# Young Woodpigeon found in garden, not sure what to do.



## Ariaus (Aug 20, 2016)

Hi, I live in the UK, Nottingham area and much earlier today I saw a young Woodpigeon that (from my limited quick research) I believe is around 17-19 days old. No Woodpigeons have nested in our garden this year however I still frequently see adults resting in much taller trees around the area, it has been very windy today and so I can only assume that it was blown into the garden as it would be very difficult for it to enter on foot. When I first found the bird it was quietly resting on our back doorstep, I assumed that this was normal behaviour similar to other local birds and that its parents were still watching over it and feeding it outside the nest so I decided to leave it be. However I watched it intermittently from the window as it wandered aimlessly around the garden and even after several hours no adults had visited. As it started getting dark and raining quite heavily the young bird went for shelter under a small bush, by then I was fairly concerned as I know that the plant it was under provides almost no protection from rain and cold. So after quickly reading some other forum posts I decided to put the bird in a towel padded cardboard box in our garage. Unsurprisingly it seemed very frightened by me picking it up so I just placed it in the box and closed the lid without taking a photograph but from what I saw earlier it seemed to be in good health. I have refrained from offering it food and water as I fear this could do more harm than good and am now unsure as to where I go from here. I have raised chickens for many years so I would say I have at least basic knowledge on temporary care for birds. However I have no experience with pigeons and neither the facilities nor the intention of keeping it long term. Are there any organisations or individuals that can care for it? And tomorrow morning is it still ok to keep the bird in the cardboard box, If I release it back into the garden it could easily hide in dense vegetation somewhere that I cannot find it again.

Sorry for the lengthy post but I hopefully this makes the situation quite clear,
Thank you in advance.


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Hi

First thing, are you on Facebook? If so, there is a UK group/network of pigeon rescuers and rehabbers here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/PigeonProtection/

Woodies are readily stressed, being true wild birds unlike feral pigeons. It may or may not be able at this stage to eat by itself, but should be offered a small dish of seed (wild bird food is OK) and of water. It will get dehydrated if not getting liquids.

This is about hand feeding if it becomes necessary, but also see the other sections in the 'baby pigeon' part.


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