Found a fledgling pigeon

[elikinguk]

Found him last night in the garden with no sign of parents. He looks to be about ten days old judging from the day by day photos on here. He cant really walk but he can stand. Cant upload any photos at the moment because I've lost my USB cable.

He was shaking but he's stopped now. Although he does seem to be breathing very heavily, not sure if thats normal.

I've looked through a lot of the threads on here for help and I've tried a few of the suggestions: giving him honey and water mixed, soaking dry cat food. He's drunk some of the honey water mixture and I've managed to get him to eat a little food by forcing it into his mouth when he opens it but does any one know an easier way of getting him to open his beak? I've tried forcing but i don't want to hurt him.

His poop is kinda gooey and is white/yellow in colour.


Thanks x

[Pidgey]

Are you in the UK? If so, where, basically, are you? We got some UK members who might be able to help. I'll message them about your thread here in a second.

Pidgey

[Antigone]

Hi elikinguk… I can’t say I can offer you any real help as I am new here myself. My little find is about 22 days old. I tried wrapping mine in a towel gently and inserting the damp cat food with a pair of tweezers… I gently got his little beak open and put the food deep into his mouth (not that pigeons have mouths). It was a slow process but I got the little fella fed.

I am sure someone who really knows their stuff will be along shortly.

Good luck.

[elikinguk]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Im in england, the south-east near stansted.

Ok, ill try with the towel and tweasers then, thanks.

[Pidgey]

Have notified John and Cynthia by PM and email. Hopefully, they'll get to you soon.

Since baby doves and pigeons don't "gape" like other birds, it's always more of a chore feeding them. Do you have a means of weighing the little fellow on a small kitchen or postal scale?

Pidgey

[elikinguk]

Thanks Pidgey

Ok, he's 3 1/2 pounds.

Managed to get him to eat a bit more using the towel, yay

[Pidgey]

3 1/2 pounds? Sure you don't mean 3 1/2 ounces?

Pidgey

[elikinguk]

erm yea lol, sorry. 3 1/2 ounces

[Pidgey]

Okay, about a hundred grams. That would be consistent with your guess of an age. Is the bird fairly well fleshed about the keelbone or does it seem too thin?

Pidgey

[elikinguk]

its hard to tell without feeling a healthy one, but i think its on the thin side. when he extends his neck it looks quite scrawny

[Pidgey]

Sometimes, there's a reason why such a young one is out of the nest. Their parents can even drive them out if they think they're not going to make it since they don't have the options that we do. Let's hope that food will make the difference here.

Pidgey

[elikinguk]

Thats sad, hes so cute. i hope i can help him

[cyro51]

Hi Eli,

Since you found him in your garden can you clarify whether he is a feral pigeon, wood pigeon , a collared dove or a stock dove?

If he is a wood pigeon (the heavy breathing is typically wood pigeon) then he will already have white feathers on his wings which will show as white bands if you extend the wing. He will have dark or bluish eyes with probably an oval pupil and his beak will probably be pale grey.

If he is a collared dove he won't have a collar yet, but will be biscuity brown all over with darker brown feathers on his wings and will have orange or brown eyes.

If he is a stock dove he will look very much like feral pigeon crossed with a wood pigeon and will have remarkable black eyes.

Cynthia

Cynthia

[elikinguk]

From your description i would say collared dove. He has brown eyes with round pupils, he's got yellow whispy bits but his feathers are brown.

Ill have another look for my USB cable though so i can upload pictures just to make sure.

[cyro51]

If she is a collared dove ten she might be a little younger than estimated because they fledge by 21 days.

Try this link...I assume that the dove was one week old in the first photo:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/296351231eZzmzT

Collared doves seem to learn how to eat on their own very quickly. Try scattering wild bird food or millet around her. They are curious and will usually pick it up. Until she is able to feed herself you could get some egg food and mix in into a thick paste then roll it into balls. You can roll the balls in small seed, dip it in water, open her mouth and pop the ball in.

Is she able to stand on her own? Collared doves tend to suffer from metabolic bone disease. when they do their beaks are soft and they are unable to stand up. Calcium syrup, administered daily for a few days corrects this. I have a large bottle so I can send you enough for her if you need it.

This is a link to the thread about Sally and her collared dove called Kelly. Sally provided the photos in my webshots.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showth...referrerid=560
Cynthia