Why Do Sparrows Abandon
Their Nests?

By Richard Worden

Birds make pretty devoted parents, so the chances that they’ll abandon their young are exceptionally slim. Unfortunately, sometimes they have little choice but to jump ship - with or without their babies. So here's the 5 top reasons as to why do sparrows abandon their nests....

Sparrows may abandon their nests if they feel severely threatened, if disturbed by predators or an infestation, and if food and resources are scarce, providing little chance of survival. Sometimes, sparrow parents get killed while looking for food or returning to the nest.

Let’s dive into the possible reasons why sparrow parents leave the nest, sometimes abandoning their young in the process.

Reasons Why Sparrows Abandon
Their Nests...

The Sparrows’ Environment Is Unsafe

Sparrows aren’t easily forced away from the nest and their young, but they may fly the coop if they feel exceedingly threatened or disturbed. Growing industrialization and deforestation have contributed to this sort of abandonment. 

Examples of what birds could find threatening are:

• Human intervention: If people are disrupting their environment and birds feel threatened, they’ll move to a place that feels safer. If they feel their chicks have no chance of survival, they won’t hesitate to leave them. 
• Predators: A sparrow’s environment could be overrun by predators like snakes and larger birds, in which case they’ll cut their losses and abandon the nest. 
• Natural disasters: If the nest is devastated by a natural disaster, such as a forest fire or hurricane, a sparrow would have no choice but to leave to save its own life. 
  
  

The Sparrow Parents Have Died

Wild sparrows have an average life expectancy of three to five years, some even longer if they’re lucky. This already-short lifespan frequently gets cut shorter by circumstances out of their control, like an attack by a predator. 

Nature is brutal, and though sometimes bird parents leave their young to preserve their own lives, sometimes the alternative is just as tragic. 

Sparrows have a list of formidable natural predators, any of which could snap up an unsuspecting sparrow on their way to or from the nest. Birds are constantly looking over their wings to evade predators, but sometimes they get unlucky. 

A sparrow’s natural predators include: 

• Birds of prey like falcons, hawks, and owls. 
• Wild and domestic cats and dogs.
• Reptiles, especially snakes.  
• Humans - they contribute to declining sparrow populations by exterminating them and destroying their natural habitats. 

If their parents die, sparrow babies are left without a caretaker and have very little chance of survival. They may even fall victim to the same fate as their parent/s. That’s life in the wild, as saddening as it is. 

The Nest Has Become Infested

Bird parents abandon or even kill offspring that are diseased or ill in some way to protect the rest of the brood. But what happens when the entire brood is infected? If a nest is beyond caring for, bird parents will skip town and start anew somewhere else.

Some infestations that can cause sparrows to abandon their young are:

• Mites
• Lice
• Salmonella
• Candida
• Roundworms

The bacterium Mycoplasmosis and Chlamydophila can also cause disease and infection in baby birds, affecting their respiratory and digestive tracts. 

If diseases or mites get the opportunity to spread, the nest itself could become a health hazard to the babies and their parents. If the birds are old enough to leave, then they could survive. However, if they’re fully reliant on their parents, they’ll most likely die from the following:

• Exposure
• Bacterial or viral infection
• Dehydration
• Starvation
• Infected wounds

There are several clear signs that indicate a baby bird is sick. Contact a veterinarian or wildlife rehabilitation center for assistance if you find a chick displaying the following symptoms. 

• Matted or missing feathers
• Lesions and wounds
• Listlessness and difficulty moving
• Drooping wings and head
• Rapid breathing
• Excessive thirst
• Swollen or sleepy eyes
• Other birds ostracize or attempt to hurt them
  
  

Food Is Scarce

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The threat of starvation could force even the most resolute little sparrow to abandon their chicks to save themselves. 

Bird parents spend most of their time foraging for food to feed themselves and their babies, which rely solely on them for survival. If the parents can’t find enough food, the babies don’t get to eat. why do sparrows abandon their nests

When faced with starvation, a sparrow will do everything in its power to sustain itself, sometimes neglecting its chicks. They resort to feeding their babies less or not at all. If they’re extremely food insecure, they’ll migrate somewhere with more food. 

It’s advisable to leave nature to its own devices and interfere as little as possible. Still, if you’re sure a mama bird has abandoned her chicks, you should contact your local wildlife rehabilitator or veterinarian to attend to the babies. 

However, you shouldn’t hand-raise a bird unless you have experience with bird-rearing and know how to feed a chick properly. You should still provide certain things for an abandoned chick while waiting for the vet, though. The vet or wildlife rehab will talk you through how to do this. 

Find out more about how to care for a baby bird if it’s a life-or-death situation with these tips and food recommendations. 

Unfortunately, food insecurity and disruptive environments have caused a steep decline in sparrow populations, especially in the case of house sparrows that live in urban areas. House sparrows are considered pests, so most people are happy to see them go.

The Sparrow’s Young Have Left the Nest

Sparrow parents spend their days ensuring their chicks are well-fed and healthy. When the chicks reach fledgling age, it’s time for them to leave the nest and survive on their own. 

Once the sparrows’ entire brood reaches maturity and leaves to make a life of their own, sparrow parents will have more young ones and likely raise them in the same nest. 

Sparrows are known for reusing nests, whereas some birds take their nests apart when they no longer need them. Even though this is common, not all sparrows practice this ritual of reuse. Some abandon their old nests and build new ones for their new brood elsewhere. 

So, if you see an empty nest, it might just be that the family moved to a new nest. Reasons for this include to better accommodate a larger clutch of eggs or find a more stable food source, which is not necessarily evidence that something tragic happened. 

It’s also reasonably common for birds to build new nests to reduce the risk of infestation and disease in each of their clutches. Alternatively, they may do so if the nest isn’t durable enough to withstand multiple clutches of eggs. 

Why Do Sparrows Abandon Their Nests?
Conclusion

Sparrow parents are fiercely devoted to their chicks, but they’d sooner abandon their brood than risk potentially losing their own lives to predators, disease, and starvation. 

The reasons aren’t always this grim, though; sometimes an empty nest merely indicates that the brood and parents have moved on to greener pastures.

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Hi! I'm Richard Worden, the author and founder of We Know Birds.

Over 20 years ago I developed a keen interest in birds and birdwatching, and it has been my passion ever since. I am committed to spreading useful knowledge about birds to others so we might all enjoy them to the fullest.

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