit out the dehulled kernels. He took a supervised outdoor dust bath yesterday (he is learning that he's my bird) and takes a regular bird bath once or twice a week now on his own.

He is learning to hover in the air and tries to remember where I am at so he could land on me if he gets scared for one reason or another. At times he loves to dance on the back of my hand and sing. He still likes to nestle in my palm and take a nap or just sit there with his head pointing up waiting for me to gently pet the back of his head/neck. We can communicate a few things to eachother now.

I can chirp to ask him if he's hungry enough to want to be hand fed. I can tell him to wait a bit as I get the food. He can ask me where am I? And I can tell him where I am at or to come to me. All in his language. I spend about a hour a day outside with him and I have been closely watching the habits of the sparrows that live near my house. I learned a few calls recently by watching the other adults.

In other words, he's well on his way to become a special-abled bird who can eat, drink, and play on his own, but he really loves being with me or near me.

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/08/12 20:59

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aloha
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Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/08/13 09:10 OH,Wow! These are stories I don't hear every day!! Sounds so incredible. You are really doing unbelievably good work there, Jonrf

I bet you must be feeling how special this is, no?
I don't know about the incidence of birds born blind because of their genetic pattern (or a mishap in that). But it sure sounds interesting.

Yes sure: go ahead and please copy what you write here - You wouldn't even need to ask: you're author!! And I would be delighted if you's place a link to this forum. That way we will be able to follow the progress very closely

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jonrf

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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/08/13 10:01 So, I am trying to learn more of the “language” of these birds as they have words for different things and communicate among the group or with one another...

When sparrows call for each other over some distance, where they cannot see the other bird, they usually make a loud two note whistle sound that slides upward in pitch and repeat it until another bird answers in acknowledgement and/or arrives in reply.

I have noticed a quieter call like this when a bird wants to find another bird that was nearby and which is hidden from sight and will fly to the other bird that it was trying to find when the second bird answers back.

I know how to make a few of their calls myself, but I need to learn their other calls and know when or how to use a certain call. These are the distinctive calls I have heard house sparrows make so far:

1. alarm chirp (med) - when one is startled, disturbed or suddenly confused.

2. contentment grunts (quiet) - usually when a rather hungry or happy bird is feasting.

3. love call (med/quiet) like #8 but softer and quieter and with repeated cooing. Males do this when entering their occuped nests. And my bird has done this call back and forth with me all the while getting a bit closer and closer to me and smiling (throat patch puffs up and body language is more dance like).

4. singing for hapiness/contentment (quiet) - multiple sounds and various parts of other calls. My juvenile male observed and recorded doing this. May be with dancing depending on activity level and mood.

5. mating song (loud/variable) - mulltiple bursts of three notes in different orders and volume along with a dance in front of female.

6. defensive "watch out" shouts (med/loud) - sparrow warning another to stay back. Sounds like "Eeerrr'.!.... Eeerrr'! Eeerrr'!"

7. angry at a dangerous animal/person - multiple angry calls in quick succession usually other members of the group join in this behavior.

8. rallying call - a loud whistle that slides about two octaves - signal to others to cooperate in order to get food like overcoming a large insect.

9. individual call - the common loud "phillip!" chirp usually associated with these birds. Most likely an announcement as its sound is unique among individuals. In addition to adults, fledglings also use this call to seek food from both parents. May be used to attract certain individuals as they recognize each one’s particular ‘voice’.

10. the loud (questioning) contact call to one another over some distance in order to locate individuals of the group beyond the range of sight (~1 city block). Higher pitch and volume than the close range location call.

11. dual warning calls (loud) - made to intimidate or draw the attention of a predator away from their young or identify a danger to others. Sounds like "Eeerrr'!, Eeerrr'!"

12. assembly call (food call?) - a bit like the love call but louder like the group call. It is shorter and not as loud as the group rallying call. It also consists of the three unique pitches and sound of the individual call.

13. close range contact call – like the distance contact call but lower in pitch and duration as well as in volume. Usually when a bird wants to know where a certain bird is when they loose track of where they were just at. This call may possibly have multiple functions or usage like the individual call.

14. Roosting call ??? (Need verification through observing wild individuals)

The book "Teaching Your Bird to Talk" stated house sparrows have 11 calls while a scientific paper gives 20. I have counted 13 so far that I have verified.

They may indeed have a roosting call as do other birds. My bird makes a wierd chirp and acts like he wants to fly up to a higher location just a little ways away. When When I place him in his cage on the top perch, he settles down and rests.

When he becomes active, and after he stretches his wings, he may move up and down as if gathering courage to jump up and take those first strokes to get airborne. If I can tell he wants to go away from me just to fly or something else I take him to his cage. Sometimes I just chirp at him and he calms down when he doesn't know where I am at or I can gently touch his back to make him change his mind about flying. And other times I can place him in the middle of my hand and make a cup and he will dig out a nest and sleep or sit content. If I can see that a noise just scared him I will move/take him away from the area or reassure him that is okay. Needless to say, I want to speak his language to him more or less and teach him new things more and more.

They may have a call for water. I have to set up a bird bath outside away from the food to see if they announce the fact. Alot of birds cry out "hawk" to warn other birds of different species that a bird of prey is in sight. And some also do this for snakes and cats.

The song this little male consists of other sounds and would suggest that they have more specific calls in addition to the ones I have listed here or they may be other sounds he has adopted into his song.

Birds can have regional dialects as well that make some common calls slightly different. And usually a young male bird will "learn" his particular song and master it, borrowing portions it hears from others and buiding a unique pattern of the various sounds, notes, or melodies. Some birds only repeat their father's call and some birds add calls from other species like the mockingbird. In the case with house sparrows, they usually imprint visually and thusly they recognize their own. But they can get confused when they have imprinted on people. Either the bird thinks they are a person and mimic them or they think that the person is like them. It is known that sparrows when raised with other birds will incorporate their sounds and styles.He acts and sounds completely house sparrow, except for his glorious singing (only when he is outside). I have heard him use all sorts of house sparrow sounds with other sounds when he does sing like this.

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/08/13 11:40

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jonrf

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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/14 20:41 Just a quick update. He is now a little over 10 weeks old and is starting to get his adult coloration. I will post some pictures this week. I have also found him a new friend, well sort of...

A 20-week-old (what I thought was a) male who cannot stand or perch. I found her wet and cold and somewhat dehydrated. He(she) is totally wild and likes to bury his(her) head like an ostrich. He(she) can flutter horizontally but stays low to the ground, most likely because he(she) can not perch. After two days has recovered from dehydration and is getting active and a bit curious. I have him(her) in a seperate cage near my bird so he(she) can watch and see when I give my bird attention.

My bird is getting rather fond of me and still sings after I feed him and snuggle with him and he chirps to me. Hopefully this will help the depressed one get out of his shell.

I might as well start a "HOSP Hospital" (lol)

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/09/25 03:59

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jonrf

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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/14 20:45 I have had one person who e-mailed me about taking care of a blind sparrow that they had found. So, I will post this link for anyone who has need of help in raising baby birds:

http://www.starlingtalk.com/babycare.htm

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aloha
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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/16 06:11 Jonr, absolutely amazing! It gives so much pleasure reading this. I bet next you will sit with a bird snuggling in each hand

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jonrf

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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/16 07:46

Here are some videos I took with my cell phone...

At the park (9 days ago):
http://www.jonrf.com/video/09-07-09_1920_enhanced.wmv

Taking a dust bath (8-24-2009):
http://www.jonrf.com/video/08-24-09_1740_dustbath_enhanced.wmv

Singing in a tree (8-28-2009):
http://www.jonrf.com/video/08-28-09_1925_tree_enhanced.wmv

Playing around indoors (8-21-2009):
http://www.jonrf.com/video/08-21-09_1839_blanket_enhanced.wmv

Preening and singing in cage (8-07-2009):
http://www.jonrf.com/video/08-07-09_1746_preening_and_singing_enhanced.wmv

I used my Motorola RAZR v3 cell phone to record these. I *HAD* to use video restoration software as the original videos were all pixelated and fuzzy.

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/09/16 07:49

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aloha
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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/16 09:06 I saw excerpts of it Jonrf - only excerpts because the clips automatically open with WMP and take ages to download. (While I have a very fast internet connection). Perhaps I can see them with another program?

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What is this bird?
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probably a kingfisher

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jonrf

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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/18 08:58 I just uploaded these videos to YouTube. From there the videos should stream better.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jonrf0

I'm sorry that the server I use/rent is not set up to stream video. You can right-click the links to save the video or watch them on YouTube. If you download the videos you should be able to watch them without interuption from your hard drive.

The last video is the largest one at 57.4 MB (due to length of recording). The others, starting from the top, are 5.9 MB, 10.9 MB, 10.1 MB, and 12.8 MB. I am in the U.S. and no one here has said anything about my site/server being slow.

Post edited by: jonrf, at: 2009/09/18 09:10

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marnie
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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/24 22:01 I raised a completely blind sparrow, and he lived for 8 years - happily. One thing that made his life better was I downloaded house sparrow songs on line and looped them together on a CD that could be repeated. He had his own "tunes" and enjoyed singing with his friends. Before that, I put his cage outside so that he could hear other sparrows, but a kestral attacked him (didn't see it coming). He survived, but I didn't ever leave him outside unprotected again. It is important to always keep the cage the same and have a routine -especially treat routines. He love apple slices, baby bok choi, and spray millet.
Good luck! I loved that bird with all my heart.

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jonrf

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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/25 03:46 It's great to hear about your bird! How young was he when you started to raise him?

This little guy definately is loved and happy. He even snuggles up to me and has even enjoyed preening my hair. He only sings when he is awake, well-fed and happy/content. Even hearing the sounds of the various insects all around can get him to sing. A few times I brought him in while still singing and held him near the screen door for him to keep singing. But when I bring him into my room, he quiets down.

He is *very* keen on discerning the direction of the sound(s). It took him some weeks to figure out the elevation of the source of the noise, whether above or below him by tilting his head a few times. Now it seems that he can do that without repeated head tilting. I had experimented with surround sound (6.1) and he did enjoy sounds of rain forests. I know if I were to find a way to make good recordings of sounds from outside the house and then find a way to create the 3D seperation, he would be singing more.

I had considered this doing this before so that he would tell the time of day. I was worried that he get off schedule or season due to not being able to tell how long each day was getting. Now it seems that he is following my schedule. Sometimes he stays up late but that's somewhat rare, and it is usually because he is somewhat hungry still or something's bothering him.

I've tried to find some songs online but they were almost always fighting calls or babies crying for food. I am looking for "peaceful" sounds. I had found a few channels on YouTube that other house sparrow owners have put together.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Hellamund
http://www.youtube.com/user/trowuttatwo

He enjoys some of their videos where birds are communicating between eachother or with a person.

The other sparrow I recently rescued turns out to be a young female who is about a month or two older that he is. She is quiet. I think I heard a faint pip come from here *ONCE*! I don't think he even understands that there a genuine female house sparrow living nearby - he can't tell.

This last week he gained the instinct of tucking eggs under him. He tried to move one of my fingertips in this fashion so I kind of followed along as if it was a little egg. So there are some paternal skills he is developing. It did cross my mind about having the two mate but she is not interested in him as of yet. She never says anything and he only sings with me. He treats my hands as he would a nest. Before I found the female, I had considered making a toy nest for him to play with or to sleep in for something to do. I don't know but they are like polar opposites. One sings, one is quiet. One can perch and fly, the other can not. One is blind, etc.

How did you introduce your sparrow to taking treats?

I still am hand feeding at a few times a day. He eats some seed and I used spray millet to get him doing that much but he prefers to be fed and rather enjoys the whole process. He tells me that he is hungry or sometimes I can ask him first. He gets beside himself out of anticipation of being taken out of his cage and perching on my finger as he chirps his way to the kitchen. I usually chirp some back so he knows what I am doing and he knows if I chip more excitedly it is time to open his beak. But he has to be rather hungry for a meal and not a little bit.

I again am happy to met someone who has experience in raising/keeping a blind house sparrow.

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marnie
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Re:Found fledgling house sparrow that is blind - 2009/09/25 05:47 I found Fossey in the middle of a street no doubt after his first flight from the nest. One look at him, no eyes whatsoever, and I knew he would come home with me. I hand fed him for several weeks and gradually got him interested in seed by placing him in a small flat bowl and tapping the seed. His cage was a 16X16X24" flight cage. I used the "soft perches" that screw into the cage sides. He didn't like to get drinks on his own after a bad experience in a water dish that had too much water, so I used small round bowls - the type used for herps. He would drink on his own, but much preferred an offering from me. I introduced him to treats by placing the treat through the bars onto a perch. One area was for apples, one for millet, one for bok choi. He didn't like surprises. He also loved blueberry muffins from my hand or along a perch.
I made recordings of singing birds to keep him company. They cheered him up. My vet found them for me, but I can't attach them to this site.
He also liked to nest in the palm of my hand and would settle in any time I offered my hand.
Fossey's diurnal schedule was easy for him because he could hear the other birds wind up and wind down.
After the hawk attacked him, he preferred being in the house, although sometimes I put his cage by the window so he could hear the birds outside. We have several birds & dogs at home and Fossey liked to hear everyone. When I walked into the house he was the first to greet me.
He died because he got an infection where his eye was and rubbed the area often. The infection spread to his system and after 8 wonderful years he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
One thing he taught me and everyone who knew him, was even a bird with a disability can have a full life.
I read a wonderful book, Providence of a Sparrow: lessons learned from a Life Gone to the Birds by Chris Chester that describes how much a bird can change your life and how amazing the house sparrows are. You would appreciate this book.
Have you put the female sparrow together with the male? My vet felt a blind bird could be vulnerable to partners, but you never know,

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jonrf

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