Parting with baby bird is such sweet sparrow
Orangeville family took Elliott under their wing when she was fragile and alone. Now, she’s ready to soar
Like most mothers, Jodean Bignell was a little sad when her young Elliott was ready to leave the nest.
About two months earlier, her daughter Kortney, 15, found the pink, featherless bird in an Orangeville parking lot.
The Bignells had rescued baby bunnies before, but this was a first.
On a vet’s advice, they dug up worms in their backyard, put them in a plastic bag and mashed them with a hammer. Then they fed the homemade, baby-bird formula to the newborn, whom they later named Elliott, with a syringe.
“Feeding was gross,” Kortney said in an email. “I never wanna hear the sound of mushing up worms or see it in my life again, lol.”
Jodean said she didn’t think Elliott would survive her first night at the house, but the bird did, sleeping in the palm of her hand the whole time.
“It’s a lot of work, when they’re really young,” she said. “I have a lot of respect for mother birds now.”
They initially believed Elliott to be a robin, but later identified her as a female house sparrow.
The species was introduced to North America from Europe via Brooklyn in the 1850s to control pests. Since then, it’s become common in Eastern Canada.
The Bignells built Elliott a nest out of a mossy pot holder lined with Kleenex and placed a heating blanket under it. Jodean brought the bird everywhere with her those first few weeks, from a girls’ weekend at a friend’s B&B near Collingwood, Ont., to work at her home hair studio where she’d have to pause every once in a while to give Elliott worms.
Elliott got along well with the Bignells’ 13-year-old pet golden retriever, Jakayda. The dog even let his new friend perch on his head or back.
As the bird grew up, Jodean gave it larger chunks of worm and introduced it to ants, spiders, flies and eventually bird feed. Once Elliott’s appetite grew to the point that the family couldn’t find enough bugs in their garden, they stocked up on earthworms at a gas station.
After seven weeks, Jodean decided to set the sparrow free in her yard. On the first attempt, Elliott didn’t seem ready to fly away just yet, she said; that was for the better, since Jodean later spotted a cat on the prowl. On the second try, she brought Elliott to a friend’s farm, and once again the bird stayed put.
The third time, she put Elliott outside last week before going camping with Kortney and her18-year-old son Kolten in Grand Bend. They were sitting in the garden when Elliott took off. Saying goodbye was bittersweet, Jodean said. “I was happy for her. I just hoped it would survive. I did everything I could.”
While they were camping, Jodean’s friends posted pictures on Facebook of a friendly sparrow that they spotted around town, sitting on people’s shoulders or shopping carts.
They reunited with Elliott at a neighbour’s house after she called Jodean to tell her a sparrow was sitting on her husband’s head.
Jodean recognized Elliott immediately. “I know my bird,” she said.