Collared Dove fledgling

[debbiedaywalker]

Hi - I found a young Collared dove five days ago, she was sitting on the ground not moving. I decided to bring her home, as there were alot of dogs around. She has continued to thrive and is feeding herself. She flies a little but does not seem strong enough to fend for herself. What I wanted to know is, when is it best to release her? Do I wait til she looks adult? her collar hasn't come in yet. I can keep her as long as neccessary, she is in a large indoor rabbit cage in the conservatory (doors open all day).

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by debbiedaywalker

Hi - I found a young Collared dove five days ago, she was sitting on the ground not moving. I decided to bring her home, as there were alot of dogs around. She has continued to thrive and is feeding herself. She flies a little but does not seem strong enough to fend for herself. What I wanted to know is, when is it best to release her? Do I wait til she looks adult? her collar hasn't come in yet. I can keep her as long as neccessary, she is in a large indoor rabbit cage in the conservatory (doors open all day).

you may want to keep this one as a pet, if you want here is a link on them and ones that look alot like them. where are is your location? http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Abo...ovRitdovID.htm

[Feefo]

Hi Debbie,

Is she able to walk? Are you in the UK?

I am in the UK and virtually all the collared doves that I have found on the ground have been suffering from a calcium and Vitamin D3 deficiency, which makes their legs weak. Sometimes they have a soft rubbery beak and sometimes their feathers take some time to unfold from the shaft. That is treated with Calcivet.

She doesn't need to have grown a collar for release, but she needs to be a very alert and agile flier because of the hawks.

Cynthia

[debbiedaywalker]

Hiya - thank you Feefo and Cynthia for your replies, I am in Sussex, U.K. I'm pretty sure she is the Eurasian type. Her legs and beak are strong, but I will get her some calcivet anyway. I really want to release her back to the wild. She is getting more and more alert everyday and the last couple of days she has become handshy. I would love a dove cote, but don't the Collared doves prefer to roost in the open?

[Feefo]

You get the turtle dove down there at this time of year, but if it has plain wings with darker flight feathers then it is a collared dove.

I think they prefer to roost in trees but I have never seen collared dove roost in the wild even though it is something that I look for, so I assume that unlike the wood pigeons they find trees with good shelter. We have a couple of unreleasables and they have a choice of roosting in the shed or the shelter, which are both furnished with boxes and V perches, They will occasionally use the V perchesduring the day but normally roost on branch perches as much in the open as they can.

Let us know how you get along! If you get some Calcivet it would be a good idea to provide water with a squirt of it for the wild ones during winter and particularly during the early spring....a study shows that 52% of birds born at that time suffer from metabolic bone disease.

Cynthia

[debbiedaywalker]

I released her yesterday, it was perfect, she flew straight into the tallest tree. We could see her sitting there quite happily preening herself!

[Feefo]

That is great!