What do little sparrows eat. What cereal can be given to birds in the winter in the feeder? Is it possible to feed birds in the winter feeder with millet, corn, wheat, pearl barley, barley groats, buckwheat, oats, oatmeal, rice, oatmeal? Is it possible to use a mixture

If you find a house sparrow chick, you should learn how to take care of it, but before you take it for yourself, make sure that it is an orphan. The mortality rate among captive-bred birds is high, so if possible, it is best to return the chick to its parents.

Steps

How to Avoid Common Mistakes

Make sure the chick is really left without parents. If it has feathers, it is a fledgling that is learning to fly, so it should be left on the ground. Take the chick only if it is threatened by a predator or if the parents do not return within an hour. If the chick has no feathers, it must be in the nest, so look for a nest somewhere nearby. Carefully lift the bird and return it to the nest.

Take care of your health. Pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are advised not to touch wild chicks. They can be carriers of infections (for example, salmonella), which is transmitted to humans.

Always be hygienic when handling birds. Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling the bird. Place trash in a disposable bag.

Try to avoid undue influence on the bird. If the bird communicates too much with a person, it will decide that he is her parent, which will stop being afraid of people. This will make it harder for you to release it. If you just want to hold the bird until it gets stronger, do not pick it up, especially during feeding. You should keep the bird's innate fear of man.

Don't give the bird water. The chicks receive food in the form of insects from their parents and they do not drink water. If you try to give water with a pipette, the chick may inhale the liquid and suffocate.

Watch the chick grow. You can weigh it regularly. Every day before feeding, put the bird on the scales. A healthy chick should gain weight daily.
- If you are going to release a bird into the wild, do not weigh it, because the more often you touch it, the greater your influence on it will be. Weigh the chick only if you want to keep it for yourself.

Feeding the chick

Start giving your chick puppy or cat food soaked in water. Add some baby food to the water. Wet cat and puppy food has a higher protein content and is more similar to what chicks eat in nature. Mash the food until pureed in a shallow bowl.
- If the chick is not yet able to eat on its own, cut the food into small pieces and feed them to the bird with tweezers.
Add as many insects to your food as possible. Sparrows eat dry food (insects and seeds) and also collect live spiders, snails, aphids, caterpillars, and other small invertebrates. Chicks prefer live food.

Add vitamins and minerals to living foods. You can use special additives in powder, which are sold in pet stores. This will make the diet complete, since living food lacks nutrients.

Feed your bird often. If the chick is small, you should put food with tweezers in the open beak, and if the bird can already eat by itself, leave the food in a shallow plate. Remember that it usually takes about two weeks for a bird to learn to eat on its own.
- If the chick is very small and without feathers, it should be fed every half hour. Grown up chicks can be fed every 1-2 hours. When the chick is hungry, it will begin to squeak and open its beak. When he is full, he will stop doing it.
Give water only from the drinker. Little chicks do not know how to drink from a bowl - this can lead to drowning.

The tradition of feeding the birds in winter came from our grandmother - she always laid millet and crumbs on the windowsill for the birds, and in the morning they saw how she was swarming in the kitchen and flew in and pecked at the glass.

We feed the birds with crumbled fat - it remains after cutting meat, millet grains rich in microelements, bread crumbs from the table, cereals left after dinner, etc.

I don’t know how useful this food is for them, but they come to eat every day.

And we always leave mountain ash and viburnum on the trees - by spring they peck clean. We ourselves like to watch this process - chubby bullfinches jump on branches, and in recent years crossbills have become more frequent - so we study bird species.

Bread is not a very healthy food for birds, so it’s better not to feed birds with bread, there’s just not much choice, so they peck at it. And it is better to feed with seeds of different plants: sunflower, pumpkin, melon, watermelon, corn, hemp, quinoa, succession, as well as wheat, oats, millet, millet can be. Grass seeds then need to be prepared in advance, as well as seeds of melons, watermelons, etc. You can lard, but always unsalted. The most versatile food is sunflower seeds, but not fried and unsalted. I regularly buy such seeds for birds (we sell substandard seeds especially for birds - a little garbage, small). Nuts are also suitable for both birds and squirrels.

Birds in winter will be grateful to you for any food that you put in the feeder.

If you put millet, millet, oats, rice into the feeder, you will attract birds such as tits, sparrows, goldfinches, pigeons and others.

Tits, woodpeckers, pigeons are very fond of sunflower seeds.

Everyone probably knows that tits love lard. You can tie a piece of lard on a rope and hang it on a tree branch.

But the crossbills and woodpeckers will like the nuts.

In general, you can pour any cereal that is in the house into the feeder.

In winter, and at any other time of the year, you can feed birds (sparrow, tits, pigeons and others) with sunflower, pumpkin, melon, watermelon seeds. Give them cereals, lard, bread or bread crumbs, grain. You can give them specialized commercial bird food. It is better to prepare food from the summer, I also recommend making you a convenient bird feeder.

In winter, the birds need our help, because the insects are hibernating, there is no grass, the berries have fallen, and the birds want to eat.

Tits can survive without our help, they are rarely seen in the city, they live more often in the forests. But the sparrows are the inhabitants of the city. But there is one BUT. If we feed, then we give a chance to survive to the weak, who will give birth in the spring, the number will increase and there will not be enough food for everyone.

It is necessary to feed the birds in winter, and not to feed them. If there is always an abundance of seeds and fat in the feeders, then the birds will stop looking for food on their own, and these are larvae, berries, seeds.

If there is a choice of food in the feeder, then sparrows will choose seeds, as they are the most nutritious, and an excess of fat will lead to liver disease.

It is necessary to establish a feeding ration, fill the feeder once or twice a day and not in large portions.

Sunny, fried seeds, millet, salted fat, black bread should not be given.

You can give sparrows wheat, white bread, pearl barley, oatmeal, barley.

Sinitsam - low-fat cottage cheese in a small amount, boiled eggs, seeds, lard, beef, butter.

For tits and sparrows, put dried sunflower, pumpkin, watermelon, melon seeds in the feeder. You can also treat the birds with millet, spicy white bread, apple slices and boiled eggs. For these birds it will be very useful to peck at grain cottage cheese, a piece of lard or boiled meat, butter. Sunny, fried and spoiled foods should not be given to birds, because they poison the body of birds with toxins. As a result, the birds can get sick and die.

We feed titmouses, sparrows, bullfinches and other small birds with grain and bread. You can also hang, for example, bacon on a string, they also like to feast on it, the main thing is that it is not salty, and in general, as far as I know, nothing salty can be given to birds.

Every winter I make a feeder for titmouse, bullfinches, and many other small birds, I put millet, bread, small corn, and millet in the feeder. I hang bacon on a small wire, titmouse love bacon more, and then they collect grain and bread.

Feeding the birds in winter is sometimes very difficult, since the feeders are often literally filled with snow, but still this is fixable, the main thing is to make your efforts and a piece of your soul. You can feed with any grain, such as millet, and also do not forget about ordinary bread, and even simple sunflower seeds. When you look at such birds, it even becomes pleasant that they feed with your help.

And this is clearly the question of an animal lover! Yes, it is desirable and very necessary to feed our smaller brothers in winter, especially if there is a lot of snow. When there is no snow, they themselves are able to find food in the form of grains, herbs, waste and other things. And you can't open it under the snow. So it's easy and simple to make such a feeder and throw grain into it: millet, millet, wheat, seeds.

Especially titmouse love fat, as other authors have said. But if you do not have grain in your house, then they will be grateful to you for bread.

By the way, here is an interesting version of the bird feeder. Zest in that there are not just windows, but separate perches, which are convenient to sit on

In the spring, when all the birds begin to have offspring, sometimes you can see the chicks that have fallen out of the nests. small, not fully fledged, yellow-mouthed babies look so defenseless and abandoned that it is simply impossible to pass by. Therefore, many people rush to take them with them in order to save the poor birds, warm them up and feed them. How to feed a sparrow.

If you found a sparrow chick and brought it home to go out, first you need to find a place for it where it will be. A small box may be suitable for this, at the bottom of which you need to lay a cloth made of soft material. Put a foundling in there and make sure he can't jump out of there. Very young chicks may need additional heating. To do this, it is recommended to use a heating pad or a bottle filled with warm water.

So, you picked up a sparrow chick, brought it to your house, equipped temporary shelter and are going to feed the bird. Most importantly, one should not forget that the chicks of insectivorous birds eat food per day, which in volume is 3/4 of their weight. What do sparrows eat? The basis of their diet in nature is made up of small flies, worms, caterpillars, beetles and various larvae. Of course, it is desirable to feed the baby with these insects, but, unfortunately, it will be quite difficult to get them.

You need to know exactly what you can feed the sparrow. For example, under no circumstances should you feed a bird with bread. It can be given quite a bit, after soaking in milk, no more than once every 2-3 days. You can offer the chick a little boiled meat, which should be finely chopped and add oatmeal or grains of some cereals.

Sparrow chick will also eat vegetables- cucumbers, carrots, beets. Before feeding, they must be finely ground and squeezed out excess juice. And you can also feed the baby with a boiled egg and cottage cheese. It is very important to consider that the food for him should be unsalted, since in no case should birds be given salt. You can supplement the diet by adding crushed chalk or coal, the chick will be happy to eat this supplement.

When you try to feed the bird, you need to try to do it so that the baby eats on its own. But if this is not possible, he should be given food, after opening his beak with tweezers. This must be done very carefully so as not to damage the chick. If you are unsure that you can handle this task, it is better to ask someone else.

You need to feed your baby very often, once every 2 hours. Of course, this is very difficult and difficult, but if you wish, you can cope, because you will not allow the newly-made pet you have chosen to die of hunger? And also do not forget that, in addition to food, fresh water should always be near the bird.

Is it worth it to pick up a sparrow chick

sparrow lifestyle

sparrows- small and agile birds, their cheerful chirping can always be heard on the street. Unlike their feathered counterparts, they do not wake up at dawn, but quite late in the morning. Birds love to gather in noisy groups. When spring comes and breeding time comes, males fight for the best nesting sites for a long time. When the house for future babies is ready, the female lays 4 to 6 eggs. When chicks are born, parents begin to worry about their food.

Sparrow chick is considered strong if it opens its beak wide when feeding. Very rarely, but there are cases when cubs that do not eat well are considered weak by parents and thrown out of their house. But such an action on the part of these birds - big exception.

In most cases, chicks fall out of the nests and begin to learn to fly. The first attempts may be unsuccessful, but later the kids gain strength, and they succeed.

If you found a chick

Before you take home a little sparrow chick, you should seriously think about it, maybe it’s still worth leaving it where it was? Most likely, a “fledgling” fell out of the nest - a baby who began to learn to fly and makes his first attempts for this. And the parents of the bird are not far away at this moment, control it and will always be able to bring food to their child until he is on the ground and gets stronger.

Caring for such a baby at home is quite problematic, and many chicks can simply die with improper care or feeding. If there are no dogs or cats nearby, it is better to bring and place a feeder with food where the fallen cub is. Also, do not forget that birds that have grown in captivity can quickly die after they are released to live on the street.

If you found a nest, full of small and yellow-mouthed babies, and you are sure that their parents will not fly back, and you really want to help poor orphans, you can try to feed these chicks. If desired, feeding such birds is a completely solvable task, you just need to first learn more about such babies so as not to inadvertently harm them.

Feeding instructions

First of all, you will definitely need:

pipette;
tweezers;
disposable syringes;
birdseed.

Now you can start feeding. For this you need to do:

You already know that if you happen to see chicks in the spring, it is better not to pick them up. But it may happen that you accidentally find, say, a very small sparrow with a broken leg, or some other injury, and he is completely helpless, then, of course, he will definitely need to be helped and taken care of.

If the chick has not yet fully fledged, it needs to be heated. It is necessary to place the baby in a warm and small bag. To do this, use an old mitten or woolen sock. Make sure he is always warm. After that, you can try to feed the foundling.

Sparrow chick feeding sequence

You will need:

insects (flies, beetles);
tweezers.

The next steps will go like this:

such a baby needs to be fed every hour with a variety of insects with tweezers, flies, spiders, worms, small beetles are suitable. You can try to buy some at the pet store, for example, mealworm larvae. You will need quite a lot of food, so try also giving a boiled egg, minced meat;
when the sparrow opens its beak wide, use tweezers to put an insect into its bird's mouth, which it will subsequently swallow;
if the baby is not yet eating on his own, he does not need to be watered, as this is dangerous, and he may choke. Feed him mushy food with a pipette. When he gets a little stronger and starts eating on his own, put water in a drinking bowl next to him so that the sparrow chick can drink at will;
don't worry about overfeeding your little pet, as birds have a very fast metabolism and need a lot of food. Babies are advised to feed little and often, and if the chick eats a lot of food, but rarely, this will have a very negative effect on his health.

Noticing that the sparrow chick has fallen out of the nest, do not rush to drag it home. Assess the situation. A newborn will have to be monitored a lot: if there is no time, do not take on overwork. It should be fed often, and, most importantly, correctly. There is no possibility - give up the idea. Intervention would be a disservice if the bird accidentally fell from a tree while following its parents. See if they're looking for a baby. If you decide to help the baby, read how to do it right.

Sometimes the chicks fall out of the nests. To understand how to save a sparrow baby, you need to determine the cause. If you find a baby on the ground, look around.

The sparrows themselves will not throw the chick out of the nest. But other birds, swifts, starlings, can win back their homes, getting rid of the "enemy" offspring. In this case, try to drive away the fighters and help the baby.

If the sparrow chick fell out of the nest by accident, return it back. Sometimes babies instinctively reach for their parents, falling from trees. If everything is in order with the "bird house", the parents are in place, then the tragedy will not happen.

Don't worry about whether or not to pick up the baby and carry it to the nest. Sparrows do not smell, so they will not abandon the brood due to human interference.

Natural disasters can also destroy the nest: a hurricane, a thunderstorm. In this case, you can help the birds by restoring the home. Bring the little ones back to the renovated home and watch them. If the parents respond to the call of the cubs, the rescue mission is over. If this does not happen, you will have to feed the young.

Sparrow chicks grow up to an independent age of 2-3 weeks. That's how long it takes for the cubs to come out.

Sparrow classification

Newborn sparrow chicks are newly hatched, not covered with feathers, very small birds. It is hardly possible to provide them with food, since they will have to be fed often: once every 2-3 hours. The best solution is to find an abandoned nest.

Yellowmouths are juvenile chicks that have acquired feathers. Despite the fact that sparrows look mature, they are not capable of self-feeding. At this age, babies often fall out due to negligence. It is possible to leave the bird, but you will have to feed it regularly, and this is the time.

Fledglings are called already quite matured, capable of self-feeding birds. Having found such a bird, do not touch it: let it learn to fly and get food. The only possible help in this situation is to plant them on a hill (to protect them from land-based predators).

This is important: water and food for the new tenant

Having picked up a sparrow, it is important to understand how to water the chick and what to feed. To give the baby a drink, it is better to use a pipette. Fill it with water and bring the tip to the beak. Do not put pressure on the "mouth", trying to open.

Newborn birds cannot drink on their own from a bowl - this must be remembered. If you put a container of water and leave, the sparrows will choke.

If you often pick up birds for treatment, then there will definitely be something in the house to feed the injured sparrow. Another thing is if the case is isolated. Before you rush to the pet store or prepare complex formulas, feed your baby something that is in the refrigerator. Suitable lean meat, minced meat, eggs (boiled), cottage cheese, fish.

First steps in nursing

What needs to be done immediately after picking up a chick is to ensure comfort. Nesting equipment is a top priority. Use a lint-free cloth, rolling it up so that it slopes.

Feeding fledglings from the first day requires a routine. It is important to observe a certain time between meals: 15-20 minutes for newborns and 2-3 hours for yellowmouths.

Below we will tell you how and what to feed a sparrow chick in order to grow it at home. Let's turn to nature. Give them:

flour worms;
larvae;
small insects.

Human food will work too.

cottage cheese;
eggs;
meat;
fish.

The main thing is to feed the babies in a timely manner so that their own resources are not burned: sparrows have a fast metabolism. Read on to find out how to care for chicks and make the right diet.

Formula formula

What chicks eat with pleasure are insects. But feeding feathered birds and fledglings can be simplified by preparing a special mixture. The recipe is:

three medium carrots and squeeze the juice;
chop the egg (pre-cook);
cut meat (veal / beef / chicken) and split into fibers;
greens (lettuce / wood lice / dandelion) chop;
add 10 g of cottage cheese (pre-squeeze);
2 tbsp. spoons of boiled millet (avoid salt or oil);
a teaspoon of fish food (dry mix);
pour calcium glycerophosphate powder (1 tablet per liter);
put a teaspoon of crushed eggshells.

Mix the resulting feed until smooth. It shouldn't stick to your hands. Give to kids in portions, rolling up small balls, the size of a cherry stone. When we prepare the mixture for feeding the chick, we get a large supply. Food can be stored frozen.

How to feed a sparrow chick, we told. But do not forget that the birds should be watered: a few drops of water per feed ball.

Calcium: dosage calculation and sources

Calcium for sparrow chicks, as for all birds, is necessary to prevent the development of rickets. The mixture above includes the required amount of nutrients. Using it, you can not worry about the health of the kids.

Features of feeding a sparrow at home allow you to monitor the vitamins received. To calculate the need for calcium in a chick, it is enough to determine 2% of its mass. But remember that it is possible to overdo it with the additive, so it is better to play it safe and add more.

A bird can get calcium from chalk, edible clay or boiled egg shells. They are added in powder form. For a standard daily dose, take half a teaspoon - if there is no desire to make calculations.

Primary knowledge: what and how

Let's talk about how to hatch a sparrow chick, and what to use for feeding. Newborn birds are fed from a syringe with a catheter - this is more convenient.

It is forbidden to take a catheter for feeding grown sparrows, because of the danger to life: the birds can swallow the needle. The process of feeding a chick with a brush is less convenient: due to soiling of feathers. But for neat people, the technique is ideal, since a soft pile will not harm.

The sequence of feeding sparrow chicks is an important point. Don't give them all at once. Dose food for better absorption. One "dose" is 2/3 of the volume of the head. If the kids keep begging for treats, ignore it. Overfeeding is just as bad as undereating.

The importance of the intermediate stage

When caring for a sparrow, do not miss the moment of stopping feeding and transferring the chick to self-feeding. Remember that a baby's desire for independence does not indicate that it is necessary to reduce feeding.

In the natural environment, parents feed the chicks even when the kids learn to fly and get food. Do not miss this crucial moment. Make the sparrow chase you to get the desired food.

You can understand that the chick is ready for independence by weight. The norm is 20-27 g. The sparrow is completely covered with feathers, the tail is long, the beak loses its yellowness. Mature birds bite painfully.

When the sparrow chick grows up, the frequency of feeding is gradually reduced. Some birds switch to self-feeding quickly, for others the process is delayed - this is not scary. If your baby refuses to eat, don't worry. This is a normal process until their weight drops below 21g.

Painless weaning

A man-fed sparrow chick can be released into nature. The main thing to consider is how to properly conduct the process. Remember: if you are not going to leave the selected bird, start preparing for the "weaning" in advance.

If you are going to release a sparrow into nature, do not treat the bird like a pet. Don't spend more time with your baby than necessary. Don't play, don't caress. When feeding, it is better to wear something bright to divert attention "from yourself" and minimize addiction.

When the chick grows up, do not play with him. Do not accustom the baby "to the hands." If you do not give the bird a lot of time, the growing sparrow will quickly learn to be frightened of a person.

It is impossible to release a sparrow without preliminary preparation. Before the bird settles in nature, it is kept in an aviary. The street corral helps to adapt. Teach your chick to "local" food.

Before releasing a sparrow to freedom, make sure that the chick is healthy. Look at the weather forecast. On the day of "absentee" there should be no rain or strong wind. It is better that in the next few days the hydrometeorological center does not report on impending bad weather.

Discuss your concerns in the comments to the article.

Important!!! Never pick up sparrow fledglings, never feed them. Because each such feathered lump, which seems lonely, unhappy and abandoned, is tightly controlled by its parents [online] and is fed by them strictly by the hour. Except in very rare cases.

Important!!! If you nevertheless picked up a chick and artificially fed it, then it is no longer possible to release it into the wild. Such a sparrow, fed by a man, will not be adapted for a free life even if a flock of sparrows accepts it. Practice shows that a sparrow released into the wild dies in 3-5 days.

So, if you already have a sparrow, get ready to get up with the first rays of the sun for several weeks, take it with you to work, and go to bed late in the evening. All in order to feed the bird every hour. Birds in general, and chicks in particular, need to eat frequently. Remember, you need to feed the chick strictly every hour, preferably every half an hour, until saturated. If the feeding process is interrupted for more than two hours, the chick will most likely die. This is due to the specific digestive system and a very fast metabolism. You can sleep peacefully at night, because at night the metabolism of birds naturally and significantly slows down.

For the correct choice of diet, you need to try to determine the approximate age of the chick.

1. the chick in the photo is about 2-3 days old;
2. the chick in the photo is about 7 days old;
3. about 12 days;
4. about 15-20 days (already trying to fly).

Since the sparrow is a grain- and insect-eating bird, consider it an omnivore, it is easy to feed it. Usually, sparrows and similar birds are fed with a mash composed of the following components in the indicated proportions:

One boiled chicken egg (or three quail eggs);
Millet boiled 2 teaspoons;
Grated carrots on a fine grater 1 teaspoon (squeeze the juice);
Shredded lettuce or woodlice herb (stellaria media) 1/2 teaspoon;
Dried daphnia 1 teaspoon (sold in pet stores) or 1 teaspoon finely minced boiled beef;
One tablet of pharmacy calcium.

The components are thoroughly mixed, preferably in a blender until the consistency of medium density sour cream. The mixture is stored in the freezer, of course, frozen. Before feeding, I break off part of the mixture, thaw it and draw it into a syringe. It is convenient to take an insulin syringe, in which the piston gently chokes.

We take the sparrow in a fist, but do not pinch it strongly so as not to damage it, but also so that it does not break out. Next, tap the nose of the syringe on the beak. The chick must open its beak on its own. If the chick is not yet fledged, naked, then he himself, in any case, will open his mouth when the syringe approaches. If the chick is already a fledgling fledgling, then it will not open its beak. In this case, you will have to unclench the beak with your nails.

Give the mixture little by little. You need to try not to put the mash in the beak, but stick it a little further so that the food gets into the goiter, and not into the beak. After each serving, give the chick a drop of water. Feed at a time until full, until it stops opening its beak. A notable feature: when the sparrow is sated, it begins to vibrate weakly in the palm of your hand with your whole body. I don’t know what it is connected with, maybe with a feeling of pleasure, but the sensations are unforgettable.

If the chick does not open its mouth in principle, then it will be necessary to feed it by force. After some time, the chick gets used to the syringe and begins to open its mouth, however, not always.

When feeding a sparrow, it is very important to monitor the bird's droppings. Litter should not be completely covered with a white film. The presence of a film indicates an incorrect feeding regimen.

Starting from the third week, the sparrow should already try to peck at seeds (not sunflowers). But since his beak is still soft, it is difficult for him to crack the seeds. Therefore, along with the seeds, you need to give the sparrow rice porridge or boiled millet, millet, which, by the way, the sparrow eats with pleasure from the finger.

As soon as the sparrow began to eat porridge himself, the mash from the syringe can no longer be given. When the sparrow begins to eat the seeds on its own, you can also refuse porridge. Of the available bird feeds, a grain mix for finches or canaries is excellent. Parrot grain mix can also be tried, but it contains a lot of oats, and sparrows do not eat it very well.

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Posted on September 13, 2014 12:56 pm
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