Found a fledgling - now what?

[Caymania]

Oh good, we seem to have found out what type of pigeon Speedy is.

Went out to check the situation. The parent has left and Speedy was sitting on the edge of the open box mulling over life. He has pooped about 4 times since I put him in it (about an hour - hour and a half ago). Does that mean he has been fed very recently?

Brought him in to weigh him (about 75g).
He then flew off the scales and over to the screened window (about 2m or 6-7 ft) and had a bout of very wing-flapping as he tried to figure out how to get out.
I've put him back in the box (with lid on) as I try to figure out a better enclosure!

His flying seems to be improving very rapidly indeed. A couple of hours ago he could only flap but not lift off, now he actually flew several feet. Is he ready to leave home? Not quite yet? What do you think?

[Pidgey]

Doves learn to fly at a much earlier age than pigeons do. That's about the right weight and he will be flying very soon. That said, it won't be long at all before he'll be ready to keep up with his parents.

Pidgey

[Caymania]

So now I have a fledgling dove in a box with some water.

What else do I need to do?

[Pidgey]

Well, you might go looking for where the parents actually seem to live. If you can find the nest, it might be possible to put him back in it or near it, even if it's up in the tree that they're living in. Otherwise, you're going to need to get him out there up high enough for them to continue to take care of him at intervals until he's ready to take off. This is a difficult time for them because dove nestlings do it this way--they end up out of the nest with the parents maintaining a vigil while they learn to survive the hard way.

Pidgey

[Caymania]

The parent(s) seem to be hanging around, one is walking around the box but I have not seen it hop onto the box or anything like that. So he must be getting hungrier and hungrier, and mom must be getting more and more fed up!

Do you think I should put Speedy up on a branch and see if he can hang on, or something like that, so the parents can get to him? I dont want to leave him out at ground level, and if I hang about then the parents stay away.

(will also try and keep an eye out for their nest, good suggestion).

[Pidgey]

Sorry, lunchtime.

Yes, you can do that--it's how their lives go at this stage. You can try to watch from behind cover.

Pidgey

[JoyfulSongTree]

Hi Folks,
Thank you, Caymania, for caring for this little fledgling. I just got your email, Pidgey, sorry for the delay, I'm on Hawaiian time and slept in today...
I believe you have correctly ID'd this as a White-winged Dove.
The odd plumage growth ( or lack of it ) looks to be from pecking by a nest mate or mineral deficient parent, possible feather depluming mites rather than predation, anyway... those are my best guesses. Or a longer shot -- perhaps this species' just grow in that way.

Originally Posted by Pidgey

... Otherwise, you're going to need to get him out there up high enough for them to continue to take care of him at intervals until he's ready to take off. This is a difficult time for them because dove nestlings do it this way--they end up out of the nest with the parents maintaining a vigil while they learn to survive the hard way.

Pidgey you've said it in a nutshell, this is generally the most vulnerable few days of a dove's life. The parents ( usually mostly the father at this point ) would likely be feeding with only the occasional supplemental crop milk/seed mix now, while weaning and teaching the baby how and where to find food ( mostly seeds ) and to drink water on its' own.

In order to allow the parent to teach the baby they must be allowed to roam some and therein lies the dilemma of possible predation. My thoughts have been that the best we can usually do in this situation is to give them our time by watching from a distance, possibly put out some wild bird seed (or millet) and water in a safe place (with dense foliage nearby) and try to stay out of view of the parent until the fledgling is fully flighted. At dusk, if the baby is still on the ground, I would put the baby up out of reach of predators, like on a low (3 feet or so with soft ground under it) branch of dense foliage if one is available. If not, or if the nature of potential predators would make this unsafe, perhaps the box for the next night or two would be best.

Best wishes, and I'll say prayers for little Speedy,

Carol...Member ADA and CDA

[JoyfulSongTree]

Hi again,
Just thought this may interest you...
There's a button link to a recording of the vocatization of the White-Winged Dove, Zenaida asiatica, toward the bottom of the page linked below, it was recorded on the US mainland though so it could sound a little different than those of the Caymen Isles.
http://www.internationaldovesociety....wingedDove.htm

Video #2 linked below also has the vocalization ( recorded in Belize ) in it at the beginning. Other videos on that page show some of the variations in plumage that can occur within the species.
http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie...idEspecie=1834

Best wishes,

Carol... Member ADA and CDA

[Pidgey]

It's always a pleasure, Carol, thanks for the info and links. Do they domesticate white-winged doves?

Pidgey

[JoyfulSongTree]

Hi Pidgey

I personally know of only one White-winged Dove kept indoors in a cage ( rather than those kept in aviaries or flights outdoors) and it has retained somewhat of a rather wild nature.

But I imagine there may be dove keepers other than I am aware of who keep White-winged Doves in a domestic environment and who've possibly been successful at taming them, especially if the dove was co-parented or hand raised from hatching or thereabouts. What a joy these Columbidae youngsters can grow up to be, as you are surely aware! Like right now I have a tamed wild Zebra Dove (Geopelia striata) sitting on my shoulder who was brought to visit me for the day. Here're a few pics of the dearling himself from last year when he came for a visit:
http://www.flatratewebsites.com/phpB...opic.php?t=215

Best wishes,

Carol... Member ADA and CDA

[Caymania]

Thank you very much, Carol and Pidgey, for the information and help! I've certainly learned much more than I had bargained on, since I woke up this morning - I mean that in a good way! I find I am being much much more observant of the sounds and things going on around me... and I am TOTALLY amazed that pigeons make such amazing parents, hanging around for so long when they cannot see or hear their baby. Wow.

An update on Speedy: things are going really well.
I took him out in the box at lunch time. Parent dove would fly up, coo, gradually walk closer to the box, walk away leaving distressed baby, and then come back head down all ruffled up and sort of puffed up, looking like a "pigeon sumo wrestler". That was odd - they'd walk from left to right as normal, and then come back at some point in sumo mode.
Parent would walk by the box several times... then fly away, leaving dejected baby who would then settle down and preen.
Meanwhile I sat behind the porch window, reading and watching.

Finally parent dove jumps up on the edge of the box and looks in at the baby. After a while it jumps off, walks about, flies away.. at some point both parent and baby are on the edge. Parent pecks the baby a bit, probably to get it to jump down onto the grass. Baby digs its heels in, parent flies away.

After a while baby sitting on the edge gets hot - the sun has shifted - and flies over to the frontdoor step. (This bird has a thing about doorsteps). Sits in the shade, I can see its throat vibrating but I can't seem to hear sound. Thirsty?

Parent bird returns soon after, feeds the baby who is much happier after that. Baby sits on the step and falls asleep.. parent comes by very often and tries to make the baby walk around. Baby stays put but stretches wings often and preens a lot.

Later the baby wanders with parent into bushes, parent flies up and sits in branches but baby unable to fly upwards, it can apparently fly horizontally but not vertically yet?
There is a small tree with a sloping trunk and the baby later crawls/flies about a foot up and sits there with parent. Parent flies away, baby stays put.

Baby flies down and walks around the bushes with parent, who keeps flying up into teh branches but baby stays put.

Its now 18.45 and baby has finally - just as I began planning to go out and grab him off the ground - finally flown up onto a branch about 3 ft off the ground. He's sitting there alone. I'm thinking that I'll leave him there until tomorrow morning and then continue my vigil?

I liked Carol's idea about strewing birdseed about - I would have liked to do that, although the parent did not seem to pick at anything while I watched, just walked around. I didn't want to intrude once the interaction began .. I think I'll do that early tomorrow and see if baby begins learning to pick.
I had thought about putting him on a branch during the afternoon, but he is fast and I didn't want him to burn too much energy evading me! It was fun to see how his flying progressed during the day.

I had no idea doves made such faithful parents ... and possibly other people who find a fledgling dove may not know this, so am detailing my experiences a bit for their sake. I was lucky to find a fully-grown fledgling, though. (I think I was afraid I'd have to feed it every 2 hours on mashed up worms and have fleas all over the place..).
The parents really did take care of the baby beautifully even though I manhandled him so much and took him in! All I ended up doing was to keep an eye on him and move him away from dangerous areas. I'm blown away by how much fun I had and how much I learned.

All in all, this little dove survived today thanks to all you kindhearted people who shared your wisdom - thank you!

[Lovebirds]

I think we've all had about as much fun as YOU just reading all the "goings on"......I was "lurking" but would have been of no help, so I just "watched"....you did good. Thanks for helping this little one.

[Lady Tarheel]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the "goings on" of the baby/parent. It is amazing how well they can communicate with each other. I expect papa told his baby to get his little rear on a low limb for the night!

Thanks for being such a good caretaker for this dove family.

[Pidgey]

Me, I'd still be scared for the baby overnight and probably keep him in a box, inside where it's safe. I imagine that only a small percentage survive this phase for one reason or another. Otherwise, your island would be swarming with them. Best of luck, hopefully you'll get to enjoy even more tomorrow. At the speed he's going, I expect he'll be able to fly upwards better tomorrow or the next day. That's how fast it goes.

And thanks for caring!

Pidgey

[Caymania]

Just spreading the joy, y'all!

I'm actually beginning to think about keeping doves at some point. I love the coo-roo-roo sound they make, the best sound I know to relax to. Forget about new age and mountain streams, give me a cooing dove anyday!

BTW, we have another type of pigeon here on the island. It's local name is (I believe) the Cayman dove, its about half the size of this one, very small and shortlegged, kind of elegantly compact, brown in colour, they walk around like little wind-up toys. It could be the Common Ground Dove, not sure, I have to look at them more closely.