Found a fledgling - now what?

[Pidgey]

Send them to:

pigeonpatsy@yahoo.com

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

I keep checking the emailbox but nothing so far. Have you sent them?

Pidgey

[Caymania]

Sorry, it took me a lot of checking before I realised the thread had two pages! I'm a bit distracted by the whole pigeon business, I guess. Had to cancel my appointment .. just sent the pictures to you.

[Pidgey]

Pictures of Speedy:

http://community.webshots.com/album/562543191ifYsnh

Speedy's related to pigeons, but he's not the regular pigeon that we all know and love. As such, we're going to be looking for a specialist, here. He might be a lot like woodies (Wood Pigeon) but I'm certainly no expert.

Pidgey

[Caymania]

Originally Posted by cyro51

You could take it inside, then allow it to have outings during which its parents can feed it during "safe" periods.
Unlike some birds pigeons do not live on the ground for a while after leaving the nest, although once they are fledged their parents will continue to feed them for a few days.
Cynthia

Now that I have the bird in a box, and I've caught my breath after all that chasing, I'm wondering what's next!
Will the parent birds hang around and how do they know when the baby is outside (it isn't vocalising)?
How often do I take the baby outside?
Do I put it outside in the box or let it out and then try to catch it again? Will the parents feed it with me hanging about?
etc. etc.

[Pidgey]

It's especially tough to answer those questions about a truly wild species without being familiar with them. This nestling is to the point of eating only a couple of times per day, though, so it's not as big a worry as if he needed to eat every two hours or die. We've got time to sort it out, though.

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

Just out of curiosity, is this guy really little? Can you measure him or weigh him? The missing feathers don't help with identification but he almost looks like he could be related to the white-winged doves.

Pidgey

[Caymania]

Sure, I can do that.

Speedy is in a box on my porch. I walked outside to see how he is doing and see if I could find a pigeon to photograph for identification. There is one in the tree right outside, just sitting there quietly but kind of alert. Parent maybe? Not cooing, just staying put. So I put Speedy out there under the tree, box and all, and he looks kind of hopeful but I'm not sure there is any interaction going on.
Should I take Speedy out of the box and risk him running off? The box is about 8-10" high, not very big, I guess I'm wondering if the parent will perch on the side and feed him?

[Pidgey]

I sent an email to JoyfulSongTree, who is a member of an international dove society, to see about identifying Speedy's species. Hopefully, somebody'll come up with an answer pretty quickly (if not already).

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

Yeah, they gotta' watch for awhile to figure out whether the box is going to eat them. It just takes awhile for them to get used to the arrangement. It usually works, though.

Pidgey

[Caymania]

Pidgey, I've just sent you a couple more pics of Speedy and one of a possible parent. The parent type is very common here.
Hope this helps!

[Pidgey]

Okay, those pictures are added:

http://community.webshots.com/album/562543191ifYsnh

That's gotta' be the parent and it really does look like some kind of white-winged dove.

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

Look at this one:

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i3190id.html

And here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-winged_Dove

Pidgey

[Caymania]

It certainly does look very like the one sitting out in my tree!

I'm not sure about the ring around the eye, nor the iridescence on back of the neck, but the rest of the features seem to be a fit. The tail seems to have a white patch on the underside.

[Pidgey]

The iridescence is more of an effect than a true color. The light needs to be right to see it. Some individuals have it more than others, too.

Pidgey