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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsBaby bird whose nest blew out of a tree in last night's thunderstorm.
We left this one and its sibling at the base of the tree last night hoping the parents would come back. This morning they were still there...one was dead and this little one was still alert and breathing. I was afraid a magpie would eat it because they are just hell on baby birds around here and it is 100 degrees again today and I knew he had to be dehydrated. So, I picked him (her?) and warmed him....even in our heat, he didn't feel warm.
I held him until he perked up and gave him a little water. I put him in my pocket at drove to Petsmart to get a container of crop milk replacement and he's already had two meals today. The internets say that he will eat 4 times per day and graduate to seeds and berries when he fledges. I believe this chick (the babies are called squabs) is a Eurasian Collared Dove. Non native and invasive in some areas. However, I just couldn't leave him to die by that tree.
I have a pet Conure and am keeping him well away from this dove in case there are any diseases to worry about.
He won't win a beauty contest but he is quite a fighter!! Wish him luck. I have a video of him eating his first meal...but I don't know how to post videos here on DU.
Blue Owl
(50,356 posts)Thanks for rescuing the little guy (or gal)...
riversedge
(70,204 posts)AndyS
(14,559 posts)I found him in a parking lot next to my car complete with nest.
Fed him baby food with a dropper and he thrived!
Phoenix61
(17,003 posts)secondwind
(16,903 posts)Diamond_Dog
(31,989 posts)I couldnt leave him (or her) there to die, either!
A few years ago a baby bird fell out of a nest in our backyard... we looked all over the internets about what to do and everything we found said leave it alone. I was beside myself because so,e stray cats occasionally enter our yard and I knew if that happened hed be toast. We have hawks around here, too.
For two days we left him there until I couldnt stand it any more, and my husband and I went out there and gave him some water with an eye dropper. He greedily swallowed it down and seemed to want more. I hoped we werent doing something bad.
I believe it was the next day, we were greatly relieved to see the two parent birds hanging around nearby. FINALLY! They were taking food to him and feeding it to him. It was amazing to see.
Eventually the little bird started hopping around, and, after that, we didnt see that bird family any more. I was so relieved that their little one survived.
I hope your little bird makes a full recovery!
MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)I wanted to leave this little thing...but with the sibling already dead, I knew it wouldn't be long for the world. The magpies in my neighborhood are constantly raiding the nests of songbirds and eating their chicks. Magpies also steal the eggs out of my chicken coop so I'm at war with them this time of year.
I hope to get this guy fledged and eating what he's supposed to be eating and off on his way. I read that these doves can have has many of 6 clutches per season!! They are prolific breeders but their mortality rate in their first year of life is 75%.
Thanks for your kind words.
Fla Dem
(23,656 posts)alittlelark
(18,890 posts)Any opposite sex member of his/her species would agree !!!
MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)Solly Mack
(90,764 posts)Keep us posted, please. Hoping for the best.
Eurasian Collared Doves are beautiful in all their stages of growth.
BigmanPigman
(51,590 posts)GumboYaYa
(5,942 posts)He bonded with us. We nursed him to health and he matured into a full grown robin but he would not leave us. I would take him out and he would fly around a bit and then come back to me. He lived for about a year, but eventually I think being in "captivity" was not good for him. It was a pretty cool experience for our kids over that year. He would wake us up in the morning chirping so we named him Chirpsy.
MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)There was a part of me that hoped nature would take its course and I would find them both reunited with their parents or... I just couldn't let him sit there and swelter at the base of that tree. So, here we are. I'm not keeping him near the other pets or in the busy areas of the house hold and I'm not even holding him to feed him...even though I want to. I pick him up to change his bedding and then put him back. I don't know if it was the right thing to do or not. Mortality for wild birds in general isn't good and this little dude's odds won't be any better...but we will see.
Ligyron
(7,632 posts)Way down here in Florida we have a collared dove population that was established so the hunters could hunt them all year without bag limits whenever they felt like hunting.
GumboYaYa
(5,942 posts)there was no chance of survival and even the ones who survive in the nest as chicks have low survival rates, like around 10% if I remember correctly. we always thought it was a success that we got the little guy to live as long as we did and he seemed to really be bonded to us (I would walk around outside with him perched on my head), but we also wished he could have returned to the wild.
GumboYaYa
(5,942 posts)You are doing the right thing.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Response to MontanaMama (Original post)
Post removed
MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)but thanks anyway.
montanacowboy
(6,085 posts)good for you
too bad the other baby died
StarryNite
(9,444 posts)Thank you for helping this little bird. I used to volunteer at a wild bird rescue. A lot of the birds didn't make it but we gave them their best chance. It was so rewarding.
MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)I am on the board of Raptors of the Rockies. I don't do the hard rehab work...I just help decide how to get grants and spend the money within the program. Rehabbing is hard work!
Karadeniz
(22,513 posts)MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)It was a guess because of the shape of its beak. If it lives, it will look like this:
hermetic
(8,308 posts)You did a good thing! Too many birds are dying off for too many reasons. I absolutely believe we should do whatever we can to save them. And butterflies. And bees. When they're gone, so are we.
MOMFUDSKI
(5,523 posts)so much for this little squab. I love birds and all animals. Today, in Milwaukee, I looked at my bird feeder to see a green parakeet eating seed. Poor little guy must've flown out the door but he was smart enough to follow the other birds to my feeder. Hoping he is tame enough to land on my shoulder so I can walk him into the house to save him. He will be at such risk out there and will never survive the winter. I will try my best for him.
MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)A parakeet??? I hope you're able to get him/her. If it has a bluish tint where the nostrils are, its a boy. If it is pinkish, its a girl. If its mature anyway. Best wishes and thank you for trying to save him. I have a parrot here at the house. He's a handful but I cannot imagine life without him.
Duppers
(28,120 posts)So, good on ya, dear.
The adults are handsome birds...
https://assets.whatbird.com/api/image/birds_na_147/image/53744
MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)And, I'm only guessing at what this little guy is...but I'm pretty sure. They are beautiful to listen to.
Silver Gaia
(4,544 posts)It sounds like you're doing all the right things. We've rescued baby birds and raised them before. One was a Scrub Jay with deformed feet. It turned out she was unreleasable, so we kept her with us for 18 years (in the wild they live to about 17), since she likely would have either died or been killed (lots of cats and hawks here) had we released her. She was quite a character! Good luck with your baby! It can be very rewarding.
MontanaMama
(23,313 posts)Wow wow wow. I had no idea Scrub Jay's would live that long. Thank you for saving her. I love cats but they are hell on song birds, unfortunately. When I owned cats, they did not go outside for that reason...I love wild birds too much. I have a Jenday Conure named Punch that's 2 years old...they live 20-25 years.
I_UndergroundPanther
(12,463 posts)Glad you are helping him. I raised a starling who had a broken leg.
He healed up,grew up taught him how to eat,bathe,fly. Then he was let go. He lived in my yard until I moved away from my house
I called him Rodan after the huge bird in the Godzilla movies.