My Pet Story: Times with my little winged friends

One of the sparrows feeding on some biscuit crumbs. Photos: Dr Teresa Ong

Do you have an interesting story about your pet that you would like to share with readers? We’d love to hear from you. Tell us in 600-800 words, with 3-4 photos (in JPEG format, file size about 1MB, captioned). There is no payment for stories, and we reserve the right to edit all submissions. Send your story to: [e-mail].

We always see little sparrows flying in our garden and and hear them chirping happily.

These little sparrows have a rich chestnut crown and nape with a black patch on their white cheeks. They are ubiquitous in the urban areas of Malaysia.

In March 2020, I began feeding the little sparrows which came to my garden to stay. These sparrows greeted me every morning with their cheerful chirps and I enjoyed watching them having their breakfast. They jumped in and out of the bowl that contained biscuits crumbs. It was like these sparrows were having a bath!

During the lockdown due to Covid-19, I was rather depressed and afraid to go out because of the high number of cases. I ended up talking to these little sparrows whenever they visited me until my neighbours thought I had gone mad! However, they seemed to understand my words, which brought me happiness.

I gave them each a name – Stuart, Fred, Richard, Nicola, Martin, Jane, Jamie, Jack and Jason. I could not recognise them as they looked alike but whenever I called their names, they would chirp non-stop, as if telling me the biggest news and gossip of the day. Richard even had a baby with his girlfriend on my rooftop and they left after the baby grew bigger.

Since then, these sparrows became used to visiting the feeding station where I prepared breakfast for them every morning before they flew off and returned at dusk. On certain days, I could see Jack and Jason resting on my roof after lunch hour.

Two of the writer’s pet sparrows whom she befriended during the lockdown.

Some left after some time while others stayed on. They would continue to fly to the feeding station for breakfast and even make some noise when breakfast was served late. During festive seasons like Deepavali, these sparrows would invite their friends home for a celebration and I would serve them with a buffet-style of cookie crumbs.

How cute they were!

However, Nov 16 was a sad day for the birds and myself. Early in the morning, as I was putting some biscuit crumbs in the feeding station, I noticed something unusual – Jack and Jason were not chirping as much as usual. Instinct told me that something was not right.

I took a careful look at the place where they always sleep and noticed that one of their friends was stuck there! I told Jack and Jason to wake their friend up. They seemed to understand. Jack guarded by the fence while Jason pushed his friend out from the place. She could not fly, but fell to the ground.

Immediately, my mum went to pick her up. We fed her with water and stroked her, knowing that she would pass away at any minute.

My mum, being a strong Buddhist, placed a sheet of ancestor joss paper in the tray and lay the bird on it. She also got some flowers from the garden for the bird. Within minutes of the Buddhist chant being played on the CD player, the bird passed away.

I went to my garden and spoke to Jason and Jack who were waiting there for the news. Their friend’s funeral box was placed on a stool in the garden for the other sparrows to pay their last respects. The birds did not make any noise. They understood it was a funeral service.

That morning passed silently, as all the birds guarded the funeral box of their friend. By noon, my mum and I had buried the bird in our garden, with flowers covering it. The birds were depressed as they perched on the fence and roof to watch and bid goodbye. It was a day of mourning for all of us. Goodbye, my beautiful little sparrow, rest in peace.

Moral of the story: These little sparrows have emotions like us, humans. They can understand us even though we do not speak the same language. The next time you see sparrows in your garden, balcony or roof, do greet them as they will return your greetings.