Doves

[Hitch]

I rescued a small dove on one of the boats at work. The dove could not fly and if I didn't catch him, he would have been washed overboard from the water while the boat got underway. So, I'm ended up chasing the little bird around. Once I had him in my hands he relaxed. Put him in a box, at the end of the job wasn't sure what to do.

Found this interesting article on doves, and thought I'd share. Seems when they first leave the nest, they can't fly for a few days, and people (like myself) think they need to be rescued.

I will let him go in a safe spot tomorrow morning. How in the heck he ended up on one of the boats, I'll never know.

http://www.eastvalleywildlife.org/DoveCentral.html

[Dogman]

Hope it was not injured!

Birds are tricky , especially wild ones, they can go into shock and die in a eye blink.

[Hitch]

Hope it was not injured!

Birds are tricky , especially wild ones, they can go into shock and die in a eye blink.

I named him after a coworker, Julio. So far, Julio seems to be uninjured. He can move his wings, but can't get flight. I've got water in the box and put in some lettuce for the evening for him to snack on if he wants.

[Dogman]

I named him after a coworker, Julio. So far, Julio seems to be uninjured. He can move his wings, but can't get flight. I've got water in the box and put in some lettuce for the evening for him to snack on if he wants.

Hope he she lives, I am not Kidding abt shock!

Used to raise cockatiels, to sell and give away! At one time had by best count between 65 to 70!

All gone now but still have the aviary that takes up a large part of my backyard porch!

Hope it lives!

Sent from my Nexus 7

[Hitch]

I'm not sure what to do.

If I let him go here, it's a concrete dock in a big city. It's unforgiving, there's rats, raccoons, sea gulls that can prey on him. If I keep him in a box for a few days, I can let him go at my parents house, which has trees, lots of grass, a bird bath, etc. He'd be much happier there, I think, but I don't know if keeping him in a box for a few days is a good idea either.

[Glass]

I'd try and keep it for a few days to see if it can get flight. Keep it warm, dry watered and quiet. Then see if your folks can take it. If you have time to look there might be a local rescue person.

But as Dogman says they can die from shock in the blink of an eye. It could be a simple trigger like upset stomach.

[Hitch]

Well, he lived through the night. As soon as the sun came up though, he started making a big racket in the box. Woke me up. He wanted out of that box. I took him outside and let him go. I agree it would have been better to let him go at my parent's house, but if the experts are correct, it hopefully should only take him 3 days before he can fly. I think I found him right at that transition, from when he left the nest to when he needs to learn to fly.

It was a neat experience. I simply reached my hand in the box, he calmly stepped on my finger and I lifted him out. At first, he didn't want to leave my finger, but just look around. Then he tried to fly but only made it a few feet. I watched him for about 10 minutes. He can walk just fine, move his wings just fine, but he kept trying to fly but could only go maybe 5 feet. He actually would have made a good pet, but the experts say wild doves need a lot of room, a big avairy. They are not cage birds.

This place is not ideal for him. But, there's plenty of places to hide and hopefully food. Enough dew collects in the morning for water. When he can fly, he can go where ever he wants at that point. Anyway, I wish him the best.