# I found the luckiest fledgling, whose tail tells a tale of a narrow scrape with death



## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

Well, I've got myself another fledgling friend, in my rescue box wth some warmth, food, & water for a couple of days... & you should see her tail! When my partner gets home, I'll see if I can get a good picture of it - it looks like she narrowly escaped the grasp of something, probably a crow or currawong, we've had both around lately, & something got one of my feral flock around about when I think this young'un had her narrow scrape. After spotting the body of their catch, I was sad because I thought it was her actually, but I haven't noticed any familiar faces missing so far, but it was still sad to realise I was one flock member down. 😕

My new friend has been dropping by my balcony for a little over a week, & she was so tiny, I grabbed her a few times & snuck her inside to feed her a heap of seeds before letting her go, because she was ravenous, & the other birds were always beating her to to the food. Since the near miss with the predator, her appetite has decreased quite a bit though, & her crop seems a little slow, probably due to the scare - it'd certainly slow my digestion down some, that's for sure! I tried feeding her some applesauce, but I'm not particulary adept at it, & she's pretty determined not to let me get any into her. Is there any way to do this wihout wearing most of it? I've tried a bottle with a rubber glove finger with a slit cut in it on top, & I put her beak in the hole to try to get some into her, but she shakes her head & I end up with a face-full nearly every time. Her poops seem OK though, so things might be moving through, just a litle slowly... she drank a bit of water & ate a few seeds earlier, & hung out with me for awhile, & she seems bright & eager to fly, so I think she'll be OK.










After spending my Friday night scratching pigeon lice bites, I realised exactly how riddled with bugs she was, so I gave her a good squirt with some Vetafarm Avian Insect Liquidator first thing this morning & that seems to have gotten rid of the majority of them. If you had've told younger me that I would've spent a Friday night like that, I think I would've laughed at you, but I guess that's what happens when you befriend scrawny fledglings with near-tragic tails... LOL How did you all spend your Friday nights? Tell me I'm not the only one!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Thanks for helping her. If you think she is not eating enough, you can handfeed her defrosted green peas. Just open her beak, put one pea at a time deep inside and let her swallow. Feed her 30 peas in the morning, and 30 again at night if you think she needs it. Let her eat seeds during the day. Put down small seeds and always make sure there are enough variety. You can also put apple cider vinegar in her drinking water (5 ml to 1 litre of water). This will help with digestion.

Do check for canker. They sometimes get yellowish growths towards the back of the throat. Other symptoms will be: drinking excessice water, difficulty swallowing, losing feathers on the breast.

I couln't view your photo.


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## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

Oh whoops - try this: https://imgur.com/a/OdgFKCe. I did give her a little water with apple cider vinegar earlier, actually, & a pinch of sugar & one of salt - I'll keep doing that, & I'll give her some peas shortly. I was thinking of bashing some seeds with a rolling pin to break them up nice & small, so she's got variety from the usual pigeon mix I give them - would that work? And I'll check her out for canker when my partner's here to help. She smells OK, unlike the other canker cases I've found, so fingers crossed.

Thanks for the advice again - much appreciated! I don't know what I'd do without this forurm.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Droppings look good, she is definitely eating seeds.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

You can bash the seeds into smaller pieces, I'm sure it will be easier. Getting her a dove seed mixture with smaller seeds will also be easier to eat.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Hi, thanks for helping her!

We rescued too some birds who literally escaped from a predator's mouth... I attach a pic of a dove...our birds both saw the face of the death...so yes, they are really lucky birds! Here I often see pigeons killed by seagulls.. 

Have you checked her body for injuries? Sometimes they hard to see because hidden/covered by feathers. 

You could give her a complete vitamin supplement, it will help her to get stronger. 

You could add to her seeds a mixture for canary containing dehydrated fruits, the seeds/fruits are small and usually birds love it. You could also add a small variety of dried lentils (the ones for humans that you can find at supermarket) so you don't need to bash them into smaller pieces. Legumes (lentils, mung beans, etc) are really important for a balanced diet. 

Yes, the poops look good. 

Keep us updated.


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## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

*Update, & advice needed please.*

@Columbina, what a lovely bird! Is that a ring-neck dove? It's wonderful you were able to rescue him/her. Is the entire tail missing? We had one around here a year ago that was totally tail-less - I have no idea how she could fly properly, but she seemed to do OK... speaking of tails, these are the blurry pictures we were able to snap of my lucky little bird's tail... they're pretty terrible pictures, but you can kinda make out the slash marks from the crow or whatever it was, & see what a tattered mess she is in the tail region...

Actually, speaking of being a tattered mess... can you & @Marina B please give me some advice? I fed her peas for about 4 days after my last update, but she was becoming progressively stronger & more furious about me keeping her captive with each day, so I let her go one afternoon just as everyone was returning to the roof next door to roost, so she could reintegrate with the flock like she was determined to. About 15 minutes later, we were hit by a massive storm with gale-force winds, & I was terrified she'd be blown away or hurt or something, but luckily she found shelter alright, & was back on my balcony the next morning, so I snuck her some seeds. She looked a little worse for wear but not much, but I decided I'd keep a close eye on her to make sure she was OK over the next week or so. She kept coming back each day, but was looking more tattered & dishevelled every time, so I finally gave in to my urge to grab her again the other day, & I've been trying to care for her since, but she's pretty annoyed about it.

I haven't resorted to feeding her peas again... she's pretty angry at me for imprisoning her, & grunts & growls at me when I try to get her out of her box to clean it, then struggles furiously whenever I try to feed her the peas, even if I've wrapped her in a towel. I also noticed she was readily eating seeds too, therefore I didn't think she needed the extra annoyance, & I didn't want to stress her out. But I'm worried about her poop... I've noticed green liquid around the solid matter (pretty sure it's called bilverdine?), & she's producing less by the day. This is her poop, from most to least recent, over the last few days. I worry she's on a bit of a hunger strike because she's scared or angry, & I worry I'm stressing her out more by trying to help her, & that I'm keeping her unnecessarily, so I'd appreciate your opinions please.

She also has terrible dandruff... you can see it on the paper towel in the first pic. I think she's moulting at the moment, maybe? She looked quite greasy & dull when I first caught her, but her feathers are looking so much worse... I think the lice or mites she had are gone, from what I can tell, which is an improvement, & she's got a heap of pin feathers coming through, so that's a good sign, right? If so, why is she looking worse for wear not better? Here are a few pics of her, the poor little thing... I've named her Butterfly, because she reminds me of a fragile little butterfly (until her temper makes itself apparent).

After I set her free, I noticed that when she visited, she was accompanied by a similar looking juvenile, who I assume to be her brother (or perhaps sister?)? I've begun calling him Grump. He, too, was quite dull & greasy-looking when I first spotted him, but after catching him & bug-spraying him with some Avian Insect Liquidator, like I'd done with her, & sneaking him seeds regularly, he's begun looking much better, unlike Butterfuly. He's a fiesty little fella, too, & he doesn't hesitate to beat me up for seed - I even got it on video, here.

So, what am I doing wrong, what does she need? Because I'm at wit's end - I want to help her, but she's not getting any better, so it feels like I'm doing her more harm than good. 😥 I don't want to cause her suffering, so your guidance is welcome. Thanks in advance!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

To me her droppings are looking good. You're not doing anything wrong, just make sure she eats enough and has a healthy appetite. The feathers might take some time to recover. The dandruff you see is normal, all young pigeons have that. If you can get vitamins for pigeons, you can add that to the drinking water acc to instructions. Apple cider vinegar (5 ml acv to 1 litre water) 2 or 3 times a week will also do them good. Helps with digestion and to keep the good gut bacteria in place.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

I agree, it seems that you are doing a good job. Poops look ok. 

There are vitamin supplements rich in amino acids and biotin like this one (it's for moulting period):

https://www.versele-laga.com/en/gb/oropharma/products/oropharma-mutavit

It could help her feathers to improve.

You could also look for probiotics for drinking water. 

Yes, the bird in the pic is a dove. Yes, she lost the entire tail but it grew back as well as all the feathers. She needed surgery and antibiotics too. She healed very well but she was really traumatized by her bad experience... 

Keep us updated 😊.


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## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

*Update!*

Time for an update:

Butterfly is looking heaps better, thank you so much for your advice! I kept doing what I was doing (I’d already been adding ACV to her water, BTW) &, although she’s still producing quite a bit of dandruff, her adult feathers are beginning to come in nicely! Her neck feathers are beginning to show some iridescent sheen, something which the bird I think is her brother (the slappy one from this video I linked to in a previous comment) has yet to get. BTW, he’s still just as feisty, although he now will occasionally climb onto my shoulder from the air-conditioning unit on my balcony, so I can sneak him some seeds without the others seeing. I still get slapped if I frighten him though... he got me in the ear the other day, making it ring, the little blighter! 

I’d noticed Butterfly had been flapping around inside her box more lately, reminding me of young pigeons preparing their muscles prior to learning to fly, so I began worrying about her muscles atrophying without adequate exercise because she didn’t have room to flap properly, or that she’d damage her flight feathers by whacking them on the sides of the box while she flapped them, damaging them again just as they’re beginning to recover & look a bit less battered & bruised. I still plan to release her, something which she’s extremely eager for me to do - she fights furiously to get away whenever I take her out of her box - but not until she’s strong & healthy enough, feathers included. Therefore, I decided to upgrade her to a roomy new pad, which she moved into today. I put it inside the glass sliding door to my balcony, where many of her flock come to visit throughout the day, & she spent the day eagerly looking out & enjoying some sunshine, occasionally flying up & clinging to the inside of her house while flapping her wings furiously, usually due to the birds outside taking flight suddenly because they were scared by something. The fight or flight is strong with this one! But I guess a close call like she had is likely to do that to a bird...

I plan to buy some vitamin supplement for her tomorrow - will this stuff do? I’ve bought Vetafarm products before - I use their Avian Insect Liquidator to treat pigeon louse flies & other bugs on my flock - & I’ve been pretty happy with it, but I defer to your expertise. It can be difficult to know what to buy because, here in Australia, our brands are often vastly different to what’s available elsewhere, which confuses me. Knowing the name of the ingredients, or the vitamins/minerals that are most important, helps, so if the product I’ve linked to isn’t ideal, just let me know that, & it’ll make searching a bit easier. Is there anything else I need to get too, while I’m ordering? I was wondering whether I should worm her too, & perhaps try to worm the others if that’s doable.

Thanks again, in advance, for your awesome help.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

I could not view the product, but I guess anything for birds will be ok. If you want her to practise flying, you can let her come out in the room in the afternoon. Let her fly around a bit, and catch her again when it gets dark. Much easier to catch them in darkness.

I'm glad things are going well for her.


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