I found a Morning Dove on my door step this morning UPDATE: pg2.. He died :(

[king2005]

I put Bear out to potty & as I was following Bear into the house I see something in the corner of my eye.

It was a Morning Dove. The poor thing was very cold & it let me pick it up with little fight. Its holding up both its wings just fine, but one of its tail feathers is damaged.

I carried it in one hand while I emptied out a box. I put a piece of paper on the bottom & pur 2" of Aspen shaving on the bottom to help keep the bird warm. I filled a bowl full of water & gave it a small dish of hamster seed as thats all I had & have no clue what they eat

I checked for a leg tag as the bird should have been more scared, but there wasn't any. I did pet it for a bit to calm it. It closed its eyes & nuzzled its beak on its chest. When I held it with 2 hands to gently put it into the box it coo'd.. I don't know if I hurt it or if I scared it... I was prepaired for it to freak out in the box... But it just layed where i built it a nest of shavings.

So the info I need asap is what do they eat(I'll google it as well). I'll do a body check when I get home as I really think the poor thing was just super cold. But the bird was still too tame, so I'm also thinking it just might be a lost bird, as Morning Doves are popular pet store birds.

So I don't know if I should keep it or not, if it survives. I'm gonna try to go home for lunch time & try to get it to eat. If its still cold, I'm gonna turn on a heater & warm up my room, as my room is cool cause of the other pets I have & I like fresh air.

I also cannot keep it in a box for too long, as I'm sure it wont be happy in there. Does anyone in the area have a cage I can borrow in a day or so (I wanna make sure its gonna live)...

I hope it lives. I've had good luck in the past with baby birds, but never this kind of bird.

[JenBKR]

aw how sweet of you to do that! Sorry I can't offer any advice or help, but just wanted to wish you good luck

[king2005]

aw how sweet of you to do that! Sorry I can't offer any advice or help, but just wanted to wish you good luck

Thanks

Wiki was a little bit of help. They are veggie eatters & I think some of the seeds in the hamster mix is the right kind of seeds, so it can atleast get something into its belly.

I wonder if a gatorade type drink would help the bird out, like it does to dehydrated dogs & people (I wont give it any until I know it wont kill the bird!).

[Karen]

The hamster seeds should do for the day, the mourning doves in my yard like the "birdseed" I throw down on the ground. Such a sweet sound they make. Be sure sure sure sure sure to wash your hands and keep it away from your other animals, I don't know if doves carry West Nile, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

[king2005]

The hamster seeds should do for the day, the mourning doves in my yard like the "birdseed" I throw down on the ground. Such a sweet sound they make. Be sure sure sure sure sure to wash your hands and keep it away from your other animals, I don't know if doves carry West Nile, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

I'll go to the bulk barn tonight to get a couple scoops of bird seed.

I use that no water hand wash.

I wasn't thinking about west nile, but more so lice, which isn't a biggie as I use lice stuff to shoo lice & fleas away from my rats (its for birds, but it works for any small animal, as long as they cannot chew on the can).

Now I need to look up west nile to see how its transmitted

[Argranade]

I rescued alot of doves there beautiful birds lol,

Just keep it warm, feed it dove seeds or some regulare budgie mix for now,

Keep water near this bird at all times and watch the water stays clean.

It was probably attacked from a hawk if the tail feathers are scruffy, I had the same thing happen to a homming pigeon, her back tail feathers where gone and she was not flying but her wings where fine, she just had a small twist her in back probably but after a few days she was fine and flew off.

Watch this dove and do not relase it till you know for sure it can fly.

Wish I was closer otherwise I could take a look at her/him lol, but if you find you won't have time to look after the bird you can give it to a wild life rescue or bring it to me lol.

Keep a warm watter bottle near the bird, also feed it a tiny choped up piece of garlic to kill any bad bacteria inside the bird, trust me it's works magic for pigeons and doves lol, a hampster cage is fine but watch it does not freak out otherwise it can break both wings or kill it's self against a cage.

Actualy to be safe I would keep it in a box.

Now I need to look up west nile to see how its transmitted

Hahaha you don't have to worry about that lol, I have kissed so many wild birds and never got sick in my hole life, of course wash your hands all the time but trust me your not going to get sick from this bird.

[king2005]

I rescued alot of doves there beautiful birds lol,

Just keep it warm, feed it dove seeds or some regulare budgie mix for now,

Keep water near this bird at all times and watch the water stays clean.

It was probably attcked from a hawk if the tail feathers are scruffy, I had the same thing happen to a homming pigeon, her back tail feathers where gone and she was not flying but her wings where fine, she just had a small twist her in back probably but after a few days she was fine and flew off.

Watch this dove and do not relase it till you know for sure it can fly.

Wish I was closer otherwise I could take a look at her/him lol.

Keep a warm watter bottle near the bird, also feed it a tiny choped up piece of garlic to kill any bad bacteria inside the bird, trust me it's works magic for pigeons and doves lol, a hampster cage is fine but watch it does not freak out otherwise it can break both wings or kill it's self against a cage.

Actualy to be safe I would keep it in a box.



Hahaha you don't have to worry about that lol, I have kissed so many wild birds and never got sick in my hole life, of course wash your hands all the time but trust me your not going to get sick from this bird.

I thought you were in Toronto? I'm NE of Pearson Airport, near Derry & Goreway (Malton/Mississauga)... It takes me 20-30 mins to get to the CN Tower on the 427S-QEW (depending on traffic & how much I speed lol).

How do I feed it garlic? force feed or will it eat it on its own? The garlic will also get rid of lice & fleas right? I remember feeding my old dog garlic pills for fleas.

I keep it in the box... I'll try to find it a larger box tonight, so it can fully spread out its wings. Then I can use the old dog bowl to hold the water & food. the bird can sit on it & not have to worry about tipping it over.

How do I tell if its male or female?

[Argranade]

Oh and be careful with hampster feed,

Some of it may have minerals & vitamines inside the pellet mix which can make a dove even more sick,

Please don't give it anything more to drink than clean water,

I'm not sure if west nile has not been reported in doves and pigeons,

There very strong birds and don't get sick very often, there actualy cleaner than the average human.

[Argranade]

Oh ya I forgot your not too far away from Toronto lol,

If you want you can bring the dove here but if you think you can handle it go ahead,

You have to be careful while putting garlic down the birds throat, make sure it does not go down the air passage .. it's hard to explain how to do this since you have not done it before.

Umm .. try chopping the garlic in tiny tiny bits and see if the dove will eat the garlic on it's own.

Take a photo of the dove and I should be able to tell if if it's a boy or girl.

Boys have a light blue/grey colour on there head and some pinkish on there cheeks lol.

[king2005]

Oh and be careful with hampster feed,

Some of it may have minerals & vitamines inside the pellet mix which can make a dove even more sick,

Please don't give it anything more to drink than clean water,

I'm not sure if west nile has not been reported in doves and pigeons,

There very strong birds and don't get sick very often, there actualy cleaner than the average human.

This is just a mix of seeds from the bulk bard. Its ubber cheap... But I will pick up a scoop or 2 of bird feed...

I just told Chad about the bird.. hes kinda creeped out by it hehehe
This is kinda how the convo went.

Me: Chad can you close my window, cause ummm *I explained the story*
Chad: What a morning Dove?
Me: its a bird that makes a cool noise when they fly & the coo kinda like a pidgon, but nicer.
Chad: Its in the house?
Me: ya but its in a box in my room.
Chad: its in the house?
Me: Yes its in the house, but it can't get near you.
Chad: Its in the house?
Me: Chad its only a temp thing as I think its just too cold & needs time to recover.
Chad: ummmm ok... but its in the house?
Me: I think you need to take a shower before your late for work.
Chad: ok I'll get up now, YAWN...

He was 1/2 a sleep :P

[king2005]

Oh ya I forgot your not too far away from Toronto lol,

If you want you can bring the dove here but if you think you can handle it go ahead,

You have to be careful while putting garlic down the birds throat, make sure it does not go down the air passage .. it's hard to explain how to do this since you have not done it before.

Umm .. try chopping the garlic in tiny tiny bits and see if the dove will eat the garlic on it's own.

Take a photo of the dove and I should be able to tell if if it's a boy or girl.

Boys have a light blue/grey colour on there head and some pinkish on there cheeks lol.

I'll try to care for the bird, if I'm not able to, I'll drive it to your place. BUT when its release day I wanna be there.. If for some reason it cannot be released, then I'll leave it with you until I can set it up a proper home in my room (a couple of weeks, so I can either build it a home or buy it one), as the bird is my responsibility as I chose to take it in.

[Argranade]

LMAO!

''Is it in the house''?

Hahaha ...

Make sure he does not throw it out lol, J/K hehe,

Me: its a bird that makes a cool noise when they fly & the coo kinda like a pidgon, but nicer.

Let me re - phrase that lol,

Me: its a bird that makes a cool noise when they fly & the coo kinda like a pidgon, there just not as beautiful and smart as the one and only pigeon that can fly faster than a big hawk being able to fly to africa in 1 second and poop on 2 million lions in a blink of an eye.

Sorry Windspirit got mad at me from reading that LOL,

BEFORE --







AFTER -- Bad Look!

[king2005]

HAHAHAHAHA sorry Windspirit

[king2005]

I've decided to go home for lunch. I cannot afford the gas, but oh well.. I'll take photos of the bird & hopefully it wont freak on me & poke out my eyes lol j/k

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Another thing that could cause him to be weak is Pigeon Pox. Watch him too be sure he's eating. Does he look or feel thin? Pigeon pox affects both pigeons as well as doves, it closes off a birds throat causing it to become weak and eventually starve. I don't know if pigeon pox are found in some places more than others, but I've seen many many pigeon and doves with it. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take the dove to the vet, most vets won't charge for wildlife (you could call ahead to ask). If he does have pigeon pox the best thing for him would to have the vet put him to sleep. The pigeon pox can be removed, but that's only a temporary solution as they will return.