Injured Sparrow?

[Prince and Pavo]

Hello. Earlier I noticed a little sparrow acting a little strange, and after watching it for a minute or two I saw that it could fly, however it didn’t fly very far, never more than about 50 feet, and when it landed it kind of tumbled just a little bit or plopped down. It also hopped around, but it looks like it’s trying to only use one leg for some reason. I can’t really tell why, but it almost looks like one of its legs sticks out to the side a little bit. Sometimes it tries to pull it back towards its body after hopping around for a minute. Other than that it seems completely healthy. It went into my garage so I caught it very gently and put it into a fire pit that I’m using as a makeshift bird cage. I gave it some food (bird seed and mealworms), and some water, and I’ve seen it both eating and drinking. I’m worried about a predator being able to easily kill it if I let it out, but at the same time releasing it may be the best option. I’m not sure what to do.

Also, it’s brown but not exactly like a female house sparrow (I don’t think), and it has yellow around its beak. Does that mean it’s a juvenile?

 

[ButtonHoarder]

Do you have any wildlife rescues around? They might take it.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I agree that it’s best to take it to a wildlife rehab center. Do you have a picture of it?

 

[Prince and Pavo]

Unfortunately I do not have a picture of it. I can try to get one tomorrow though.

 

[GCrumb]

Puffy-looking yellow corners of the mouth = baby

 

[Prince and Pavo]

Thank you, @GCrumb! It still has the yellow on the corners of the beak, but it also seems to be past the fledgling stage. I got 78 pics of it, but I’ll narrow it down and only post the best of each one. LOL

The fire pit cage:


For some reason the last six pictures aren’t loading. I’m going to try to reload them in another post

 

[Prince and Pavo]

 

[GCrumb]

Yes, a fledgeling. Another clue is how its tail feathers are all uneven. They are not done growing in yet.

Can it perch?

I would look around for the family. They are probably still hanging about together, playing tag and making a lot of noise. You can just put the baby in a nearby tree, high as you can.


It is hard to gain altitude as a new flyer, so babies tend to take a first flight from nest to ground and then flutter around unable to really get airborne again for a while, looking upset and getting exhausted.

 

[Prince and Pavo]

Alright. I really want to do what’s best for it so that it can live its best life without being vulnerable to predators. In a couple of the pictures I posted, you can see that it holds its wings in an odd way, one folded up completely and tucked against its side, the other slightly fanned out laying more against the bird’s back/rump. Is that normal? It’s always like that, not just like it was in an awkward position.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Alright. I really want to do what’s best for it so that it can live its best life without being vulnerable to predators. In a couple of the pictures I posted, you can see that it holds its wings in an odd way, one folded up completely and tucked against its side, the other slightly fanned out laying more against the bird’s back/rump. Is that normal? It’s always like that, not just like it was in an awkward position.

That doesn’t sound normal and could definitely be a sign of an injury. I noticed that you never answered this question:

Do you have any wildlife rescues around? They might take it.