# Collared Dove Fledgling Question / Help Advice Please



## Bob P (Jan 17, 2017)

Hi everyone 
Yesterday I noticed a Collared Dove fledgling sat on my back lawn. I also noticed another perched in my rowan tree with two adult doves at the top of the tree. I went out because we have magpies and cats that visit our garden. I wanted to handle the little dove as little as possible as I am not sure if human smell would make the parents uncomfortable?? Is this true? Anyway I got my step ladders out in position first so I could put it back in the tree near to the other fledgling out of harms way. 

The dove was lovely and warm and let me pick it up no problem, it didn't even struggle. I quickly went straight up the ladder and placed it on a branch on my rowan tree.

That evening I saw a parent visit the other fledgling not the one I put back and feed it with crop milk but I didn't see the fledgling I rescued get fed? But I was not continuously watching so it may of been fed.

They are both still in the tree this morning.

My question is there anything else I can do? Will the parents abandon it because I intervened? I really hope not. The tree I put in is approx 15 foot from where I found it so I have not put it in a tree along distance away. I really hope the parents look after it, if these are its parents and the other fledgling is indeed its brother / sister?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any assistance. 
Bob


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

You've done the right thing! The parents won't abandon him just because you've touched him. The parents will be close by, chances are big it's the 2 that you've seen. The feeding is so quick, that it's possible you did not see it happen. You can just keep an eye on him to make sure he's ok. He will now learn all the survival skills from his parents, something that humans can't teach them.


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## Bob P (Jan 17, 2017)

Marina B said:


> You've done the right thing! The parents won't abandon him just because you've touched him. The parents will be close by, chances are big it's the 2 that you've seen. The feeding is so quick, that it's possible you did not see it happen. You can just keep an eye on him to make sure he's ok. He will now learn all the survival skills from his parents, something that humans can't teach them.


Thanks very much Marina for your reply. I do hope they both make it. Lovely little things aren't they. I will keep my eyes on them. Take care. Bob


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Thanks for caring about them. The parents should take care of him.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

How lucky for you to be able to watch nature so closely and how lucky they are to have you looking out for them. They really are lovely aren't they? I have a few that visit my garden but one pair in particular try to gain my attention if I'm late feeding them and they stay near me when I throw the seed, while the others fly away. I feel very privalidged that this pair trust me.

"Where's breakfast?"


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I love that window with the nice view to your garden. I would have a bird feeder right there.


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## Bob P (Jan 17, 2017)

*Thanks*

Hi Freda & Jay 
Thanks very much for your replies. Both fledglings have gone? Not in the tree and can't see them anywhere in my garden? Hopefully they have flown somewhere else and are both o.k. If I see them again I will keep you updated. 

Jay I am sure you are right and the parents wil look after them.

Freda that's a great photo and you have a lovely garden!! 

All the best.
Bob


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Hi Bob. You will probably see them around. Let us know.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Oh I hope you see them again sometime but I'm glad they managed to fly all the same. My gardens a bit tatty as I have three dogs but I leave it a little wild for the insects too - must look after them as well. 

Jay I scatter seed on the ground in different places because the woodies and doves chase each other off if they're not paired so I try to create space. Love my little wild friends but the two Magpies that keep coming into the house is a worry with the three dogs so I chase them out, wish I didn't have to though.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

FredaH said:


> Oh I hope you see them again sometime but I'm glad they managed to fly all the same. My gardens a bit tatty as I have three dogs but I leave it a little wild for the insects too - must look after them as well.
> 
> Jay I scatter seed on the ground in different places because the woodies and doves chase each other off if they're not paired so I try to create space. Love my little wild friends but the two Magpies that keep coming into the house is a worry with the three dogs so I chase them out, wish I didn't have to though.


It's the same way here. LOL. I used to have a cute little Carolina Wren that would come in through the back window and squawk at me and jump up and down if I allowed the mealworm feeder just outside the window to run out of meal worms. Used to sit in my hand and take them too. He came for a couple of years. I miss him. Don't you just love nature? Our yard is just woodsy and natural also, to bring in the birds and wildlife.
That's funny about the magpies.


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## Bob P (Jan 17, 2017)

*Thanks*

Thanks, I will keep you posted.
All the best. 
Bob


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Yes Jay I do love nature and I'm so worried about our bees that are in decline, twenty years ago my buddlia bushes would be swarming with bees, butterflies and moths and the past few years I have hardly any visit the garden. Astro turf and concrete slabs don't help with people who basically want an 'outside room' instead of a garden and of no benefit to the creatures we rely on for ecological balance. Very sad I think.

Your little wren sounds adorable and what a privilege for you to have experienced that.


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