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I think I’ve just seen a baby sparrow?

EmerionEmerion Posts: 599
in Wildlife gardening
A sparrow that I’ve just seen hanging about near a peanut feeder, but making no attempt to use it, had a lot of grey fluff poking out from between the feathers on its back. I’m sure they were baby bird down. But isn’t this crazy early for a baby sparrow to have fledged? No sign of parent birds near it, and then it flew away. I think I saw one yesterday as well, but not for long enough to be sure there was down on its back.  We have a permanent colony living in our barns and I can’t recall seeing a fledgling this early before. Or is this normal for sparrows, and I’m just unobservant?
Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.


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  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I think it's a bit early, especially for one to have fledged. We had some in our garden yesterday that looked similar to what you describe and they were just young birds that had fluffed their feathers up. It quite startling how much they changed when they fluff up their feathers.
  • RubytooRubytoo Posts: 1,630
    edited 11 March
    I would not say for sure but it is possible because of the mild weather we have had.
    As you have a nice sheltered site for a permanent colony they can make nests quite quickly?

    And they probably already have a mate so won't have to fight or look for one.

    I was curious as the other week I saw on a site we use for bird watching on local sites that some Ravens had eggs already.

    It never occurred to me that birds like that might.
    So I just went looking and first thing that came up was woodland trust site article.

    Sparrows are not mentioned as such on the article, but here is an interesting little link on there mentioning Ravens, Blackbirds and a few others. Oh and Longtailed tits I forgot.
     https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/01/when-do-birds-nest/

    They are using data from a BTO survey.
    Edited to add.
    This link and pages not quite so obvious but may contain additional info.
    https://naturescalendar.woodlandtrust.org.uk/

    Do keep an eye out and let us know. :)
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Corvids (crows, rooks, magpies, jays etc) nest early … that way they can feed their growing nestlings on the eggs and newly hatched offspring of other birds.  All part of Nature’s rich pattern. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LunarSeaLunarSea Posts: 1,923
    Rubytoo said:

    So I just went looking and first thing that came up was woodland trust site article.

    Sparrows are not mentioned as such on the article, but here is an interesting little link on there mentioning Ravens, Blackbirds and a few others. Oh and Longtailed tits I forgot.
     https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/01/when-do-birds-nest/


    Interesting. Thanks for that @Rubytoo

    For a while I used to work in an office complex built around an enclosed quadrangle with overhanging planted balconies that office occupants could see but had no access to. We regularly had Blackbirds nesting in them as early as January. Once we had Mallards nest in there and they needed assistance once the young were mobile (but flightless) and had found their way onto an adjacent fire escape!
    Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. 

    I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I remember walking past this tree every morning that year on my way to art school … the tree stayed up for quite a long while 😊 
    https://www.lgcplus.com/archive/norwich-keeps-nestas-tree-up-09-01-1998/

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It also depends on location as to when some birds start nesting.
    I saw a magpie this morning with a twig or similar in his beak, flying across in front of me. First sign of any nestbuilding starting with them ,and that's possibly slightly earlier than usual. Starlings are just about starting - checking out their usual nest sites.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • EmerionEmerion Posts: 599
    I don’t think that was it @thevictorian. The peanut feeder is about 6 feet from our sitting room window, where I was standing. What I could see was definitely grey fluff, puffier than thistledown, rather than fluffed up feathers. 
    Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.


  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Jackdaws here in the SW have been collecting nesting material and stuffing it in  the Church Bell Tower for some time now. The Starlings are seriously considering it too.  A Wren began to make a nest in our Yew the other week but I think the roofing work has put paid to that. Hopefully, she will try again. 
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    edited 11 March
    Ours have been nest building for weeks, especially the starlings - I've swept a nests worth of twigs, moss and bits of my hyacinths off the patio underneath already. 🤣
    I'd be surprised if they actually were fledgling sparrows - maybe he'd had a scuffle, hence the feathers sticking out? 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Or of course, energetic mating could have caused dishevelled feathers. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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