Found a pigeon, can he/she feed himself

[jimothy]

Hi

My wife and I found a pigeon in our driveway this morning. From looking at Sara's pics I would say he is about 4 weeks old, maybe a little less. Most of his wing feathers are grown but he still has traces of down on top of all his feathers.

We think he must have been out on the ground all night last night without being eaten which is a bit of a miracle. So far today we have dripped water onto his head which caused him to raise his neck and try to catch some of the drips. This has seemed to perk him up a lot already. An adult pigeon has been roosting in a branch over him most of the day. Is this likely to be a parent? Unfortunately dusk is now approaching and I'm worried predators will take him. We are near the mountains north of LA and so get coyotes, racoons, possums etc.

I have now put him in a box with tirn up newspaper, some water and some crushed cereal in water in there with him. At the moment the box is on the ground outside as I was nervous about removing him from the place the mother knows he is at. Should I move the box or leave it? I have two large dogs in the house and secured back yard so I can't really bring him in there.

Assuming he makes it through the night I was planning on taking him back out of the box tomorrow so I can try to reunite the family again. However, should I be hand feeding him or will he eat from a bowl? Also, should I be feeding him anything in particular.

Thanks for the help

Jim