G
Guest
·Hello,
I've been watching a young (not a baby) mourning dove who somehow made it into my enclosed back patio (where I have a bird feeder) but can't make it back out. He clearly can't yet fly very well yet. For the first 2 days, he seemed ok--had energy, was eating, seemed in good spirits. I heard other mourning doves cooing at him from my roof and the trees around my house, so I assumed his mother was looking out for him. Now, on the third day (he's had full access to food and water), after some unavoidable trips out to the patio on my part, he's just been sitting on a covered recycling container and seems much less happy and energetic. He can maneuver well enough to avoid crash landing if he starts out with some height, but seems completely unable to take off on his own.
It's about 50 degrees out at night and he has protection from rain, wind, and predators, but I'm afraid he might be getting cold. He's eating still, fortunately, and I assume drinking, but I'm also concerned that he's so traumatized by being stuck and scared that he's losing ground.
The wildlife rehabber I contacted suggested that I just leave him alone for a few days, since he'd probably be able to take off on his own, but that hasn't happened. Any thoughts?
I've been watching a young (not a baby) mourning dove who somehow made it into my enclosed back patio (where I have a bird feeder) but can't make it back out. He clearly can't yet fly very well yet. For the first 2 days, he seemed ok--had energy, was eating, seemed in good spirits. I heard other mourning doves cooing at him from my roof and the trees around my house, so I assumed his mother was looking out for him. Now, on the third day (he's had full access to food and water), after some unavoidable trips out to the patio on my part, he's just been sitting on a covered recycling container and seems much less happy and energetic. He can maneuver well enough to avoid crash landing if he starts out with some height, but seems completely unable to take off on his own.
It's about 50 degrees out at night and he has protection from rain, wind, and predators, but I'm afraid he might be getting cold. He's eating still, fortunately, and I assume drinking, but I'm also concerned that he's so traumatized by being stuck and scared that he's losing ground.
The wildlife rehabber I contacted suggested that I just leave him alone for a few days, since he'd probably be able to take off on his own, but that hasn't happened. Any thoughts?