# Fledgling fell from tree



## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

A fledgling fell from a tree and was brought into the house by our cocker spaniel. Remarkably, the cocker instinctively has a soft mouth, the pigeon is undamaged. It fell from a pine tree probably and we are keeping it in the log basket in the downstairs loo. I have read some of your advice and I have put T shirts to keep it warm. We are about to try and feed it according to your advice. I would like to know more about it though. It is cup of hand size at the moment, and very active. If we leave it alone for a while it finds itself a new place to perch. Its eyes are open wide. It looks a little scrawny, but preens itself and generally seems well. It doesn't want to take food from us though, and it must eat. Our garden is full of cats, so we can't leave it anywhere outside. They are feral cats that come and go as they please. We left it outside for a while, hoping that its parents might somehow reclaim it, but had to choose between leaving it in the relative cold and bringing it indoors. It is now indoors. Its feathers are mainly grey but it does have some wiry blonde browny feathers that poke out and it has no visible black collar around its neck. It has a white splash in its tail. It probably doesn't weigh more than 100 grammes at the moment, and I can't imagine it being able to take in 12 ml three times a day, but perhaps it could. Any advice would be welcome.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Thank you for caring for the baby and bringing it into the house. Is this a wood pigeon?

It would be best for the parents to feed the baby, but if the nest is destroyed then that might make it impossible.

It would be best if you could find a local rescue organizations that deals alot with wood pigeon or feral pigeon rehab and release.

Please check this link for information on baby pigeons, and what to feed them, and figuring out what age the baby is will determine what to feed it: http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/


*


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Thank you and white flakey bits*

Thank you very much for your advice. I think it is a wood pigeon, but it is hard to tell. We have some collared doves that nest near our house, but this one fell from a nest probably high up in the pine tree, which we certainly can't reach. I don't think vets and wildlife sanctuaries are an option down here. I think I might be the laughing stock of my village, since they are more likely to end up in a pie than in someone's home. I am curious about some small white scaley dust almost that the pigeon seems to give off. I have offered him or her the special warm drink. Not interested. So perhaps I have to let the pigeon settle down some more? It perched on a radiator which I didn't think was too healthy for it, but perhaps it is looking for warmth. Currently is in a non heated small room, but it is not cold.


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## Woody Pigeon (Feb 3, 2013)

Skyeking, you took the advice link I was gonna use 

From the description, it sounds like it could be a juvenile wood pigeon. Is the front/chest of it a sort of pink colour, and does it have any green or white patches on it's neck?

Does it look like:


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Yes that's the bird*

Yes. that's definitely the bird. And sorry to share this with you, but it is excreting black surrounded by a milky foam. Is this good or bad? Thank you for your help. Still not eating or drinking. What strategy would you suggest?


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Wood pigeon or collared dove*

Actually it looks a lot like the picture, but the beak is a darker colour, and the tail feathers have white streaks...


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

ProvencePigeon said:


> Yes. that's definitely the bird. And sorry to share this with you, but it is excreting black surrounded by a milky foam. Is this good or bad? Thank you for your help. Still not eating or drinking. What strategy would you suggest?


*Have you checked the age of the bird on the link? The link will help confirm the age as well as give you ideas on how to feed it. If it is very young, then it will have to be fed as it cannot eat on its own. *


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Age of bird*

I'm pretty sure that the bird is about 15 days old, around the age of the birds in the pictures from woodey pigeon. I am wondering whether it is because it is still a bit stunned from being with us that it is not eating or drinking


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

ProvencePigeon said:


> I'm pretty sure that the bird is about 15 days old, around the age of the birds in the pictures from woodey pigeon. I am wondering whether it is because it is still a bit stunned from being with us that it is not eating or drinking


*What method of feeding the bird are you using? It cannot feed itself. You can easily hand feed frozen peas (thawed, drained and warmed) that way you don't have to hydrate. Make sure the baby is warm, and only feed when crop is completely empty. You gently open beak and insert pea on top of tongue and allow baby to close beak and swallow and repeat. *


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## Woodnative (Jul 4, 2010)

See Skykings advice above. It will starve to death if you don't feed it!! It will not open its mouth and beg like some other type of baby birds. YOU have to open its mouth and feed it. The frozen peas warmed up (not hot!) mentioned above are probably the easiest food for you to start with.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*small pigeon doing well*

Happy to say that the small pigeon has made it to today having had some (four) peas yesterday and also some water with salt and honey according to another member's instructions. 
It has just had another breakfast of four peas and some more water which it enjoyed.
I wonder how many peas a day it should have, or whether I should now interest it in some very dilute porridge given the plastic bag way as per another member's advice.
Thank you very much for your advice. The support is very helpful. It's very satisfying when you can actually make the small bird eat. Stretching its wings and perching well. Even flies a bit.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

ProvencePigeon said:


> Happy to say that the small pigeon has made it to today having had some (four) peas yesterday and also some water with salt and honey according to another member's instructions.
> It has just had another breakfast of four peas and some more water which it enjoyed.
> I wonder how many peas a day it should have, or whether I should now interest it in some very dilute porridge given the plastic bag way as per another member's advice.
> Thank you very much for your advice. The support is very helpful. It's very satisfying when you can actually make the small bird eat. Stretching its wings and perching well. Even flies a bit.


*Thank you for the update, please do not give any water with salt, the bird doesn't need the extra water and the salt is bad. The defrosted peas will supply plenty of water. If you are giving it dried peas, then you supplement with water after eating, but do not add salt. Baby should be getting enough peas to where the crop is full but not overly full like a balloon, more like a bean bag.*


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Without a picture, it's hard to tell you how much to feed, but 4 peas aren't enough. No way you can take a pic and post it? If he is 2 or 3 weeks old, he will starve on that much food. You can also teach him to drink by dipping his beak in a small crock of water, not over his nostrils. If you keep doing this when you feed him, he will catch on after a while.

And I believe she was referring to giving him the water with salt and honey to rehydrate him. The bird should be warmed and rehydrated before any feeding, always. But now, better to try and get him to learn to drink on his own.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Thank you*

Does anyone have pics of a full or empty crop and I will send pics...7 peas and a bit of porridge today...seems hungry


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Can you post a picture?
Feel the crop. It should feel like a soft pillow or beanbag. Not hard and firm. Maybe 2/3 full.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Here is a picture*

I hope I have attached a picture


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Oh is he cute! Try giving maybe 30 frozen peas, that have been defrosted under warm running water, to nice and warm, but not hot. Feel the crop as you go. He is almost old enough to be weaned onto seeds. I would leave extra peas and some seed with him to encourage him to learn to eat. And dipping his beak, but not over his nostrils, will help him to learn to drink.

You then wait for the crop to empty or feel flat, before feeding again. Maybe 5 or 6 hours.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Thank you I will try*

Thank you I will try that. Someone earlier posted a way of encouraging them to open their beaks...if someone can remind me, but I will also go back through the posts...at the moment just getting a few peas down is a triumph...Though I am encouraged that we can't be long off he or she feeding herself, since it is looking to peck at things...


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Just hold the bird on your lap and against your body. Now come from behind his head with one hand and clasp his beak on either side. Use both hands to gently open the beak, and put in a pea. Push it to the back of the throat and over the tongue. Let go of his beak to let him swallow it. Then do another. Easy.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

* The link I provided you initially has all the information on caring and feeding a baby pigeon. Here the link showing full crop. http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/howmuchtofeed.htm*


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Well the full crop shows a lot more when they aren't yet feathered.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Pigeon doing well*

Thank you very much for all your help. The pigeon seems to be doing well. I attach the most recent photograph. I will take a better one tomorrow. The pigeon is now moving around quite a bit and eating about 90 peas a day...And also pecking at seed and generally getting more pigeon like and less baby like. Any thoughts on the next step?


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

That is a collared dove. The baby wood pigeon would have blue eyes at that age and the typical oval shaped pupil. It would also have the white band when you stretch the wing out and a broader, longer and blacker beak.

http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/comparingyoungbirds.htm

Try scattering very small seed or even chick crumbs around it, they will start to pick it up just out of curiosity. Also put a small but deep dish of warm water near it and dip its beak in the water to allow encourage it to drink...f it eats seeds it will need the water.

It is a lot smaller than the wood pigeon and would take a lot less at each feed. If you have to hand feed more corn that peas and just keep feeling its crop, when the crop feels like a beanie baby or bean bag it has had enough.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

If you go to my profile and scroll down you will find a link to my baby collared doves album.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

To prepare it for release give it space to fly and develop wing strength and agility. Put some seed in the garden for collared doves and let it watch them and familiarise himself with them. If you have a cage let him spend some time outside, getting sunshine (collared doves are liable to suffer from calcium deficiency) and to acclimatise him to being outdoors, When he is strong, his wings and tail are full length and there is a forecast for three days fine weather open a window and let him leave in his own time..they are natural escapologists who see a gap and whoosh off.

http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/collareddove.htm


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## Woody Pigeon (Feb 3, 2013)

I thought it was a little wood pigeon.

I followed that link, Feefo, and read the bit about human imprintation. Is it possible that the dove may have become attached to ProvencePigeon? If so it may not fly off voluntarily?

By the way, do not be close to it's wings when it takes off. When I freed a recovered woody, it took off outta my hands and gave me a smack


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Dove's parents*

So the dove is doing well. Eating well, learning to fly...Then when we were having our flying lessons, before returning to the house, I saw the parents come and eat at the bird table by the baby's cage. Then I put the baby in and went indoors. The parents - a pair of collared doves, came and ate at the bird table and I could see that the baby was trying to get to them, but of course when I left the house they flew away. So I left the cage door open and soon enough the baby walked out and then flew down to the terrace in the direction of the pine tree, high up in which is the parents nest. I caught him and put him back in has cage, but don't know if I am doing the right thing. The next few days are sunny cloudy. Does it ever happen that parents pick their children up and carry them back to the nest...what should I do next. Attached a new pic of the pigeon. The peas are much appreciated, but now the dove is eating bird seed and drinking water on its own.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

The parents can't carry their young back to the nest and from what I have read they don't recognise them away from the nest until they are quite well grown (not sure how old in the case of the collared dove). It would be best to wait until he is able to fly well before letting him out, otherwise he is vulnerable to predators like hawks. It should be only a matter of days before he is able to fly properly, as he knows where the food is and how to eat it he should be able to manage despite not having his parents around to "top him up".


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Can you include his wings and tail in the next photo so we can see how developed they are?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Yes, they won't recognize the baby as being theirs anymore. And he is really too young to be out on his own yet. You need to keep him safely confined til he is a bit older. If you let him practice flying, it has to be inside, as if he were to get away to a high place, you would not be able to catch him, but because he is still too young to be out free, he would be in danger of predators. He probably would not survive.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Thank you and further developments*

The dove was afraid of my dog, who happened to get out of the house and near the cage, got through the bars and flew into a tree, where it still is. I am pleased on the one hand. Independent. Reasonable flyer. But worry that it is still too young and wondering how much of life and limb to risk climbing into tree after it to make sure it gets properly fed for a couple more days. Current activity is just sitting where it flew to. Don't know whether it has any idea how to find food etc on its own. Here is the latest pic from the top of my ladder..


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Ah I think I got the answer in a previous answer*

Up the tree I go and here is the promised pic


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Pic*

Picture not working for some reason, but yesterday's picture is still relevant in this instance


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Good luck! If you can't get him back, put the food and water dishes that he is accustomed to using where he can see and recognise them.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Several attempts later*

Well, I cannot persuade it or catch it down, so I suppose I have to accept that the dove is free and on its own now. I wish it well and hopefully long life.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

It will probably not survive. A predator can easily pick it off. If he gets hungry enough he may come back down for food. I would not give up on catching him.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

In the wild Little Houdini would be flying free by now, the only difference is that his parents would be feeding him and showing him where to find food, so please make certain that he has plenty of food available and that other doves will be able to find it and teach him by example. Even if his parents don't recognise him, he might recognise them.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Dove is back*

Thank you for all your help. Houdini (good name) is back. I will try and attach a picture if the forum is OK with that.
I caught him again, when I saw him fluttering near the bottom of a completely different tree. Was impressed that he had quite a full bean bag, full of what I don't know, but is very good these days at pecking at seed etc. Anyway put him back in his cage and hasn't escaped again.
So the next question is when is it OK to tell him go?
How many more days do you think I should keep him. The two collared doves (parents) are quite present and seem to show quite an interest in the bird table but also the cage where the small bird was. 
And the small bird when I recaught it was quite near the big pine tree from which it had fallen and where the parents had a nest.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I think because the parent birds are around when he can fly well I would release him.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Do the parent birds try to feed him through the bars of the cage?


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Unless the parents are feeding him, or preening him to show they recognise him as theirs I would wait a few more days, just to be on the safe side.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Thank you*

No the parents don't try to feed him, so I will wait a few days. Thank you.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

He may escape out through the bars again. And an animal or hawk could reach in easily. Do you have a cage with smaller spaces? Glad you got him.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*dove and its parents*

So the little dove is in the cage and the parents are eating nearby. Small dove longing to be with them and fluttering its wings anxiously. Parents eat nearby and come over to cage but don't touch baby. Hard to watch baby so anxious to go and see them, but yesterday's advice taken on board. Pecks at seeds, but not very keen on peas anymore. Someone mentioned corn...corn as on the cob or corn as in grain? Is wild birdseed fine if it is drinking?


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Also flying query*

Flying lessons indoors hard, rushes into window panes etc. Flying outdoors hard because flies into the top branches of trees...so will it be OK, if it stays mainly in its cage for the time being


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Collared doves are seed and grain eaters. We use defrosted peas and corn for hand feeding only because it is the easiest and safest way for a new rescuer to feed, but they would not eat that in the wild and their parents would be feeding them soaked seed (it soaks in the crop) so thatthey get enough moisture in the food. I would give tiny seed like canary seed but also mixed corn or any other seed he is likely to find on bird tables. But make certain that he has water and knows how to drink.

Would you be able to weigh him and also post a photo of the tail? I keep asking about the tail because that is how I could tell how developed the babies were. The weight is another good indicator.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If flown indoors, can you cover the windows in that room with a sheer curtain or cloth? Or drop the blinds if you have those on the windows. Throw a sheer cloth up over the curtain rod while he is out. Letting him fly and build up his wings is important for him to be ready for release.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

If his parents are there watching him I would release him in their presence...


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*Thank you spirit wings*

Dear all,
Thank you very much. Bird flew into tree again today, which solved the dilemma of the flying lessons indoors, and I am pleased to say that as I write a parent is sitting next to it in the tree and feeding it I think. So I guess it's over to them now. Quite satisfying and obviously there are still risks. There are some beautiful birds of prey in our area, but I am glad it has found its parents.


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## ProvencePigeon (Apr 5, 2013)

*post script*

And I did notice the other day when I recaptured it that it had a full crop...so now I realise that the parents had been feeding it then too, still it did look very vulnerable there fluttering at the bottom of the tree, so I will keep an eye nevertheless...


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Collared doves don't seek out the company of other doves and tend to wing slap rather than get close and personal if they are fighting, so you must be right about its parents feeding it.

I hope all will be well, for parents and for Houdini.


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