Sparrow Excitement

Late yesterday I noticed a female English sparrow sitting on the patio. Her balance was off - when she leaned forward to peck at a seed, she'd roll onto her chest and have to flap her wings to regain an upright stance. Before letting the kits out for their morning romp today, I dutifully checked to see if the sparrow was in sight. She wasn't, so I let the kits out. - BIG mistake!

I stepped onto the patio and refilled the bird feeders, cleaned the chair seats of peanut hulls, and placed new peanuts out. Then I was aware that Lovey and Banichi were double-teaming a hunt for something in the grass about 150 feet north of our patio. Yep - it was the poor little sparrow.
Lovey grabbed it and ran inside; Banichi was hot on her heels; I was following all three. The phone rang, and I paused to answer it, hearing the sparrow squeaking from my dressing room... my poor sister was greeted with :'Lovey! Kathy! Lovey's got a live bird and I've got to rescue it!" I then dropped the receiver and ran.

The bird was sitting on the floor of the dressing room, with a cat on either side of it. I reached in, grabbed the bird in my right hand, and then returned to the phone. After a brief conversation, during which the bird escaped once and fluttered about on my bed, I took the sparrow back outside. Then I had to convince the kits to go inside while I released the bird. I finally got them in and closed the patio door. I went out by the privacy fence and released the little bird. I'm not sure what is wrong with her, but my kits are not going to be the cause of her demise.