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| Question about Pets:My son found a baby dove blown out of the nest. How do we care for it? |
If the baby has most of its feathers, it is a fledgling. Baby birds fledge (leave the nest) before they can fly. They need time on the ground, hopping around, climbing low branches, and exercising their wings until they have strengthened them enough for flight. The parents continue to feed and care for the fledglings until they are self-sufficient.
If this bird is a fledgling, you need to put it back where you found it, so the parents can find it and care for it.
If the baby is still mostly bare, or has only fuzz or pin feathers, it is a nestling, and needs to be returned to the nest. Do not worry about the parents rejecting it. Birds do not have an acute sense of smell, and the parents will not detect your scent on the baby. Wildlife biologists and bird banders handle baby birds all the time, with their bare hands, and the parents do not reject the babies when they are returned to the nest.
If the baby is a nestling and you can not reach the nest to replace it, or if the baby is injured, you need to contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. You can find one here: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact....
Wildlife rehabilitators have the specialized training to care for sick, injured and orphaned wild animals. They also have the state and federal licenses required in order to keep wild animals, even for a short time, until they are healthy enough to be released back into the wild where they belong.
In the US, all native migratory birds (and this includes doves) are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It is illegal to have one, even for the purpose of saving its life, unless you have the proper permits.
It is very important that the baby is returned to its parents or to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Doves, unlike most other birds, feed their babies a "crop milk" that they produce. Hand feeding a dove is not a good option, and should only be done by someone with the proper training.
edit - I just read someone else's answer - please NEVER give a baby bird water, it can aspirate and die! And NO baby bird eats seed...if it is truly a baby, it eats insects and food that is regurgitated by its parents...or, in the case of doves and pigeons, it eats crop milk produced by its parents.
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