Is there an ornithologist in the house?

[Tog_]

I live in a condo complex. We have pines trees in the yard. We apparently have dove nests in the pine trees. Until recently, one of those nests had baby doves in it.

I'm assuming the high winds here last night blew two or more of the doves out of the tree. The cats got both, one better than the other. As I type this, I have a wounded juvenile dove in a shoebox to my left. This may be illegal as they are a game bird and have a hunting season here. I'm waiting for a call back from the woman I'm supposed to take it to, but I'm sort of at a loss here. Do I try to feed it? If so, what? Last thing I ate was steak and shrimp and I'd rather not 'baby bird it' to the little guy. How should I give it water? or Should I?

[TheBlackCat]

Is there a vet or a pet store you can call? When that happened to us we called a sort of animal shelter for injured birds, who told us what it could eat and had us bring it in the next day. I think we fed it saltines, but it was a fairly mature seabird, not a dove, and seabirds are better able to deal with salt than most other birds.

[Tog_]

Is there a vet or a pet store you can call? When that happened to us we called a sort of animal shelter for injured birds, who told us what it could eat and had us bring it in the next day. I think we fed it saltines, but it was a fairly mature seabird, not a dove, and seabirds are better able to deal with salt than most other birds.

I called the wildlife resources and they called me back with the number for a woman that deals with injured doves, but she's not home. Since it's a Saturday, and a nice one at that, she may be gone for some time, and has no answering machine. I'm afraid I'm going to end up with it for a few days.

[TheBlackCat]

Hmm. I am afraid I am not that familiar with those birds. Surely there must be some vets or pet stores open on a saturday. That would be my best bet. I don't want to give you bad advice and hurt the little thing. On the other hand I am not sure how well it will deal with not getting fed for a while, since birds have extremely high metabolisms (it isn't flying yet, but it is growing big muscles).

If you absolutely cannot find anyone who actually knows what they are talking about, my only suggestion would be to soak a slice of bread in water so it is pretty soggy, tear it up into little pieces, and put it with the bird in a tin or something. Probably a little bit just to start, you don't want it overeating. Doves and pigeons tend to be pretty versatile when it comes to what they can eat, but I don't know how developed its digestive system or beak muscles are. This would give it food and water without it likely drowning or straining its beaks muscles, and I would suspect it would be similar in consistency to the partially-digested food it is used to. Your probably don't want anything too tough, regular white bread would probably be best. Wheat is probably too tough, multi-grain or rye is right out. But really that is nothing more than a guess, a last resort if you can't find anyone who actually knows anything for real. I personally wouldn't trust my information if I were in your shoes, and would exhaust every other possible source of information before trying something like that.

I would defintiely avoid seed unless specifically told to, they are normal food for adults but they may be too tough for a juvenile. Birds have rocks or gravel that they swallow to help them grind up tough stuff like seeds, but there is no guarantee the little one has those yet.

This also depends on how developed it is. If it is pretty old it may be pretty close to feeding itself, in which case the worry is not as great. If it is really small, though, I would be more worried.

[ToSeek]

My wife (who's actually volunteered at a wildlife rescue center) says it depends on the age of the bird. If it should still be in the nest, then it actually expects milk. If it's old enough to be out and about, then it would normally be eating seeds and such.

[Tog_]

No idea how old it is. The parents are still flitting around the tree showing what would like to think is concern, but when I moved off to let them approach they didn't. Here's a pic of his head and body, maybe she can get a better guage on his/her age. I just really want to avoid a 'Lenny" moment and get it to compenent help as soon as possible.

Oh and Milk??? Really? Where would it get that in the wild? That was my first thought but gave up on it right away. I didn't think a bird could deal with milk. It's beak is about 1/2 inch long but it's angled away from the camera there.

[turbo-1]

Baby birds are given food that is pre-digested and regurgitated. It may be that they need complex carbohydrates (doves are seed-eaters) that have been ground in a crop, OR they may need food that has been ground in a crop and exposed to some stomach acids. I don't know the difference, and you have very little time to find out. Call the local wildlife rescue if you can - they have to have someone there to feed and tend to the animals every day, and hopefully you can get through.

[Tog_]

Call the local wildlife rescue if you can - they have to have someone there to feed and tend to the animals every day, and hopefully you can get through.

Heh, sounds easy doesn't it... I called the wildlife division number in the phone book. this was listed as the nuber to call to get other numbers. I assumed it would be a recording. They are open 8 to 5 on monday through friday, so I got a recording of the hours, rather than a recording if the numbers.

Next I called the the number for animal control who referred me to the local police dispatch, who referred me to the highway patrol (who would dispatch the crews if a cougar is spotted in town) They had someone call me back with the number of a woman I should take the bird to, who still isn't home and has no answering machine. So far all the pet stores have said to call the wildlife department since it's technically a game bird. *sigh*

[N C More]

You need to get in touch with a store that sells supplies for people who keep pigeons (doves are very similar to pigeons). You need a product like this (http://www.aviarysupply.com/hagenHandfeeding.htm). You could try calling Vets and ask if they know where you can buy a substitute for pigeon milk. Keep the bird still and warm. Do not give it water. An immature bird will likely aspirate water. Your bird is a fledgling and needs the pigeon milk substitute (this is not cow's milk). Someone in your area should be able to help you find some place that carries supplies for people who keep pigeons.

[HenrikOlsen]

That link didn't refer to the age of the dove and looks like it's targeted more for the adult.

Most baby birds, even babies of seed eaters, have essentially carnivorous metabolisms while growing due to their high protein needs, so for a birdie that wasn't supposed to be out of the nest yet I'd suggest trying with bits of meat, maggots or as ToSeek said milk. Real milk not soy stuff or skimmed.

[farmerjumperdon]

I would have let the cat finish the job.

May sound cruel, but I almost never interfere with my cat when it's doing it's cat thing. She hunts our yard and the edge of the woods quite efficiently. Kills something almost every day. Squirrels, gophers, birds, rabbits. We actually count on her to keep the population in check since the beagle pup is still such a clumsy goof.

It's the way of the animal world.

[Tog_]

Well, the cat that was standing over it didn't look like it was guarding a kill. It just looked curious. I dont think that was the cat that did it. I wa sall set to finish the job myself but then I saw that the injuries looked mostly superficial. As it turns out, I got in touch with a migratory bird foster person on Sunday. She said that if it was a cat bite and not a magpie or jay attack that the bird wouldn't make it more than about 24 hours anyway. Something about the cat bactieria causin gtoxins to build up in the bird. I found it at about noon, At 10 AM the next day he was moving around and alert enough to react to me peeking at him. At 11:30 he was dead. I wish I'd known from the start that the little guy was doomed.

I also had no idea cats were venemous... Like I needed another reason to fear saimese cats... stupid lady and the tramp movie.

(I know it's not venom, but it sure seems a lot like a kimodo dragon bite)

Anyway, thanks to all who replied with thoughts and advice.

[HenrikOlsen]

(I know it's not venom, but it sure seems a lot like a kimodo dragon bite)
Komodo dragon.

Kimodo dragon sounds like something printed of clothes:) (and I know that's kimono)

[JohnW]

Another suggestion, Tog: there are several chapters of the Audubon Society (http://www.audubon.org/) in northern Utah. They may be able to help.

[space cadet]

I had a baby magpie when I was a kid, and someone told me that the best thing to feed him was science diet dog food because it's got all kinds of vitamins and stuff. I got the canned kind because it's about the same consistancy of what the baby birds eat, and it's got a little bit of everything in it--grain, vegetables, meat, etc. I had to force feed him until he got used to me--he was too little to know how to feed himself and needed parents to do it for him.

Eventually he got really tame. He learned how to fly and flew all over the neighborhood. He wasn't scared of people and terrorized the kids in the park. He landed on people's heads when they were playing soccer. He stole sparkly things and dropped them down the chimney. He rode around on top of the UPS truck. He learned to mimick the next door neighbor and used to scream "BOYD!" all the time because that was her husband's name.

Eventually he figured out he was a magpie and he flew away with a bunch of other magpies. And I never saw him again.

I don't know if dog food will work with doves but it might be worth a shot.

[JohnD]

The UK equivalent of the Audubon Soc. is the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). have a look at this page on thier site - there may be others that are more specific for pidgeons/doves.

This includes the paragraph:
"Pigeons and doves feed their young with regurgitated crop contents that the chick sucks up from the parents gullet. This makes hand-rearing difficult, since copying the natural method may result in choking the young. A purpose-made mix called KT Exact or canary rearing food can be used to feed the chick. Use a dropper to get the food to the chicks throat. "

Good luck!

John

[Argos]

I was about to suggest that...

[Tog_]

Komodo dragon.

Kimodo dragon sounds like something printed of clothes:) (and I know that's kimono)

Heh oops, between the dyslexia and the 8 WPM typing skills, I'm glad I got the rest right. :)


Oh and about the most recent suggestions... the point is sadly rather moot now. The bird died from the bites.

We had a magpie when I was a kid too. Did yours ever learn to talk?

[JohnW]

Oh and about the most recent suggestions... the point is sadly rather moot now. The bird died from the bites.
Not to worry. You can use this (http://www.recipe-for.com/game-fowl/broiled-pigeon-recipe.htm) now.

[HenrikOlsen]

Might not be a good idea, supposedly it died from infected wounds after catbites, so it's probably not a healthy birdie to eat.

[Tog_]

Might not be a good idea, supposedly it died from infected wounds after catbites, so it's probably not a healthy birdie to eat.

Nor more than a mouthful.

[space cadet]

Heh oops, between the dyslexia and the 8 WPM typing skills, I'm glad I got the rest right. :)


Oh and about the most recent suggestions... the point is sadly rather moot now. The bird died from the bites.

We had a magpie when I was a kid too. Did yours ever learn to talk?


Besides yelling "BOYD!" all the time (poor guy, as if his wife didn't yell it enough, now he's got a bird perched on his chimney yelling his name too,) he mimicked a lot of other birds like robins, and he made talking noises that sounded kind of like words but were unintelligable.

[Tog_]

Besides yelling "BOYD!" all the time (poor guy, as if his wife didn't yell it enough, now he's got a bird perched on his chimney yelling his name too,) he mimicked a lot of other birds like robins, and he made talking noises that sounded kind of like words but were unintelligable.

Heh, I had the nickname "Varmint" as a kid. Everyone called me that. Mnay still do. I must have been trouble a lot because it was the only thing the bird ever said. And it said it a lot. When you're 4 or 5 and a bird that isn't a parrot calls your name... It's freaky.