Mourning Doves are very lazy nest builders. They often will find an abandoned nest that was created by another type of bird or they build their own very poorly constructed nest. Often they will reuse their nest for 4 to 5 sets of eggs. With the large size of their hatchlings, the nest often gives out causing the baby birds to tumble to the ground. If you ever see young doves on the ground don't pick them up! Their mother and father are sure to be close by watching and feeding them.
Many people often think they have been abandoned and try to care for the young themselves. This is not only illegal in many states, but often an inpossible task. Doves are one of the only birds that feed their young "milk" produced by the parents from glands in their crop. If their young does not get this "milk" they will likely be undeveloped and unhealthy at adulthood. If you see young doves on the ground the best thing you can do is leave them alone and help to keep other pets away from them until they are old enough to fly. This usually isn't more than a week after finding them on the ground.
Eggs hatch in about 14-16 days and become Fledge ( Fledge is the stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight ) in about 12-14 days after hatching. The parents will still care for the young until they reach between 25-27 days of age where they will be left to be on their own.
i saw a mourning dove in the nest and than they switwed what does this mean
that was great
I have couple of baby doves which they have hatched and they are moving and pretty good size but they can't fly. The nest is in front of the house in the porch in a flower pot. The parents are gone for couple of days!! What is going to happen to them? Will the parents come back to feed them or will they will fly by themselves. I am just concern a cat or some other birds come and hurt/eat them!!! Is there anything I can do for them?
My Mourning Doves built a nest on my bedroom window sill. There are 2 baby birds now that I can see everyday. The parent(s) don't seem the be scared of me after the first encounter of with them seeing me look at her/them. I've seen the babies eat from the beak. I look at them everyday. They have feathers but are still weak.
How long before they leave the nest?
I found a small morning dove with most of it's adult feathers and can fly in short hops. It was misplaced in a very bad storm and ended up in a parking lot. What do you feed a bird that age? It's not quite ready to leave the nest.
Sally, you might want to try doing a Google search for "phoenix arizona wildlife rehab". I'm not in your area, but this seems to turn up quite a few results that may be helpful to you. In the meantime, you can try to keep the bird warm and safe. Since dove are one of the few birds that require special "pigeon milk", feeding it other baby bird food is not ideal, however if that's the only option you have, it's better than nothing. Just follow the directions on the can. Good luck!
Hello,
We found a dove and it is small. It was in an irrigation canal and we believe it was trapped and could not get out of the gate covering. One of the wings maybe hurt. Is there any Wild Life People that can pick up this bird. I am in Phoenix, Arizona. Please let me know if you know of anyone. I do not want the bird to die.
Katy, it's probably time for the birds to leave the nest anyway. They generally will not fly away until they are ready to leave for good. The one that flew away may have developed a little faster than the other one, but I'm sure the other is not far behind.
Are you sure the mother and father have abandoned the young? If they have you may try to contact your local zoo. Often they have rehabilitation programs for Doves. Before doing anything with the doves I would be sure that the parents have truly abandoned the nest. This can happen as doves are very nervous birds and it may have spooked them being in a high traffic area. Good luck and I would be interested in knowing how it all turns out for you.
Meelo, your best bet is to let them be. Soon enough they will learn to fly and leave the nest to be on their own. As they get older they can stay warmer on their own and the parent doves don't stick around the nest as much as they do at first. If they are feathered out pretty good they will likely be gone from the nest all together very soon.
We have a dove thats been on a nest in our rain gutter (that's right a rain gutter) for about two weeks now. She has only left the nest once when frightened. The hatchlings are about 4-5 days old. The mate must have been killed as we have not seen it for 2 weeks. I think they are all going to die. She will just not leave for food and I have not seen her feed the babies. Should I leave her alone, scare her off for a while and try to feed them or what ? Any suggestions ?
I found a baby in the middle of the front lawn. He and his egg shell had fallen from a badly constructed nest. I made the decision to get involved for three reasons:
1. The front yard is a wide open, exposed lawn that sees action from gardeners and neighborhood activity
2. The baby was too tiny for flight to safer area
3. Nearest shrub cover gets regular patrol by cats and wild critters, leaving him a sitting duck and his parents vulnerable.
I figured his survival chances there were 1 in 1000. With me, 50/50. That was 3 weeks ago.
After 2.5 weeks of syringe feeding, the baby now feeds himself on seed and waters himself.
His quill feathers in wings and tail have lengthened considerably, with more sprouting. His head, chest and neck are filling in and his underbelly is turning beige.
I hope to release him when he is ready. In prep for this, he has one hour of supervised back yard time in the mornings and 2.5 hours in the evenings.
I made him a tree house which is home base during this time. I have a large fountain which attracts many birds and he can watch doves, cardinals and finches visit the fountain from his tree house, which is stocked with seed and water. He will fly about 40 ft now and his landings are getting better. He pecks around in the dirt in his favorite area that has lots of ground cover. I have shown him the backyard since he was tiny and he is familiar with it now that he can fly. At first, he would fly somewhere and peep until I picked him up. Now he will fly back to me and seems to enjoy this routine of flying off and flying back.
My greatest concern is ensuring his cautionary instincts remain solid enough for wild living. He is very affectionate, likes to be handled and considers me his care taker.
His human interaction is limited to me with only passing exposure to other family members, in the hope that he not get too comfortable with humans. But this may be a lost cause; He loves cuddling and try as I might, I can't help but comply.
Jason, I have photo'd the stages of his growth if you are interested.
If anyone has any suggestions about preparing this little guy for a successful transition to wild living, or at least a human-sponsored outdoor lifestyle, I would welcome them!
Thanks!
holly
Austin, Texas
Hello,
We have two 8-day-old mourning dove babies in a nest in one of the potted plants on our small balcony. We've been used to the parents switching out of 'nest duty' around the same time every day. However, I'm a little worried today as the dad [daytime duty, so I presume it's the dad] left this evening without the mom in site. This is the first time the babies been alone and I'm not sure what to think. Is this normal? I've come very attached to the little guys and wonder if the parents have abandoned them? Or is this normal as the babies get older?
Thanks for any help and suggestions!!!
Again...thanks! I've been video taping this process and it's been amazing...I hope I don't miss the babies' first flights. Thanks again for all your help...it means a lot!
Charlotte,
I would LOVE to speak with you about checking out your video(s) of this process and maybe even posting it here on Pet Research.
I'm working with an Arborist who is coming to prune several large trees on our property in central Phoenix the last week of June. Last summer's micro burst here in the central city really scarred us; we've had the trees pruned or laced (it's apparently good to prune not good to lace) yearly as needed by a tree service but never actually had an actual certified arborist look at them.
We have a dozen very large trees that I absolutely LOVE so this year we hired a certified arborist to educate me/us about best practices to keep them healthy. The Alepo pine in the front has two nests on THE branch that is to be removed on June 28th. One is a mourning dove, and the other is a hummingbird. I am devastated, mostly because the neighbors really want the branch gone as it is directly over their drive way and the birds poop on their car. I think the bird's been on the nest a couple of weeks, Does anyone know how long the bird will sit on the nest and how long the babes need to be in there? What's the time frame for Mourning Doves? Hummingbirds? Is there any service in Phoenix that will relocate the nest? I've not seen the hummer on the nest but my daughter says she's seen the mama bird flying around. I want to stay friendly with the neighbors --- we almost took the branch last summer but there was a bird on nest so we left it alone.
Any suggestions?
Of course...feel free to email me [do you get my email address when I sign up to post?], if not, are you on Face Book? I've been keeping my FB friends abreast of the situation via status updates and a few pictures I took prior to the videotaping.
I have two mourning doves on my Julie Balcony. One was startled the other night and left her eggs for three hours or so. It was still around 68 degrees outside though. She did come back. Now three days later I noticed this morning around 7:30 the eggs are left unattended again. I know at least for fifteen minutes. It is supposed to be 90 degrees out today though. Is this okay? She usually doesn't leave.
Also, How long can they leave their eggs unattended in 60 degree weather??
Have been watching a mother dove in our tree and then today I noticed one of the babies is dead in the nest. Why does mother dove still sit on the nest? I havent seen any other babies and the one that is dead has all its feathers.Should I remove dead one from nest?
Good news, the two baby doves successfully attempted flight yesterday afternoon. They could be seen flying around outside the house and occasionally crashing into walls, while all the time supervised by the mother and father. They were gone by the evening. Interestingly the two baby doves, I will assume it is the same two, briefly returned to the wreath this morning! Thanks for the tips. I guess mother dove does know best!
For the past 3 years there have been a pair of doves trying to raise a family on my fire escape. I have thrown out many cold egss and cold dead chicks, crows have taken many eggs away as well. Finally this year I decided to keep the window to the fire escape closed (usually open to help ventilate the house). I only open it a couple times a week at night to water the maple tree I have out there.
Finally today I saw my first chick. it is pretty big compared to the previous dead chicks. The feathers seem to be just opening from pin feathers, on both chicks.
Problem: I couldn't help myself and I opened the window to take a picture. The mom didn't fly away immediately, I shut the window, returned and hour later she was still there... returned an hour later... no more mother. She has been gone for a couple hours now and it is starting to get dark.
My questions: 1) Did I just ruin it for the doves?
2) if she doesn't come back by nightfall should I bring them inside and keep them warm? (or just let them chill to death)?
I found two baby doves outside under my pine tree. The mother flew off and has not returned it's been been only a few hours. Unfortunately with darkness coming I am afraid the neighborhood cats will get them before the mother rescues them. Should I put them in a box on my deck or leave them or risk the cats getting them.
Thanks
there are 2 birds that survived with out thier mother 1 almost fully feathered
and a tiny one with no feathers
what will happen to them??the mother still hasnt returned...........
A pair of mourning doves have built a nest on a decorative wreath that is hanging on the 2nd storey balcony door of my house. The eggs have hatched and the two baby birds are fairly big now and have feathers. I am not sure exactly when they hatched because the mom and dad were always on the nest. I caught my first sight of the birds being fed about two weeks or so ago. Upon returning from work this evening, I took a peak and noticed that the nest has fallen down behind the wreath and is no longer accessible. The mother and two baby doves are now just perched side by side on the wreath. I am in Toronto, Ontario and the temperatures in the evening have been still dropping fairly low (7 to 10 degrees celsius). Now that the mom is unable to sit and cover them, as she had been doing up until today, will they be able to survive the temperatures? I am also concerned because the wreath obviously is not too sturdy and the door is situated right at the edge of the roof. If the babies fall off the wreath and directly down they would likely be OK (only about 5 feet from the top of the wreath to the surface of the deck). However, there is a signficant drop should the babies drop off the edge. Any suggestions? Should I just leave them alone. I couls attempt to open the door and put something like a shelf or basket out there that could be used as a temporary nesting place. From what I have read, it seems the birds startle easily and I don't want to risk the parents abandoning the baby doves.
okay, momma returned. woo hoo.
now: what should I do to maximize my enjoyment of the process while protecting them at the same time. there aren't any cats around, are the babies safe from crows and other large birds?
Can I put out a dish with wild bird seed? would that benefit them?
I am affraid to disturb them, I don't want her kicking the babies out (its a 3 story drop down to a busy alleyway in San Francisco).
How much longer until they are able to fly? (pin feathers are just breaking)
Will they stay around after they can fly?
Today, I saw both the mother and father of two baby morning doves leave the nest together this afternoon. I was wathcing the babies when one fell out, followed by the other, because they had been sitting near a damaged side of the nest. They are completely feathered now, except their heads still look like the feathers are growing in. They can't really walk or hop or anything, but they use their wings to propel themselves. I noticed this when I tried to herd one of them back underneath the tree the nest was in. We have a family of hawks near us, and I didn't want the exposed baby to be snatched up or eaten. I was able to reunite the babies beneath a bush that's next to the tree. What should I do now? Should I wait and see what happens when the parents come back, or should I try to put the babies in the nest? The nest is no more than 7 ft off the ground, so I can reach it using a ladder.
I did what you suggested and didn't do anything for awhile. The mother did return but around 1 am this morning I went back out to check on them and there was a stray cat roaming around the trees. I shooed it off but he returned. I couldn't let the cat kill them so I got a box, grass, gloves and a plasic bag (covering the gloves) shooed them into the box trying not to touch them. Secured the box on a branch in the tree. Checked today and mom is in the box with her babies and daddy is lurking around as well, on a branch above the box. I am relieved that the cat didn't get them and their parents returned. :)
Thanks for your advice.
I have a set of mourning doves who laid eggs 24 days ago in my patio rafters. Both the mother and father were very diligent about attending to the nest. The eggs hatched about a week ago. Mom and Dad have still been co-parenting diligently. This afternoon I came home to find the parents frantically flying back and forth. I went out side and found one of the babies dead on the ground. The other baby was also dead but was still in the nest. This is the first time I have experienced this. Any idea what the possible cause of death could be? I've never had any babies die in the past ten years. It appears that both baby chicks had small seeds in their mouth. One theory I have is that there is something wrong with the mother as she has a lump on her head. Another theory is that we had a large party in our back yard 11 days after the eggs were laid. I forgot check during the party to see if the parents stayed and kept the eggs warm. If the did leave during those few hours, could it have weakened the pre birth chicks? Thanks for any help you can offer.
Last Thursday I watched the two parent doves teaching one of the chicks to fly. The second remained in the nest. Late in the night, the chick was still in the nest and it was still alone the next morning. By Friday evening, still alone it left the nest, and has been on my property for the past 5 days..mostly on the ground. I saw it on a swing and a window ledge but it seems to fly more like a chicken than a bird. Should I be concerned? Will it eventually learn to fly or is there something wrong with it? It seems to walk just fine and is cautious but not really scared ofme. The parents have tried nesting on my porch several times and this is the first time chicks were born. Is this perceived abandonment due to parential inexperience or is the chick unhealthy in someway. I bought bird seed today and it has been eating it.
i have a dove that apparently is using my front door wreath as a spot for a nest. i see that they are lazy builders from your previous comments. should my family and stop using the front door for the duration? is it safe to come in/out the front so long as they are not on the nest?
this afternoon i looked in the nest and there were not eggs in it yet. but there has been a bird on the nest for at least 8 hours since, so i assume we are going to have eggs there soon. what is the timeline for the whole process (ie when can we use our front door again assuming we should stick to the back for now)
Jason,
Another question: do other mourning doves ever hurt other doves' babies? We just had an 'incident' where the dad [we think] was with the babies and another mourning dove flew into our balcony area. The dad flew right at the other dove and they both left.
Now, a different dove is back at the balcony and we don't think it's the mom or the dad. Should we be worried? The babies are 12 days old today and should be learning to fly any day now.
Thanks!!!!
One more thing: now a young dove - old enough to fly, but definitely not full grown - has come to hang out on the balcony railing. Is this a threat to the babies or is he just hanging out where other doves are? Again, thanks so much for your help!!!
Well, the crow just took one of the eggs. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it takes the other one. I'm very sad ...
Jason,
Thanks so much for your reply! The mom did return hours later last night so that made me feel much better. But she seemed very, very stressed and skittish, flying around the nest/pot before hanging out with her two babies. Well, thanks for your help, I really do appreciate it!
Hi Everyone, I'm so glad I found you!!
A mourning dove laid two eggs in a basket attached to the wall on my balcony. They're about a week old. I've been keeping my cat off the balcony but today a big crow was lurking very close by. The mama flew away and I went out to shoo the crow away but am worried about when I'm not home. Any thoughts about what to construct to prevent the crow from getting the eggs? Thanks for any thoughts!!
We had a pair of mourning doves nesting in a planter on my front porch. All was well, mama laid 2 eggs 2 days apart and sat on them for about 2 weeks. This morning the babies were a few days old and seemed fine. This afternoon, sometime during a 3 hour absence from the house something happened. When we came home, the parents and both babies were gone. There is no sign of the egg shells, it's like they were never there. Do the parents ever move the babies, or should we assume that something terrible has happened? There are no signs of foul play.
Do you guys think the Dove will lay eggs here again, now that it has proven to be unsafe? I wonder if the Dove has feelings and is sad now too ...
Thanks Jason ... yeah, it would have been Really hard to take if it had been hatchlings that had been taken.
I've had crows take several rounds of eggs from my fire escape. The doves are back within weeks with another round of eggs. Finally after 3 years, they have their first successful batch of chicks. The chicks are fully feathered now and BIG. They just sit there quietly all day.
I want to build them a better nest for future rounds. Any ideas on how to make a good one for them? (materials, construction, etc.)
hi yesterday i found a baby dove on the ground hidding behind a small shrub i notticed that one of the siblings had been run over by a car just about 7 feet away ther are no sidewalks and the streets are really narrow. anyway i went to see if i could help out the mother by trying to put it back in the nest when i noticed that a blue jay was seemingly being agresive and the babys parents were franticly trying to get him away so i picked up the baby and put it in one of my extra parakeets cage i brought it up to the deck and left one of the doors o pened for the mother dove to continue to care for her young and she did and so did the father one of them was covered with blood probably from the fight trying to save the other baby that ended up getting killed.anyway after about a feeding at 6pm i didnt see the mother and it was now almost 9pm so we decided to take the baby in to sleep next to a lamp under a light tablecloth. i woke up at 4 45am expecting the mother to be around wanting to feed her baby but no i didnt see her again till 6am for a very long feeding by her and the father as well the baby had actualy hopped out of the cage and on to the chair because it was so hungry by then . to make this long story a little shorter the baby hopped out of the cage again tonight after the mother gave it only a small feeding at about 6pm probably because she couldnt proparly reach the baby from the outside of the cage. while i was watching were the baby was trying to hide or get to it sat at the opening of the baninter rails and scweeked out at im not sure whom because i saw a dove watching us from a tree to the left of us the next thing i know i saw a bird that looked like a full grown dove take of into flight from the spot of the baby. at first i doubted that it could have been the baby because of the way it flew off but i went downstairs and looked everywere for it including in the spot i originaly found it but there was no baby so i left the cage outside in case it needs to use it and prayed that it actualy just needed a good nights rest to get its strenght again so it could actualy fly and also needed a high place to take off from. i feel confident that the baby is well and safe in another tree.
Sofia,
What a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing it - I was surprised that the cage idea worked. Did the mother and father ever go into the parakeet cage to feed the baby?
Update on my lone balcony egg:
Last night before I went to sleep I propped two broomsticks up against the balcony railing and put a winter hat on each, as a makeshift scarecrow. The dove was in the nest sitting on her one egg - I was hoping that the hats would scare off predators but the dove could hopefully communicate to the father dove that it was safe. This morning she was still there - I took the hats down and a short while later there was a 'changing of the guard' as the papa came and mama flew off to do her business. After reading Sofia's story I feel like I should have a birdcage on hand, maybe the parents would even go inside! And the opening would be too small for a crow!
Thanks everybody --
Hello,
I had two healthy 4 day old baby doves in my ivey plant hanging in the backyard. The mother has been leaving the nest. she seems to stay away longer each time she goes.
I went out this morning to check on the babies. They were fine.
I went back out this afternoon and one of the babies is gone. I looked on the ground and all aroung in the plant pot, but nothing! I am so sad now.
What do you think happened to it? And will the mother come back to take care of the sibling?
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Hi Stacey, did the mama Dove return? It's very upsetting, isn't it, when something happens. Much harder when it's a baby than an egg but I was even upset with the egg being taken by the crow!!
I bought a 6' trellis tonight from Home Depot - propped it up against my railing next to the broomstick-scarecrows. I'm hoping this will help keep the nest a little more hidden from predators - plus, offer some shade from the sun. Today the mom was sitting in the strong late afternoon sun for about 3 hours! I don't know anything about birds & overheating but I know it was hot!
You were right, about everything. I should have just left everything alone & let nature take it's course. I looked out my window late last night & the mother still hadn't returned. The baby was by himself. This morning I woke up hoping to go to Petsmart to get something to look after that baby bird. But when I looked in the nest, he wasn't there. But when I looked down at my feet, there he was. He died during the night. He must have climbed out the nest, or the mother came back & pushed him out. I could tell she wasn't happy when I put him back yesterday. I either scared her or maybe she wanted to nest to lay more eggs. The last I saw was she was stepping on him before she flew off, never to return. By the look of this baby, he was probably borned deformed or the parents couldn't feed both of them. The bigger baby is gone. I saw him & the parent on the fence last evening & he was almost the size as the parent. He was so healthy looking. It's amazing how nature works. Next time, I'll just watch from a distance. Like you said, nature has a way of taking care of these birds. Their instincts allows them to make the right decisions abou their young. I buried the baby in a nice designer paper towel, in the same flower garden he was yesterday with his mama.
Thank you Jason. It was a learning experience. I'll keep this site in my favorite place for future reference.
We've had doves come lay eggs in a hanging plant (we put a new one out every year for them) in our back yard for the past 4 years. Last year there were 4 sets of doves that used the same nest. This year the first doves that came dissappeared, leaving the 2 eggs. There was a hawk on the fence several weeks before, and I am wondering if it took out the mother. After 2 weeks, and no mom returned we took the eggs out. A few weeks later another dove came and laid 2 eggs. Today the mother bird was gone. I could see one egg and one baby which was dead, and about 4 times the size of the egg. Do you think the mother will come back?
I am so glad you had the info on leaving fledglings alone. I was going to be worried about my baby... I have a photo of baby mourning dove i took today(June 26 6:00pm)if you are interested... I saw it fly so I wasnt too worried. It was a wonderful experience....
I am so sad. A neighbor's cat killed one of my wild, ground-feeding doves this morning. There actually three cats that come into my yard every day, trying to catch the birds. Is there any safe way to feed doves and protect them from cats?