# Mourning dove babies - I think they were attacked by cats



## Odium (Jun 24, 2008)

These birds are the first I've acted as "guardian" since I water plants in the backyard. I think they're Mourning Doves, as I figured from Wikipedia. I live in California, in the blazing Central Valley. The parents notice me but don't get spooked unless I accidently move too fast/close because I slightly slip or something. I keep my distance and let them do their thing, though I left a small pot tray as a water bath. I wanted to register and post earlier here, but the situation seemed fine. But, now certain issues came back, lethally.


The babies were suppose to be ten days old today. Both of them, anyway.

The weaker of the two apparently died. I noticed, at night where both parents were oddly never present, that it was the slower and more static one. It would almost always close its eyes and do nothing. The slightly bigger, more developed and energetic one would usually move around and sometimes climb over it and other fun stuff superiors do to inferiors.

The lone bird doesn't mind its sibling is dead, apparently, as I last saw it standing on its body.

Now, they're in nest that's in an old abandoned pot with soil. It looks like the corpse isn't going anywhere even if the family tried to do anything, because of the "walls" of the pot relative to the nest.

Will the parents freak that one of its kids are dead, and abandon the nest? Or will they just continue feeding the survivor? Will they bother using that nest still after the surviving kid flies off? And holy crap, there's a corpse now, don't I need to take it out?

Last things: will they bother eating peanuts, as I don't see it on a list of commonly eaten seeds for them. And why the heck are the parents gone at night? Even when they were just born, they were never there. Is it because of neighbors' cats? I saw them one night, but I blocked off the entrance in the gate that they used to get through. The opening is aesthetic and is as big as three jailbar spaces, so it's just big enough for cats. It was just one night, but those two cats were right by the nest but for some reason didn't find it, as I was watching from a window. I think that night they cats got spooked when the automatic sprinklers happened to turn on.


Update: I posted in another place, but they weren't exactly pidgeon/bird centric. I checked back on the nest, and noticed a few things. The survivor, usually quite energetic, looked a lot like its dead sibling - reserved, motionless, eyes closed. Its feathers looked ruffled, which was something I've never seen. It looked really tired, and wasn't moving at all.

Were they attacked by cats? As I stated earlier, I wanted to post on the forums, about the same time the babies were born. I noticed at night, the parents were never present. The morning after they were born, I noticed some feathers on the ground next to the nest, and I only saw one parent taking care of the babies. I thought that because I never saw parents at night, there were feathers on the ground, and cats were in the neighborhood. However, I later noticed that there was indeed another parent, it just looked too similar but was slightly bigger.

Now, if they were attacked by cats, I don't really understand how. The gate should've been blocked off (but knowing cats, they can crawl through small openings or get over tall places). And as mentioned earlier, the parents still never stayed at night even after I blocked the aesthetic gate opening. Again, I noticed the sprinklers went off again tonight.


If anyone could help me, thanks. I really liked having these birds in the backyard around the plants. I know I've posted a lot but I want to help them out.


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Odium, 




Small whole Seeds, such as "Finch Seed' or 'Canary Seed' are enjoyed by Mourning Doves.

They also like the 'White Safflower' Seeds.


Nothing larger...


No 'Peanuts'.


You can get these kinds of Seeds at any Petsmart.


Cats or Dogs or people or other animals can ruin things for Baby Birds if in lowish Nesting places, definitely...and possibly the deceased Sibling perished of hypotheria if the Parents were worried about sitting on the Babys because of Cats or other Animals being around.


You should remove the deceased Baby and get him away from the Nest.


Dove parents are 'realists' and they accept things cleanly.



Possibly the Babys had both suffered hypotheria at night, or, by whatever means, had become ill...with the one perishing already...and the other not far behind.


If the parents believe a Baby is ill or impendingly ill, they will tend to cut the relationship and cease feeding or looking after the Baby since in their view of the matter, there is nothing they can do to remedy the situation.



Cats would likely have chewed and battered them and left them away from the Nest, or, eaten them, if Cats had been what had harmed them.


Sorry to hear of this situation...


Best wishes...


Phil
l v


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

It sounds to me, from my experience with doves, that these might be new to the parenting game.
The baby is not going to survive without help in this situation, which is odd because usually we recommend building a higher nest. Putting a pot hanger up and moving the pot to the hanger would work wonders, if the parents felt safe they might come back IF the baby was more lively. But I don't think the parents are coming back.


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## Odium (Jun 24, 2008)

I saw the smaller parent (I think the mommy?) come back. It went back in the nest, but it frequently left, I don't know if it was for feeding or what. And when it did come back, it would rest on a chair or something high above the nest, waiting for minutes before actually flying back to it.

The survivor baby seemed lively, because it was flapping its wings when it saw its mommy. I guess it's doing ok?


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Sounds like he ight be doing okay.


Dove Babys or Pigeon Babys will usually be pretty sedentary untill they approach the age for leaving the Nest, when they become more active and excercise their Wings more and so on.


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Odium...you've removed the dead sibling, yes ?

Keep an eye out for the parents...if they seem to be coming back regularly, that's good. They should be coming back several times a day to feed it. But if they are gone for a long time...like all day....or are absent after sunset...then you may have to bring the baby in.

It is a bad sign for a 10-day old NOT to have it's parent(s) in the immediate vicinity at night. Does the Central valley cool off a lot at night ??? As others mentioned, it could die from hypothermia if there's no parent warming it at night.

But if a parent is with it at night, and you see one tending to it a few times during the day....then it sounds like the situation may be stable.

Not that unusual for one baby to pass on in the first week or so....but usually the parents will eject it from the nest. In this case, could just be that, due to the architecture...the parents couldn't do that....


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## Odium (Jun 24, 2008)

Yeah, I removed it. Are Mourning Doves diseased or something? I'm just a little paranoid and I keep washing my hands, seeing how there's poop everywhere in the nest. And an episode of House also left me a bit spooked about pigeon stool, even though the parasite featured had its symptoms greatly exaggerated.

I noticed the parents were ALWAYS gone at night, even from day one. They weren't at the nest, and I didn't notice them anywhere I could see, though it's hard to see at night of course. Apparently they could survive without them. I wanted to ask about this earlier, since as newborns they huddled together and slightly shaked, but they seemed fine later since the parents came during the day. I live in the Central Valley in California, so summers are triple-digit affairs, and nights can be fairly warm or slightly cool.

I mentioned that one of the parents came back this morning, but it seemed a little wary despite eventually going back to the nest a few times. I didn't watch long enough to see if it fed the survivor, because it took almost five minutes to actually get to the nest and I was tired of watching/waiting. 

However, it's the afternoon, and I haven't seen any at all in the few times I've checked from the window. Did I just not catch the pigeon parents at the right times, or did they really bail? It seems the 10 day year old can survive for quite some time without a parent (nights), but if I don't see the parents by morning (which one of them is always present) I'll probably take it to a wild bird center... unless they don't take in birds, then I'm not really sure what to do since I've never taken care of pets of my own, let alone [baby] birds.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Just reading through this thread, I'm wondering if the dead baby was dehydrated. Are you leaving water out for the parents?


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Personally....I would be inclined to bring it in after sunset tonight...if there is no parent in the immediate vicinity. Doves hunker down for the night...if the parents are not with the baby or directly nearby...they will not move in the dark to get to it.

I am leaning towards feeling that something is up here with the parents...as others have mentioned. Whether novices, or whether they are on the fence about rearing the remaining chick thru....or whether they are just spooked by what has not turned out to be as prime/safe a nest location as they thought....

Unless it's a very warm night, I would err on the side of caution and take it in. 

Put it in a box w/ some newspaper and maybe some old cloth or towels or rags for warmth. Give him a corner to huddle into. Cover the box w/ a screen, chicken wire, or such. Or if you have a pet carrier or other cage, use that. Keep him warm, in a quiet, safe location.

No...there are no weird diseases that are transmittable to humans. That's fiction. As I said, oftentimes in a clutch of 2 hatchlings....there may be a weakling and a dominant....and only one of them ends up getting reared.

If you like, in the morning after sunrise, you can put him back in the nest and see again if mom or dad comes. This baby is too young to eat for himself, so still requires feedings from parents (or surrogates).

If you are not up for that, then sure, finding a wildlife rehab center in your area would be a great thing to do. Of course, ask them if they would rear a Mourning Dove Chick and release it. (Some "wildlife rehab" centers will just put down the bird....reprehensible but true). If you can't find one easily, try to locate an avian vet nearby and ask them for a referral....

Also, perhaps others here can locate a member close to you...sorry, I am up here in SF....


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Sorry to be in a rush here, and if I missed it, I apologize .. If you haven't removed that dead body from the nest, please do so as soon as possible. It will draw ants and maggots will soon be on the scene.

Terry


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## Odium (Jun 24, 2008)

Yes the dead baby is gone. After seeing a dead stray cat and just reading about maggots, I know they're quite nasty. Ugh, just the smell is repulsive.

Before I left tonight for church, I noticed a parent. So I think things are ok after the sibling died. The baby was energetic and it looked like it was putting its head under its wing, like it was scratching itself? 

They seem to be a lot more away after it died, but they're still coming back I guess.


I left a small pot tray as a bird bath/water container a few days after the chicks were born. The first time, it had droppings, like it was definitely used but after the second refill, none. I don't know if they're using it anymore, since the summer heat easily evaporates it even though it's mostly in shade.


Yeah, it gets pretty warm in the Central Valley, even at night. I can stay outside and break a slight sweat doing nothing. Is that why the babies survived for so long, even though the parents were never there to warm them at night? Where the heck do they go?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

They are probably working on another nest? At least that's what pigeons would be doing.


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## Odium (Jun 24, 2008)

Charis said:


> They are probably working on another nest? At least that's what pigeons would be doing.



Whoa, that quick? Even the day the eggs hatched? They only started to be AWOL at night after the eggs hatched.


Does that mean the current nest will be abandoned after the baby fledges? They won't make more eggs there?


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## Odium (Jun 24, 2008)

Pigeon has finally fledged, all's right with the world.

Sadly, I just bought 5 pounds of bird feed for the Mourning Doves, and it flew away when I tried leaving some. I think it went to my neighbor's tree, since we have squat in the backyard.

Weird though, the feed I left under the patio on the cement was all gone by night, though the feed I left on a raised wooden structure for plants (empty right now) has tons of feed. I thought birds would prefer feeding at a higher place, seeing how cats could easily pounce on the ground.


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

That's nice news !

We wish the lil' guy a long, happy life.

Possible that mice ate the seed on the ground....(?)


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