New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘Bird-napping’ upsets nature center staff
Staff at the Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center had some terse words for whoever left some fledgling house sparrows in a box in the hallway of the center at 10 Deerfield Lane.
“We wish the finder had come in to talk to us, because these young birds are maybe 3 days from flight,” read the statement, posted Sunday afternoon on the nature center’s Facebook page. Instead of hopping around on the ground, being fed by their parents while they are learning to fly, they were bird-napped and brought here.”
The post explains that the young sparrows leave the nest before they are fully ready to fly and can spend several days hopping around, learning to fly by trial and error.
“It is very tempting to pick these birds up and bring them to a rehabilitator, but momma bird knows best and she is still there feeding her babies even though they are out of the nest,” the nature center’s post reads. “We encourage people to leave these babies be, and to keep your cat inside for a few days while these little ones are learning how to fly.”
The nature center does not rehabilitate wildlife, and staff are now attempting to find a certified wildlife rehabilitator to tend to the birds while they learn to fly.
According to the Audubon’s Guide to North American Birds, house sparrows are among the most widespread songbirds in the world. The species is native to Eurasia and northern Africa, but has spread to urban and rural areas throughout the world, “including North America, where it was first released at New York in 1851.”