How to Feed a Baby Sparrow

Co-authored by Roger J. Lederer, PhD

Last Updated: February 5, 2023 References

If you find a baby sparrow that appears abandoned, you can take it into your home and feed it. Many wildlife refuges and concerned people care for injured and orphaned sparrows until they are old enough to fly. Before attempting a feeding, check the sparrow’s appearance to determine if it’s a newborn nestling or a fledgling. Then, choose foods that are appropriate for the sparrow’s age, including pet food and insects. Feeding baby sparrows is easy, but they eat often and require more food about every 20 minutes. There are no rules against keeping sparrows, so you can safely take and care for a baby sparrow until it is ready to leave the nest.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Creating a Basic Meal

1
Start with solid dog or cat food made with chicken. Pet food is easy to work with and break into smaller chunks for your little bird. When choosing a food, check the ingredients list. Get something with plenty of protein, preferably a food with something like 12.1% fat and 33.1% protein. Puppy and kitten foods are typically better to use than adult pet food.^{[1]
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- Although wet food is usually safe as well, choose dry food if you can. It is often healthier and can be softened and broken up to a safe consistency.
- Avoid specialty foods, such as ones marketed for hairballs or a healthy weight.
2
Soak the food in water to soften and break it up. Submerge it in a dish of water. The food will expand and soften. You can then pick it up with a pair of tweezers or another tool. Snap it into bite-sized pieces about half as big as the sparrow’s beak for feeding.^{[2]
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- Set aside a small bowl with just enough water to cover the food you plan on using. Make sure it is nice and soft before giving it to your sparrow.
- While you’re soaking the food, consider adding a multivitamin to the water. It can also be sprinkled directly on the food afterward, but putting it in the water is easier.
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3
Select an avian multivitamin to add to the food. The multivitamin will provide some things that can’t be found in food. Look for vitamins meant for wild birds instead of ones specifically designed for parrots. Avian vitamins often come in a powder form, making them easy to sprinkle onto soaked pet food or food mixes.^{[3]
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- If you’re unable to find avian multivitamins, human multivitamins can be an okay substitute. Make sure the vitamins have ingredients like A, D3, E, C, B1, B2, B6, B12, K, D-pantothenic acid, Niacinamide, and choline.^{[4]
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- Most pet stores carry avian multivitamins, but you can also look for them online.
4
Mix your own food out of cat food and other ingredients to save time. Soak a whole cup (224 g) of pet food in water to soften it. Then, without draining the water, mix in about ¼ of a cup (62+½ g) of applesauce and a hard boiled egg. Drop in a 750 mg calcium carbonate tablet and mix it all together to form a paste with a similar consistency to oatmeal.^{[5]
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- If you don’t have a calcium carbonate antacid, you can use eggshells instead. Save the shell from the hard boiled egg, blend it into powder, then add it to the food.
- This food blend is easy to freeze and thaw as needed. It works well for baby sparrows no matter what age they are.
- This mixture can also be used to feed fledglings. You may want to tweak it to combine about 1/2 of a cup (112 g) of pet food and ½ of a cup (120 g) of mealworms instead of using a whole cup of pet food.
5
Choose a baby bird formula if you wish to make feeding easier. Most pet stores sell baby bird formulas, which means you don’t have to make your own food if you don’t want to. Formula can be given to baby sparrows as long as they need to be hand-fed. However, it is usually much more expensive than creating your own food.^{[6]
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- In addition to pet stores, formula is also available online.
- Formula is basically made from the same things you could blend and freeze for food. The advantage of using it is that you don’t have to shop around for things like protein and multivitamins.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Hand-Feeding a Baby Sparrow

1
Feed the sparrow about every 20 minutes for 12 hours. Baby sparrows eat a lot and they eat frequently. Although it can be a little disruptive, set an alarm to time out feedings. When you go near the sparrow, expect to see it chirping and opening its mouth wide. The sparrow will sleep the rest of the day, so you won’t have to worry about feeding it then.^{[7]
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- The sparrow will let you know when it isn’t hungry. Watch for it to keep its mouth closed and ignore any food you try to give it.
- Fledgling sparrows don’t need food quite as often, so you can change your feeding schedule to about every 30 minutes.
- If the sparrow won’t eat at all, contact a wildlife professional or vet as soon as possible. Baby birds are sometimes afraid to take food from humans at first, but they should start eating within 1 to 2 hours.
2
Scoop up the food with tweezers, syringe, or another utensil. To deal with liquids like formula, inject it into the sparrow’s mouth with a syringe. For other types of food, such as softened pet food, use something flat that won’t break. Toothpicks and cotton swabs are a choking hazard, so don’t use them.^{[8]
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- Some other tools you could use include a coffee stirrer and a cut straw. Make sure you are able to pick up and move small pieces of food.
3
Place the food on the bottom part of the sparrow’s beak. Remember that your baby sparrow can’t chew, so it has to swallow food whole. Choose a small piece of food about half the size of its beak, then move it into the sparrow’s mouth. Don’t push it all the way inside the sparrow’s mouth. It will have its mouth open, so drop the food and let the sparrow swallow it.^{[9]
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- Be cautious when feeding your sparrow. It can choke if you give it too much food or push the utensil too far into its mouth.
4
Use a cotton swab to clean any dried food off of the sparrow. The dried food can get all over the bird, including inside its eyes and nostrils. Wipe off as much as you can with a dry swab. If you are unable to remove some of the food, lightly dampen the swab in clean, lukewarm water. Make sure the cotton swab isn’t dripping.^{[10]
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- Feeding time gets messy sometimes, but clean off leftover food right away. It could lead to infections or other problems if it isn’t taken care of.
- Shake off excess water before using the cotton swab. Eliminate any possibility of the sparrow breathing in or swallowing water.
5
Begin leaving a bowl of food with the sparrow after 4 weeks. Sparrows are able to feed themselves after this point. Your sparrow will most likely still open its mouth, waiting to receive a tasty snack. Keep hand-feeding the baby, but reduce the number of times you do it each day. Feed it by hand a couple of times a day until it is between 6 and 8 weeks old.^{[11]
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- Most sparrows no longer need hand-feeding once they are 6 to 8 weeks old. However, this can vary from bird to bird.
- After a sparrow eats on its own for 3 weeks, switch it to an adult diet. Adults eat wild bird seed in addition to pet food and insects.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Adjusting a Fledgling Sparrow's Diet

1
Check for open eyes and feathers to identify a fledgling. Fledgling sparrows look like miniature versions of adult birds. Since sparrows develop quickly, nestlings start turning into fledglings about 1 week after birth. The fledgling will begin growing noticeable feathers and start moving around its nest. At this point, it’s ready for some solid foods, such as insects and seeds.^{[12]
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- Feeding a fledgling solid foods helps it transition into adulthood, where it will need to feed itself. Sparrows become adults when they’re about 10 weeks old.
- Nestlings, which are baby sparrows under a week old, can’t move or open their eyes much. They also don’t have feathers.
2
Select whole, live mealworms and other insects that are safe to eat. Insects are one of the most common sources of food for sparrows. Many pet stores sell mealworms and other types of insects. You could try getting white maggots from an angler shop, but bloodworms, crickets, and other bugs are good as well. Live insects are better, but you can usually get a baby sparrow to eat dry bugs as well.^{[13]
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Research lab of Cornell University dedicated to interpreting and conserving the Earth's biological diversity through research and education about birds
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- Stay away from earthworms. Earthworms aren’t a healthy meal and sparrows don’t eat them in the wild.
- When you’re unsure what kind of insect to get, choose something that reptiles eat. Pet supply stores carry different varieties. These insects are also safer for the sparrow than anything you would get outdoors.
3
Chop up larger bugs before feeding them to a sparrow. Remember to keep the food roughly half the size of the sparrow’s beak so it isn’t a choking hazard. Use a pair of tweezers or another tool to pick up the bugs and place them in the sparrow’s beak. If you’re using a live bug, try picking the bug up by the head and squeezing it between the tweezers. As the sparrow grows each week, increase the size of the portions a little bit.^{[14]
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- You will, unfortunately, end up crushing live bugs when feeding them to your sparrow, but it’s okay. Remember that it’s a part of nature. The sparrow would eat bugs this way if it was out in the wild.
- Even if you feed a fledgling a food blend that includes insects, you should still feed it solid insects on occasion.
4
Mix in seeds and grains as needed for additional feeding. Grains like raw, unshelled, unsalted sunflower seeds are considered safe for fledglings as they transition to adulthood. They are nutritious, but don’t neglect feeding the baby foods that are high in protein. Mix in these foods with the protein-rich food you give, making them no more than ¼ of the sparrow’s diet.^{[15]
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Research lab of Cornell University dedicated to interpreting and conserving the Earth's biological diversity through research and education about birds
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- Some other foods to try include sesame seeds, millet, rolled oats, and kernel corn.
- Note that sparrows don’t need fruits and vegetables. Bread and dairy also aren’t good for them. Protein, mixed with some grains or seeds, is more than enough.

Warnings

Water is very dangerous for a young sparrow, and keep in mind that baby birds don’t drink water. You could harm it by putting water in its mouth.

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