When Maria found Happy the Sparrow, he was on a sidewalk and just one day old. After rescuing him off the street, she rushed him to a veterinarian. That was when she found out that he couldn’t be released back into the wild.
According to the rehabber, they would have to euthanize the baby sparrow if they could not find him a home. Forty-five minutes later, Maria was back at the hospital, taking the baby sparrow into her home.
Two weeks later, Maria’s dog passed away, and she was very distraught. But Happy gave Maria a purpose. Every 20 minutes she had to feed the little sparrow and keep him alive. Happy kept her going.
One year later, Happy was joyful, lively, and fully recovered. It’s clear from watching the two of them interact that he loves his adoptive mother. “He’s like a curious puppy,” Maria said.
But the love between these two was not the only parallel to draw to man’s best friend. Happy learned tricks, recognized his name, and loved getting pets from his mom.
While most people don’t often think of sparrows when they think of smart birds, Happy displayed a wide range of emotions from love to anger whenever it came time for his mom to trim his crooked beak.
While it was pain that brought the two of them together, their love will continue to sustain them as they move into the future. After all, sparrows can live in captivity for up to 21 years!
