Found Baby Mourning Dove; RIP

[Jessika]

UPDATE: Post #7

We had some REALLY bad wind gusts yesterday and when we woke up this morning there was a baby bird outside with his mama on the ground. I'm assuming he was either wet and/or could not fly. Mama stayed with him for most of the morning, but towards the afternoon she was nowhere to be found. We checked every few hours, but she did not return.

At this time I was worried because I knew there were stray toms out and about (my in-law's cat actually had a bad fight with one of the toms and was bleeding pretty bad from his nose earlier in the day) and he would surely not last long. Mama had not made an appearance in... over six hours. So my in-laws brought him inside because it was getting dark and VERY cold compared to how our weather has been (dropped below freezing tonight).

He doesn't look too young, though he still has some "fluffy" feathers, it looks as though most of his "adult" feathers are grown in. He didn't FEEL wet, but he certainly wasn't trying to fly away and it worried me.

I will be consulting my vet on Monday at school, and I'm hoping he's fine and dandy and I can just release him after that, but if not I was looking into taking him to a rescue in my area (IF they will take him...).

My question -- how to care for him? There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet so I was just wondering if any of you have any experience. Currently we have him in a covered box with a heating pad on low covered with a towel and I mixed up some of our cockatiel food with water and let it soak.

We left to go to my uncle's for a bon fire and were gone for a long time, and when we got back he had clearly eaten some of the food.

I will try to give him a more "thorough" physical exam tomorrow and see if he can fly or will try to fly, and I am also going to try to bring him outside with the box to see if he calls for mama and see if she is still around.

So... advice on feeding/caring? Should I stick with feeding mushed cockatiel food or grab a small bad of dove food (do they even make that?) from PetCo or Petsmart? Or would Walmart sell something?

I will take a pic and put it up but when my sister tried taking it with flash he got scared so I just left him be and will try to get a photo later.

[Jessika]

***bump*** I know someone has to have some advice... ;)

[Scooter's Mom]

I will send your message to my aunt, who has raised doves before. She may not reply immediately as I don't know if she gets online every day.

I don't have any advice for you as I am not familiar with them.

[moosmom]

I found a baby bird when our two yard cats were taunting him. I picked him up. He was young. But as a vet tech I knew once told me, the mama is around somewhere watching. Since there was no where to put him (all pavement) out of harms way, I put him in a grassy area across the street. Within 30 minutes the baby was gone. He eventually flew on his own (I did't see any feathers sticking out of the cat's mouths, which is a good sign).

If you can find te nest, put on rubber gloves, and replace the bird back. If's that's not possible, do what I did. He'll find his way.

[Jessika]

There was no nest anywhere, which could be because of the horrible gusts of wind we'd had the day/night before. And as I said, we left him outside yesterday all day until it started getting dark and cold, and mama hadn't been around in hours and hours.

I was told mama was outside today, so we brought him outside in the box and placed him by the tree we found him at and are keeping an eye on him to make sure the neighborhood toms won't get to him first. If mama doesn't show up for awhile, we'll bring him back inside for the night.

Thanks guys :)

EDIT: I also read on many many many bird websites that birds do not have as strong a sense of smell as many think, so even if you handle the bird the mama won't be able to "smell" you and won't abandon him as many may believe. There have been stories of humans handling babies and returning them outside a few days later and the mom still comes and takes them back.

We do wash our hands after handling him, though.

[Jessika]

Baby was out there for a couple of hours before it started getting dark and we'd decided to bring him back inside with us again. We thought Mama was nearby, but I guess we were wrong...

We bought some Dove specific food for him today and he *appears* to be eating.

I would still like some more specific tips on how to feed him, though... I don't want to join a "dove" or "bird" forum just to ask one question when I know there are people here who have dealt with this type of situation before... :(

[Jessika]

To anyone that may have cared or even noted this thread's existence, the baby has passed away today after many unsuccessful attempts at reuniting it with its mother.

I feel awful, but if we had left it out there overnight it surely would have died a much more cruel death.

RIP, baby birdie.

[moosmom]

Jessika,

You did the best you could for the poor baby. It's not your fault. Nature can and IS very cruel at times.

RIP little birdy.

[Scooter's Mom]

I did email my aunt, but she did not reply. I am sorry.

You did what you could for the little one.

[Freedom]

Just seeing this now; not sure where it has been.

For future reference, you may want to search and find a wildlife rehabilitator near you. I have 2 rehabbers and one wild bird rehabber in my address files.

About a month back, we found a mourning dove in the back yard, no tail feathers! I called and took it down to the wild bird rehabber. She said it looked like 'cat catch,' and explained that mourning doves are 'built' for tail feathers to make a quick release when caught. Unfortunately this bird lost ALL his tail feathers so he wouldn't have been able to fly off and survive while waiting for them to grow back in. She had a place to keep him, with many other doves and a few pigeons (her back yard was amazing, I wanted a tour, lol! house for doves and pigeons, house for this, house for that!). She said it would take about a month for the feathers to grow in so he could fly off and then she would release him.

She said he was lucky, many of the cat catch birds she gets also have bites / puncture wounds and need antibiotics and such.

You can google wildlife rehabilitator and then phone a few. Not all will work with birds, but you get to talk with them, learn who does which, and then you are set for future.

RIP little birdie.

[Argranade]

I'm so sorry I never got to this thread!

I would have told you everything but it's too late!

Thanks so much for helping the dove, yes it probably would have died a more tragic death in natures arms.

I'll be checking PT more often so I don't miss threads like these. :(