Longmont police Sergeant Dave Orr says a 15-year-old boy's mother called authorities after discovering he was raiding bird's nests for the hatchlings and trying to raise them. "He and some other children in the neighborhood had been trying to feed them with little success," Orr tells the Longmont Times-Call. In all, animal control officers seized 53 baby sparrows, swallows, and a bluebird from the boy's bedroom, taking them to Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where rescue workers are armed with formula and worms. Despite the effort, just 13 of the tiny birds survived the ordeal and appear to be recuperating. The boy, who was ticketed for cruelty to animals and interfering with wild birds, did not tell authorities why he took them. "He just really had no explanation, showed no remorse," Orr says. Lindsey Goodwick is helping to take care of the birds, which are so small that they must be fed every 15 minutes--a task the boy was unprepared to carry out, she tells 7News.