# Dove nest baby killed



## elliek1 (Jun 12, 2017)

I have doves nesting on a beam over my patio and the babies have hatched. Last night I heard a fluttering at the next and I turned on the patio light.. the adult was sitting looking out. I though, oh well. But this morning there were small white feathers on the ground. :-( I didn't see a cat, but wonder if there is any way that I can protect the nest. it's actually quite hidden on the beam, behind a box I put up for nesting (they didn't use the box, but nested behind it) but at the top of a brick column. photo attached. I've heard that chicken whire might deter cats? Thinking of putting a bunch of it at the bottom but maybe the cat will just climb over it. I've had a lot of dove issues in the past month, so this hurts. a mother dove that had also nested on the patio was injured after successfully getting her baby out of the nest, and we took her to a rehabber but she didn't make it. another day that week, a pile of dove feathers. . I realize that I can't protect the birds in my yard.. and I need to toughen up... but I'll do what I can to make it a safe place for them.
Sorry to write such a long essay.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Oh that's so sad but as something obviously knows they nest there it's probably better to deter the doves from nesting there altogether. It might not be a cat and could be a rat or other predator. Such a shame to lose them like this so I'd rather they didn't nest there at all if it were me. 
Someone may come along with a suggestion but all I can think of is a dog but he'd have to sleep there at night and if you don't have a dog that suggestion is useless.


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## elliek1 (Jun 12, 2017)

Thanks -- yes I think it could have been a rat.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Oh no! You would think it would have been safe there from a cat. Yes, could be a rat. That's really too bad. I, like Freda, would stop them nesting there. Predators always come back unfortunately. I'm so sorry.


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Something could really use that plant/vine/creeper/whatever it is, to reach up there...
elliek1, I understand, appreciate and encourage your love for birds. I also cherish them nesting on my property. But you will have to eliminate all the things that could help a predator to get up there. After eliminating the possibilities put some eatables up there. If they get eaten its not a safe place to nest. If the eatables stays intact for a week or so then thumbs up to the nesting site... I have faced similar problems before, so suggesting. You may also make some modifications over the wooden beam to make this site safe for nesting.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Jass, did you shrink the picture? Those trees are in the background, not near the brick post. The only plant is maybe a foot away, but the branches are too light for anything to climb. If it were something small like a rat, then it wouldn't need the plant, as it could just climb the actual brick post. Or one of the other posts that are supporting the structure. 
ellie, would it be possible to take a picture from further away to show the whole structure? Looks like something a rat could climb. Have you seen them around? Even if you have not seen them, they are everywhere.


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Yes...the plant near the column. You remember about my mourning doves Lobo and Liva?? A pair of squirrels prevented them from nesting and killed their young..


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

That plant wouldn't support a squirrel, but If we could see the whole structure, it might help. Things can probably get up there other ways and get to them. We can only see the one section in that picture.
I liked your idea of putting food there and seeing if it got eaten. That was one I hadn't thought of.


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## elliek1 (Jun 12, 2017)

thank you all.... There is nothing to climb... except the bricks, of course. I hung windchimes on all sides of the column so that I could hear if it was a cat. In case it wasn't clear.. the nest is in back of that wooden thing I had built for them. Also, I have shade cloth in back of the beam to keep the sun from beating in, and my gardener closed off the corners of the shade cloth at the top so that rats couldn't easily get onto the beam (and he put steel wool at the tops of the 2 x 4s. 

I have to confess that I put on my white noise machine last night so I couldn't hear anything going on, because I've been making myself crazy thinking that I could actually keep them all safe. 

They seem ok this morning and I wonder if maybe the feathers on the ground didn't actually mean a dead baby.. but I can't see well enough yet to see if there is just 1 or 2 there. 

I have been cutting back on throwing out bird seeds in my rather large yard which has many trees (and which I covered with patio umbrellas like a crazy woman to hide the doves from hawks...) It seemed like a good idea to cut back so that fewer doves were coming around, fewer rats attracted... but it feels like a loss not to be engaging with them. (I need to write an article about getting obsessed with my backyard wildlife as my young adult son is separating.... 
thanks again!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I think rats can still get in there.


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## elliek1 (Jun 12, 2017)

*I was wrong!*

I wanted to update you about this situation, since you were so kind to respond. 
After my panic about the seeming chaos in the nest and then finding many tiny feathers below the dove's nest,I stayed awake many nights listening for possible cats or rats... But...I now am seeing two baby birds in the nest! ...so I don't know what might have happened that caused so many little feathers... One seems much larger than the other, so I'm hoping the parents hang out to take care of both of them... I thought in the past, the babies seemed very close to the same size. Thanks again...


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Maybe the smaller one isn't getting enough to eat. As long as he is being fed, he should catch up. Glad they're both okay.


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## elliek1 (Jun 12, 2017)

Thanks -- I'll keep an eye out... (and maybe start to sleep when they are all safely out of the nest!)


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