Mourning Dove ..fledgeling?

There's been a pair of Mourning Doves hanging out near our feeder the past couple of days. They're pretty fast so when my little Westie terrier (Gus) goes out there, if he spots one and tries to chase - away it flies.

This morning, when I let the dog out, I noticed that one of the doves stayed put until Gus noticed him and then he flew away very low; and of course, Gus followed but had no chance of catching up. It was then I noticed this little one shown in the photo, whom I assume belongs to the pair and it almost seemed like they were distracting Gus away from it. They come and go and the baby sits right there, though and don't seem overly protective.

Does anyone know:
1. Can this little one fly yet? Can it even run for cover it needed?
2. Is it well camouflaged enough if it doesn't move, it will be safe there from the intrepid Gus?
3. If not, how long will this baby be there on the ground? I can keep the pup indoors for a bit.

Any insight appreciated!
Thanks,
Deb

Might be able to fly, but certainly not fly well yet.

Maybe the best thing to do is pick it up and 'park' it nearby in a shrub, where the parents will find it OK, but where it is safer from ground predators.

Yes, keep the pup indoors / on a lead for a few days.

Resin

Deb ~ We have Mourning Doves all year. They're wonderful, gentle birds and we love having them around, but they're not the most intelligent bird you'll find. They also tend to build sloppy nests that frequently fall apart so it's hard to say if your fledgling was ready to leave the nest or fell out of a broken one prematurely.

If you move the baby, you might want to first place it where the parents can see it, but still out of danger. Doves sometimes lose babies that fall out of their nests, then "forget about them". It might take a while to determine whether or not the parents locate their baby since they might not come back immediately. If they abandon it entirely the best thing to do would be to contact a Wildlife Rehabber.

Here is a link for Wildlife Rescue in South Carolina. If you scroll down the page, they list hotlines for various areas, including yours. There's also other info on rescuing birds if you click on the "birds" link.
Hope this helps

http://www.sciway.net/org/sc-wildlife-rescue-rehabilitation.html



This message was edited Jun 22, 2013 5:03 PM

Thank you both for your responses. I'll keep the dog on a leash to go out back for the next few days. The parents did come back and one has been right there with babe most of the afternoon. She is defending the baby from anything that comes close- even a curious squirrel. Just took this photo through the back door glass.

Oh, and they are between a lawn chair and a basketball goal. :) If Mom will allow, I may try to move them closer to the nearest Camellia. :)

This message was edited Jun 22, 2013 5:01 PM

Deb, I edited my post and added a link for Wildlife Rescue info in South Carolina, but I guess we cross-posted.

It's wonderful to see that pic and hear that the parents are being protective! That's not always the case with Doves. Thank You for being so caring about wildlife!!

Thanks for the rescue contact info. I'll save that for future ref.
This morning, the little family is gone. No sign that any predation occurred, though. :)
Hoping that means they have moved along safely.
Deb

I sure hope so too. You did what you could to help them.

Thank You for sharing your dove family. I love the picture of mom keeping her baby warm. Hope they moved on to a safer home. Great pictures.

Thanks, TaylorD!
Well, apparently I posted too soon! I had looked all up and down that edge of the property without seeing them so I thought they had gone; however, as I was about to pick up some empty plant pots this afternoon, suddenly there was this dove, acting like he/she was injured and slowly hopping away. I looked in the opposite direction and there was the little one again.

They moved over to an area by the basement door where I had been doing some repotting about 20 feet from the old spot. They actually are less noticeable there than they were in the straw.

This is not such a great photo from my iPhone but there's baby, in the corner at the lower right of the door....and mom out front.
Deb


This message was edited Jun 23, 2013 4:22 PM

I agree that it looks like a safer place. Is the Mom injured or did you just think she was when you first saw her?

Many years ago I had a stack of large-size clay flower pots on an upstairs balcony I was storing until Spring. On the very top I stacked a flower pot saucer face up so it was like a shallow bowl.

A Dove built a nest in the bowl of the saucer and layed three eggs...while it was still snowing! Our balcony had a roof and was very protected so I left her there and watched the progress until one day, all three babies...one at a time...flew up to the railing and then flew down to the grass below to join Mom.

She built and raised another family right after that (Doves just keep producing like crazy because, unfortunately, they have a high mortality rate). By the third time I had to use the pots so I moved her nest before she laid any more eggs. She decided to go somewhere else after that and by then the weather was nice and warm.

Hope your little family is doing okay. It's nice to see that Mom is remaining devoted to the little one.
BTW your pics have been wonderful!

Glad to hear they moved to a safer place. What a good MOM Dove you have there. Love your pictures.
I have Mourning Dove and Robin babies run out of their nest every year by crows. It can be heart breaking to see the parents try to defend their young only to loose one any way. I know it is nature and the crow needs to eat, it's just hard to see happen.

It would have been so much fun to watch those little ones grow up and fly and at the same time so sad to see those nasty crows cause the demise of the baby birds.

Mom is not injured, by the way; it seems she was faking it to draw attention away from the baby.

At mid-day today, mom and dad were away and baby got nervous when my husband walked nearby. He/she waddled away (attempting to fly but never getting more than about 2 feet at a go) and slipped under the fence into the next door neighbors' back yard. I haven't spotted the baby since, so no new pics, but I have seen the parents over there pretty steadily.

Finger crossed for the little one! :)

It happens every year with the crow and the babies. I use to go out and try to help the Robins to fend the crow off. It never helped it always got away with one anyway. I just try to tell myself it is nature and the crow needs to eat as well. That and my neighbors thought I was crazy flagging arms and yelling at a crow to go away and leave my babies alone. LOL!

Glad the baby has made it so far. Fingers crossed for the baby and parents as well. Should be able to fly here soon.

taylordaylily, that's sad about the Crows and the babies.
The heck with your neighbors...I'd be out there, too, doing the same thing as you.

When Hawks come into our yard I go out and "clap" my hands if I happen to see them, but it's inevitable that I miss some. Also, not all of them just land and look around. Some just zoom into the yard like a bullet and grab a bird. I try to tell myself that by giving them food, water and and a nice, fairly safe, environment to be in, more of the birds survive than would otherwise, but it's always painful.

Deb, glad to hear the Mom isn't injured. It sounds like baby has been trying out it's wings, too. If the parents can keep it safe for a while longer it may be able to fly out of danger soon. Fingers crossed here as well.

Nutsaboutnature, It is sad and hard to see. Last year it happened on my birthday. Heartbreaking to say the least.
I have hawks but they only seem to get starling's from my yard. I don't care for the starlings, they are mean to my song birds. I clap them away when I see them. My songbirds seem to sense the hawk and fly to cover seconds before he shows up. The starlings are not that smart.
Did you know if you bake your bird seed for 10 minutes at 150 to 170 degrees that they loose the ability to germinate? The birds still enjoy the same taste and you don't have to pull unwanted plants. I bake my thistle I feed my gold finch. It can be hard to keep up with them in the fall and winter. LOL!

The songbirds in our yard generally do sense the Hawks, but Hawks have incredible vision and occasionally they zoom in out of nowhere at an unbelievable rate of speed. When that happens they seem to have already picked out the bird they're headed for. When I've been around to see it happen, I wouldn't have been fast enough to do anything if I'd tried.

Surprisingly, Starlings are known to be very intelligent birds. It's hard to say why they stick around when the other birds don't. I haven't noticed that in our yard. Usually it's the Mourning Doves that are slower and I so love those Doves it sickens me.

I've tried baking bird seed in the past and it works well, but we go through too much seed to do it regularly. We buy most of our seed, plus whole and cracked corn, in 50-pound bags. We only buy a few things in smaller bags.

I bake as I need it. I cover a sided cookie sheet with foil. Then when done baking I use the foil to funnel into my bird feeders after it has cooled. I only bake my thistle. The sunflowers and other bird seed I use to much of to bake. Thistle drives me crazy in my yard so I always bake it. I'm not sure which they prefer because I always bake mine. I know they don't mind it baked. They clean out my feeders everyday. I have about 50 or more Gold Finch everyday. In the winter I have to fill twice a day.

Starlings are very smart birds. I have been puzzled by them not leaving when everybody does. They are aggressive in my yard. They even try to take on the red-bellied woodpeckers that come to my suet feeders. That never works out well for them. Yet they challenge them all the time.

I love the mourning doves as well. They love to strut around my garden and I love to watch them. To be honest I love all the birds. Nothing better than to wake to the sound of birds singing.

That's a lot of Goldfinches! Most years we have a lot of them and we have them year 'round like you. This is the first year we haven't had that many. It's been a really strange year, though, with birds and weather.

Our Hummers were very late and we didn't get as many (though we're starting to get more now). Other birds were early. Our Orioles have stuck around later than normal and they're showing no signs of leaving anytime soon.

BTW, Amen to your last paragraph.

Yes, it's a lot to keep fed in the winter! I love goldfinch's even in their dull winter plumage. They cost a small fortune to feed. LOL!
My migrating birds have been strange this year. The Orioles skipped my house this year. Glad that you have them this year. That would be great to have them hang around. Do you put out fruit or jelly for them? They hit my hummer feeders every year.
My hummers showed up late but their flowers were late so it all worked out.
Do you get Cedar Waxwings? I don't have any but hope to someday. They are so pretty!

Wow, taylordaylily, I would have answered you sooner, but our power just came back on after an outage of almost 12 hours! And the thing is, it wasn't even weather related. It was a ComEd equipment problem. We even had a torrential downpour yesterday from about 4.30 to 6.00 PM with no outage.

The Orioles do love sugar water, but I haven't had a lot of luck with the Oriole feeders I've tried. They seem to have trouble getting the syrup out based on the design of many of them. I've also read poor reviews on a couple of the feeders I considered buying. I may stll try another type next year.

But Orioles Absolutely LOVE Grape Jelly. I generally give them Orange halves and once they've eaten a little of the orange I start putting Grape Jelly in the space they create. After a day or two I can fill almost the whole peel with jelly. They really like Oranges, too, but you don't necessarily need an orange. You can put the Grape Jelly in a bowl. They are also attracted to the color Orange.

Depending on where you put it, other birds also like Grape Jelly, including Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

I buy huge 32oz jars. I found the best price at an Aldi store of "no-name" Grape Jelly. Buy the cheapest you can find as long as it has real Grape Juice. The Orioles don't care if it's a fancy brand (they can't read).

I haven't seen any Cedar Waxwings, but It's always possible they've been in our trees. They tend to stay high up in trees most of the time.

Deb ~ have you seen your Dove family at all? Sure hope they're all okay!

I saw a pair of doves yesterday up in an Oak tree and it appeared there was a smaller one with them, but it was dusk and very hard to be sure. Hoping that was the family. :)


We had more Cedar Waxwings come through this year than I can remember seeing in the past. Great big flocks. They only stay a couple of weeks, but they are so beautiful!

Deb

Deb ~ My fingers are crossed...the trio in your Oak tree sounds promising. From your earlier posts it sounds like the baby was learning to fly so maybe...

Oh, the Cedar Waxwings sound beautiful! I envy you! I've seen one or two in past years, but none at all this year.

Nutsaboutnature, Sorry! I went to Canton last night and just got home. Glad you got your power back. What a horrible time of year to loose power that long.
I wouldn't bother to buy a fancy feeder since the Orioles are happy with the orange peel as a dish. It costs enough to keep our feathered friends fed sometimes. I have 2 Oriole feeders and they never attract anything but bees. The Orioles use my hummingbird feeder instead. I wish I had saved my money.
Thanks for the tip about the Red-Bellies eating grape jelly. I will have to put some out.

Deb, Fingers crossed that the trio you saw was the dove family!
I wish I had some of your Cedar Waxwings. They are so pretty. I have been planting berry bushes trying to attract them to my yard. Maybe someday!

There's one Hummer feeder the Orioles are able to use because their weight, on one side, tips it slightly allowing them to drink the drips. They can't do that with my other feeders and the holes are too small for them to drink from.

Surprisingly, the least of the problems with the power outage was the heat in the house. It was a little cooler outside than it had been and with the windows closed, it stayed at 70 much of the day.

Nutsaboutnature, Glad the heat stayed away for you while your power was out.

Sorry I took so long to get back to you, taylordaylily. Yes, you're right about the heat. That's got to be a first. Normally with power outages we're either sweating or freezing!

Hiding in Plain Sight: More Mourning Doves

Great shots, pollengarden!!

One flew into my kitchen window this morning. We've been lucky in that birds rarely hit our windows, but if they're going to hit one at all, it's the large 3-panel slider in the living room. It hit with such a thud I was afraid to go outside.

Anyway, there it sat, just looking around. I put on a pair of brown jersey gloves and reached to pick it up since I was afraid it broke its legs. I used to do some wildlife rehab many years ago in California. Now, if there's a problem I bring it to a local Wildlife Rehabber.

Apparently, all it did was "ring its bell" a little bit because as soon as I started to pick it up, it flew (nice and straight) right up to our very large Ash tree.

Boy, was I relieved!!

Pollengarden, Great dove pics.

Nutsaboutnature, Glad the dove was alright! Bet he thought" What happened? " afterwards. I have to keep stickers on my bay window or birds fly into it daily.