I picked up a little sparrow today. It’s so pitiful. However, it still eats. How to raise it?

I have been raising sparrows for almost ten years, and the sparrows I raise are basically caught by myself (including nest chicks). What is mentioned in the article are some of my personal experience in raising sparrows. Please feel free to correct me if there is anything wrong.

The sparrow belongs to the family Amignathidae and is a resident bird.

I won’t say much about raising sparrows. As long as you take out the chicks, establish a good relationship with the birds and train them regularly. . It can be done, and here we mainly talk about some methods on how to enjoy sparrows as singing birds.

Everyone should be familiar with the chirping of sparrows, because they live all around us. You can hear them at any time every morning and evening as long as you pay a little attention. The chirping is not pleasant, nor does it mean anything. Rhythm, but very lively. The sparrow itself does not have a gorgeous coat. It can be said that it is not a very good song bird, let alone an ornamental cage bird. However, in recent years, relatively fixed groups specializing in raising sparrows have appeared in Nanjing, Shanghai and other places. Most of these people raise sparrows as singing birds. There is no way to verify the origin of raising sparrows specifically, but what I know is that many people start raising sparrows to make mouth calls for larks. During the breeding process, Manman discovered that sparrows can actually learn to call, and they can also make their own calls. (Especially when the chicks are raised, they can make many clever calls after a period of training.) In addition, raising sparrows has another advantage - abundant resources and low prices, so many people have started to try it. . . . . . Nowadays, in the Nanjing Bird Market, you can see not only the beauty of the embroidered eyes, but also the sparrows on the shelves in many cages. It has become very large, and there are also special cages for raising sparrows in Nanjing.

I personally think that sparrows are very valuable to raise. Of course, maybe it is because of personal preference. Having a well-raised sparrow at home will definitely be very lively. It does not have a rest period like most singing birds. The sparrows are not afraid of the cold and can sing continuously during the twelfth lunar month of winter. It is a good supplement especially for those who keep winter chirping birds. In spring, if you raise it properly, you can enjoy the dancing song of your sparrows. The tail and head are tilted up in a U-shape, the tail feathers spread out and then close like a fan, and the two wings are dragged down and fanned continuously, which is very majestic. You can spin around on the bird platform and sing at the same time. I think the dance is no less than that of a lark.

The two most common species we have are mountain sparrows and (tree) sparrows. Here we mainly introduce mountain sparrows, which are similar to (tree) sparrows except for their coat color.

1. feature.

Mountain Sparrow:

With a body length of about 14 cm and brightly colored feathers, it is the most beautiful species in the sparrow family. Male and female have different colors. The crown and upper body of the male bird are bright yellowish brown or burgundy, with pure black vertical stripes on the upper back, black throat and white cheeks. The female bird is almost gray-brown in color, darker, with dark wide eye lines and cream-colored long eyebrow lines, and a gray belly. Distribution range: Himalayas, eastern China's Tibetan Plateau, and central, southern and eastern China. In my country, it is mainly distributed in the vast area south of the Yellow River. Mountain sparrows have more subtle calls than (tree) sparrows, and their sounds are thinner. If you want to train fledglings, it is better to choose mountain sparrows.

[Tree] sparrow:

A sparrow with a body length of about 15 cm, slightly larger than the mountain sparrow. The crown and nape are brown, the same color for both sexes. The upper body of the adult bird is almost brown, the skin of the lower body is yellowish-gray, and the back of the neck has a complete gray-white collar. It differs from house sparrows and mountain sparrows in that it has obvious black spots on its cheeks and less black throat. Young birds are like adult birds but are duller in color and have a yellow bill. Distribution range: Europe, the Middle East, Central and East Asia, the Himalayas and Southeast Asia. It is the most common bird in many cities in the east.

2. habits.

Mountain sparrows like to live in groups in highland open forests, woodlands or shrubs near cultivated land. Inhabits towns and villages where house sparrows and (tree sparrows) are infrequent. It is a typical gregarious bird. It always goes out in groups to forage in the early morning. In some threshing fields near mountains, you can often see dense groups of mountain sparrows resting on power lines. It feeds mainly on crops and grass seeds, and preys on insects during the breeding season. They like to build their nests on the tops of fir trees, pine trees and in hollows of vertical telephone poles. The eggs are gray-white with brown spots, and they usually lay four to five eggs. This bird is very territorial when building its nest, and often no two pairs of birds will build a nest and feed their chicks at the same time within a radius of one or two hundred meters. Mountain sparrow production in Nanjing is affected by the length of the annual rainy season. Years with lots of rain tend to have very limited numbers of young birds.

(Tree) sparrows are relatively common and love to live in groups.

No more introduction.

Although sparrows belong to the family of birds, they are far less well-behaved than other birds. They are active and noisy, have flexible movements, extremely fast frequency, and are very smart. Captured adult birds have great temperaments and are extremely difficult to tame. If they are raised improperly, they often die in a few days. They have to be moved or raised. It is already very difficult to raise a bird that can scream in front of people after two or three years, so it is recommended. It is best not to raise the young birds and the raw feathers that have just emerged from the nest. It is best not to raise the old feathers that have been replaced in the wild. This kind of bird has taken a lot of effort to raise, and its future will not be great.

3. Appreciation

From the outside of the bird, the main factors are the body shape, coat color, and stance. From the inside, the main thing is the size of the bird's temperament.

In terms of body shape, the main requirements are long body, thin hair, no shoulders, a footed tail (one word ending is best), a wide head (of course, don’t look for a big-headed idiot), a flat top, and a mouth. The shell is plump and the eyes are big and energetic. For the method of looking at the eyes of sparrows, please refer to the selection method of lark, which is very important for judging the temperament of sparrows.

Coat color is particularly important for mountain sparrows. Friends who have raised orioles all know that there are green males and yellow males. I think the same is true for mountain sparrows. The fur color on the back of an adult male mountain sparrow is not red enough. Look carefully. It can be seen that each red hair has a tawny tip at the tip, the beard is small and light, the feathers on the face are white with yellow, and the ribs are tawny. The general feature is that the hair on the body looks like circles. It is scaly, only a little redder than the female bird, and has almost no beard; the yellow male is on the contrary, the back feathers are red, mixed with some pure black back feathers, and connected with the red feathers on the top of the head. The face is snow-white, which can be said to be white and shiny, the beard is black and wide, the center of the abdomen is white, and the two parts are light blue-grey. The hair is smooth in color and looks very refreshing and gorgeous. I personally like the Yellow Gong when choosing mountain sparrows.

In addition, due to genetic reasons, there are two varieties of mutated coat color. The adult male mountain sparrow has orange-red hair, and the female bird is also yellower than normal. The other is what we call "rice soup glue". The feather color of the adult bird is very light. Those that are pure white or have white flowers on their bodies should be the result of genetic mutation.

The adult tree sparrows are both male and female, with white faces, white neckbands, large and black beards, clear black and white, and shiny coats.

Standing posture is very important. At least it should not move or tilt, let alone somersaults; the bird that is lifted out should raise its head and chest, and be high-spirited. It's a bit nervous to go out like a thief's bird. . . . . . Of course, this is closely related to the usual practice of cultivating gong. One more thing to mention here is the sparrow’s tail. Some birds’ tails are too stiff and are always upturned (normally they should be like this during the estrus period), which is not very beautiful, and it is easy to brush the tail when kept in a cage.

About the temperament of sparrows, of course, those with strong temperaments have high pitches and are willing to call, and most of them are yellow males, with excellent figures and beautiful figures! Another very important point is that such a bird will definitely be good at dancing when it comes to sex next year. However, most of them are military generals who find it difficult to subdue the cage. After entering the cage, they often raise their heads and do somersaults. If you can raise such a bird to the point where you can hold it in your hand and call it wherever it goes, it will be truly the best, and it also shows that you have cultivated great skills! Of course, this is not impossible. The success rate is higher if you choose to start raising chicks with raw feathers. It will be difficult. I have only succeeded once in raising such raw feathers in these years. Although I like birds with strong personalities, I still recommend that first-time owners try to choose birds with a gentler temperament. As long as the body shape and coat color are acceptable, they are worth raising and the results are not bad.

Four. Selection

1. Selection of chicks

Mountain Sparrow:

The male and female adult Sparrows have different colors. It is more accurate to identify the male and female by looking at the beard.

The newly hatched chicks, both male and female, are the same color - the same color as the adult female, with no burgundy hair on the head and back.

The hair color on the cheeks and roar of male chicks is light blue-grey (cool color), and the hair roots from the mouth to the roar can be seen faintly black. Sometimes the black area is not obvious. You can You can hold the bird in your hand and blow open the feathers on the throat. The feathers will change from dark black at the base to gray at the tips. Some of the feather tips will be slightly white. The color of the female bird's cheeks and bellows is light yellowish brown (warm color), and the color of the fur from the bottom of the beak to the bellows is also the same. The same color line is in one piece, so you can't go wrong if you choose carefully. Of course, we cannot rule out the manipulation of bird dealers. I have seen bird dealers using eyebrow pencils to draw beards on young sparrows, haha. . . .

But don’t be afraid, they can’t draw the hair roots, and as long as the feathers on the cheeks and bellows of the chicks are yellow, most of them are female!

One thing to pay attention to when choosing mountain sparrow chicks is to judge the future green male and yellow male among the male chicks, because the chicks (including raw feathers) will also have different shades of coat color. In many birds Choosing a dark-colored (red) coat does not mean that the bird will change its coat color in the future. It is very likely that the coat color will be redder than that of the female mountain sparrow, the cheeks will be yellow, and the beard will be small and light-colored. It will not look good. Refreshing green male; the overall feather color of the chicks is gray and light, more cold-colored, and does not look good. The gray-gray chicks often have dark red fur on their head and back after moulting. , the hair on the face is very white, and the beard is big and black.

In addition, the future temperament of the chicks can be judged by looking at the corner of the eye. This point can be learned from Bai Ling's method of looking at birds. Of course, this is just to analyze the future situation. It does not mean that birds with big tempers are not good. , you can try it boldly at the fledgling stage. Another way is to look at the color of the beak. If chicks of the same size are together, the beak (the root of the beak should be yellow and the tip of the beak) is more black, and the legs and toes are black, the bird is more mature. If it is a fast The chicks that emerge from the nest are already wild; if the mouth is yellow from the root to the tip of the mouth, and the legs and toes are light gray or flesh-colored, they are docile and should be tamed.

(Tree) Sparrows:

Adult birds are both male and female, and the male and female of the young sparrows are judged not only by their spirit and head shape, but also by their beards. ) will be higher and brighter. . . . You should be able to pick the chicks you like by observing them thoroughly when selecting.

The male chick has a wider head gate and a darker beard. The most important thing is that the male bird's beard is generally square (rectangular), and the white circles on the face and neck are brighter and whiter; the female bird's beard is generally square (rectangular). Most of the beards are triangular in shape, and the face is not white enough; it is worth noting that the roar tubes of the sparrow chicks will fluctuate when they call. If you want to distinguish them through this, it is generally not accurate. . . .

2． Selection of raw wool

The identification of males and females is the same as selecting chicks. Not much to say, there are several points to pay attention to when selecting raw wool.

The most important thing is to judge the time when the bird comes out of the nest

Looking at the color of the beak and legs mentioned above is very important. The bird at this time has been living in the wild for a short time. , has a certain wildness, and the longer it takes to leave the nest, the harder it is to keep it pure. If you accidentally find a bad-tempered bird, the subsequent breeding will often end in releasing it. The darker the beak is, the more sexual it is, and the darker the legs and toes are, the longer it has lived in the wild.

Of course, we should also be careful not to raise old female birds as raw feathers. Those with black beaks and legs and old feathers must be old "women".

Nanjing’s local mountain sparrow chicks are generally available in mid-to-late June. In this case, the raw feathers that are available in mid-to-early July should be from the first nest, and they have not been out of the nest for a long time, so they can be found at this time. A raw wool should be best. By mid-to-late August, some birds that are on the market may have a few red hairs on their heads. Such birds are basically wild and will be very difficult to raise. If you haven't found a bird you like after September, it's best to forget about it. Or ask a friend for one.

When choosing, don’t choose a general who is full of cages and bumps into each other, let alone one who has raised his head in the cage. Look for a head with a low profile (likes to burrow his head down). The door is wide and the bounce is not great. Of course, it's best to go into a small cage and observe it alone.

It is best to use a small cage without a bottom plate. Hold the bottom of the cage with your hands and observe it from above. If the bird keeps moving at the bottom of the cage for several minutes, this bird has potential! (Haha, this is a bad method, because some birds may not have any problems at all, but if you scare them like this, they will go wrong, and the bird dealer will scream), but for raw birds like sparrows, it will not matter if you deliberately scare them. If anything happens, this bird is indeed worth raising.

On the way home, it is best to wrap the cage with cloth, leaving only the bottom. When a raw bird goes into the cage, it will go dark, which can cause problems. If the cage is lit, you are afraid of something happening on the way. .

5. Feeding

1. Feeding of chicks

For feeding the chicks, I like to use live eels minced with bones, mixed with soy flour and egg yolks (if the chicks are hot, you can use mung bean flour, or you can mince an appropriate amount of green cabbage leaves and mix them You can also add some trace elements in the food), the ratio is 3:3:3:0.5:0.5. The chicks fed in this way will grow quickly, have a large body, and have good coat color. . . . . .

When the tail is less than half long and it starts pecking things by itself, it can be put on the shelf. One thing to note here is that generally mountain sparrows move their beaks earlier than (tree) sparrows. Put some rare food on it and let it peck at it. Note that it is best not to enter the cage directly for the little bird at this time. Because of the activity of the little bird, the desire to practice flying is very strong. It often jumps up and down in the cage. Sometimes it can raise its head or even somersault when it is anxious. However, once the sparrow raises its head, it is best not to enter the cage directly. It can't be changed anymore, and the baby bird is still like this; and if it is allowed to jump around in the cage at this time, it will easily knock off the newly grown tail feathers and wings, affecting the appearance and affecting the normal development of the bird. At that time, you will regret it. It's late. Being on the shelf can restrict its movements, and it does not prevent the owner from establishing a relationship with the bird, allowing the bird to adapt to the surrounding environment and develop good habits before entering the cage. Especially those birds that like to reach up with their heads on the shelf should be tethered for a longer time. Once the bird is found to have moved after entering the cage, put it on the shelf to raise it. Of course, some friends enter the cage directly, but they will block the top horizontal wire of the cage to prevent the birds from catching it. This method can also be used. In any case, if you don't want to let the chicks fly outside, try to keep them outside as little as possible.

The little sparrow (male) starts to eat by himself and talks to himself every morning. (Sometimes during the day you can see it dozing with its eyes closed, but its throat is fluctuating and its voice is not high. But you can hear it). At this time, you can let the chicks listen to the chirping of other birds to let it learn. In this way, after molting, the sparrows you raise will sing well. Of course, I found that it is possible for a sparrow to learn the calls of hard-eating birds (hibiscus, oriole...), larks, and white-eyes, but it is unrealistic to want it to learn the calls of birds like the indigo-chin.

Spend a certain amount of time every day to interact with the young birds, feed them with your hands, and feed them insects, so that the birds can develop the habits of relatives. After the birds eat by themselves, they will gradually reduce the number and frequency of feeding insects. When you have time, Taking the bird out for walks more often is mainly to let it adapt to the outside environment and cultivate its habit of being lively and not messing up when seeing "strange things". Otherwise, your bird must be singing well at home and when you go out.

If possible, I will try my best to keep them in cages, because there are no restraints on caged birds, and they can show off their dance sounds on the stage when they are sexually active. Although caged birds can also dance, they are not restricted. There are many restrictions and the duration is not long. Most of the sparrows seen in cages at the bird market were raised in cages because of problems when they were raised in cages.

2． Feeding of raw feathers

Birds that have just been caged are very wild, so they can be fed millet for a few more days. Bird food with high nutritional content can easily make the birds more wild, and either their heads will be broken or they will start to turn yellow. So many people don't care about this, and try their best to add nutrients to the birds as soon as they enter the cage. After raising the birds for a period of time, they often find that the bird's toes begin to swell and the corners of the bird's mouth become watery and turn yellow.

At this time, the raw birds can be sprayed with water once or twice a day (in July and August, the birds are not afraid of catching cold, but they should not be too wet). After more than 10 days, the eggs can be replaced and millet is the main food. (I usually It is stir-fried. Add half of the water bottle cap to millet and two egg yolks. Don’t make the food too hard before molting.) You can feed some perilla, but sparrows don’t like it. The birds may not eat it at first. It doesn’t matter. Just reduce the millet. Also hang green in the cage frequently.

Sparrows are very active, especially if they are alive and keep hopping around in the cage. If they don't get enough water, their breasts will dry out and lose fat due to lack of nutrition. In serious cases, they will die. It is best to cover the top horizontal wire of the sparrow cage with a cage coat to prevent birds from catching it. This will not only allow it to form the habit of moving in the lower part of the cage, but also provide it with a relatively quiet environment. I don’t think you need to walk the bird before the raw feathers moult. You just need to shower it with water every day and add food and water. This will give it a quiet environment to let it gain weight, and it will start to moult soon. (The biological functions of wild birds that have just been caged are disrupted. No matter how much they are frightened outdoors, they are more likely to have physiological cycle disorders. This is often manifested in the absence of molting or abnormal molting, which often occurs until late November. The bird's feathers have not yet changed.) At this time, you can let the bird listen to the calls of other birds every morning. The original feathers can learn to sing a little, but the effect will definitely not be as good as that of the chicks. Another thing to note is that the raw bird must not be hung high at this time. It must be lowered normally. I put it on the ground. You cannot put other birds or its kind on top of its cage. This must be done upright. No head! It is best to keep two, because sparrows like to live in groups. A single bird will be very excited when it hears the sparrows outside, and will jump around in the cage. It is easy to move! It is generally safer to raise two, at least one will be fine. If you find that you need to feed more vegetables when it starts to molt, add a flour tank in the cage, use soy flour, add egg yolk and an appropriate amount of fish meal and bone meal. Halfway through feeding a few live worms each day, your bird should begin its morning routine.

When the fur on its body has basically changed and there are still a few tail feathers that have not fully grown, you can't be lazy and walk the bird every morning. Because the bird's body consumes a lot of money when it moults, the level of sex hormones in the body is at a low level at this time, and its temperament is relatively good. Furthermore, after a season of breeding, it has basically become cage-compatible, so training it at this time is most appropriate. It's not good to be late or early. At this time, the bird will have an obvious change. The color of the legs and toes will turn from dark gray to yellow or flesh color.

When you start walking the bird, you should first lift the cage. During this period, pay attention to the reaction of the bird in the cage. It will definitely jump very hard in the first day or two, but it doesn't matter as long as there is no head-raising movement. Generally, stick to this. In about 10 days, the bird gradually gets used to the surrounding environment and being held in people's hands, and begins to talk on the stage. At this time, you can hold the bottom of the cage instead, first lower and then higher. In this way, after more than a month, your sparrow can It's great to hold it and call it wherever you go! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! At this time, in addition to your own happiness, many people will envy you. You must know that the success rate of sparrow breeding is very low. Take Nanjing as an example. Every year, there are nearly a thousand chicks and raw feathers on the market. Except for the mother bird, the rest are picked by others. Come on, after the autumn molt, only three or two can be picked out.

Once your bird is "shaped", you don't have to walk it every day. Just take it out once or twice a week. At this time, Bird was also addicted to going out to play. After going out, he would either scream or crawl on the stage and loosen his belt and look around. He felt very comfortable.

My usual feed for sparrows is mainly egg millet, a small amount of millet, perilla seeds, and millet. Green vegetables are indispensable in daily feeding. Proper sunbathing is also critical to the health of the bird and I won’t go into details here.

In the near spring, you can increase the proportion of egg yolk in the food (half a water bottle cap of millet plus two egg yolks) to prepare for the bird's sexual dance. You can feed some live insects, but they are easy to get angry, so don’t feed them too much. If you find that your sparrow only eats worms and not much else, and it doesn't like to move much, be sure to pay attention. Maybe the bird has lost its fat by this time, which is very dangerous!

Generally after the beginning of spring, the beak of the bird will turn black and the red hair on its back will become darker and shiny. At this time, it will chirp from morning to night. If it sees a sparrow around, it will immediately start its own dance. , jumping and shouting at the same time, very beautiful. It would be more interesting if two birds jumped together, but if they are both domesticated birds, be sure not to get too close, otherwise the birds will get really active at this time, and their feathers will often fly around.

I would like to remind you that after a bird has sex in the spring, you must not "suffocate" it or think that the bird will not move again. At this time, it can do anything if it gets anxious! I've suffered through this! If you have time in spring, walk the birds more often. If you don’t have time, don’t keep them in a dark place at home!

Sparrows come for water baths and sand baths. I wish your bird’s feathers were well and give it a bath. What’s very interesting is that sparrows often take a sand bath after a water bath and watch them roll and flutter in the sand, and then bask in the sun. Taiyang squatted on the stage, loosened his waistband and groomed his hair while screaming. It was a pleasure. . . . . . Birds should be bathed every three days in normal times, and every day in summer. Pay attention to the hygiene of the cage. In Nanjing, they like to lay a layer of red soil on the bottom of the cage and clean it two to three times a week.

As for the coat color of mountain sparrows, I have never tried adding pigments to the feed during breeding. It is difficult to say how much impact pigments can have on coat color. Friends who are interested can do this. try. However, sparrows that have been fed egg yolk millet for a long time will definitely be redder than those in the wild. Generally speaking, the color is sauce red, while wild birds are generally burgundy red in spring.

Sparrows have a high IQ level and move very quickly. They often use the space between the cage and the bath to escape, so we would like to remind everyone not to be deceived by the illusion that they are honest and obedient to the cage.