Expert: Miguel Rodriguez - 7/10/2007

Question
I rescued a sparrow from outside my apartment yesterday which seemed to be fledgling.It looks like it has a broken leg because it just seems to stand on one leg with the other sticking out to the side.. I have the bird on my balcony inside a cardboard box which is open and turned on its side so the bird can walk in and out as it wants. I am feeding it bird seed.. There are about 4 or  5 other sparrows which i presume are its family that come and go all day to visit the sparrow so I think its happy enough, but i dont know how to go about treating its leg... I cant take the bird to a wildlife centre as I am living in spain and dont speak enough spanish to tell them anything, also I dont know where the nearest one to me is. Should I try to fix the leg myself, and if so how do i do it?

Answer
Hello. I also live in Spain, but I know of no exact info to give you, except that you could call (or have someone who speaks Spanish to do it) the Sociedad Española de Ornitologia (SEO). Their website is www.seo.org.

Don't try to fix the bird by yourself because you might hurt it even more. Also, the birds that are visiting the chick are probably just approaching it to pilfer some of the seeds you are setting out for it, so try to stay around when you feed it to make sure it's eating it.