Coming across a baby mourning dove that has fallen from its nest can be a distressing experience. As caring humans, our instinct is to want to help the helpless creature. However, there are right and wrong ways to assist baby birds in this predicament. Proper care and quick action are essential to give the baby dove its best chance at survival. This article will provide key information on how to correctly handle finding an infant mourning dove and ensure its best outcome.
Is the baby dove injured?
The first step when you find a baby mourning dove on the ground is to assess if it is injured. Here are signs to look for:
- Obvious wounds, bleeding or bone fractures
- Sitting still and not moving
- Shivering and looking cold
- Eyes closing and general weakness
- Loss of balance or inability to perch
- Damaged or missing feathers
If the baby dove shows any of these symptoms, it requires immediate rehabilitation care. Carefully pick it up with a towel and place it in a ventilated box or animal carrier. Keep it in a quiet, warm, and dark place. Try to minimize handling the bird. Transport it to a wildlife rehabilitation center as soon as possible. An injured baby dove needs professional veterinary care to recuperate.
Is the baby dove healthy?
If the found mourning dove appears uninjured, looks alert and active, and can stand up properly and perch, it may not need assistance. Fledgling mourning doves often end up grounded while learning to fly. Their parents continue to care for them during this stage.
Before intervening, observe the dove for 30-60 minutes. Watch for any adult mourning doves flying down to feed or check on it. If the parents are present, leave the area so they can continue care. Removing a healthy fledgling prevents it from developing essential survival skills.
Only interfere if the dove is in immediate danger, like a busy roadway. Carefully move it to the nearest safe cover. Monitor from a distance to see if the parents find and attend to it.
How to rescue a baby mourning dove
If a baby mourning dove appears orphaned or you cannot find the parents, carefully rescue it. Here are step-by-step instructions:
- Wear thick gloves to pick up the bird. Gently scoop it up or guide it onto a towel.
- Place it in a ventilated cardboard box or animal carrier with a soft cloth or t-shirt.
- Ensure the dove doesn’t panic and hurt itself in the enclosed space.
- Keep the box in a warm, quiet, and dark location.
- Do not try to feed it. This can injure the dove.
- Minimize handling the bird.
- Note exactly where you found the dove. This aids returning it to its home territory.
- Call wildlife rehabilitators in your area and describe the situation.
- Deliver the dove as soon as possible. Time matters for successful rehabilitation.
Getting an orphaned fledgling mourning dove to an expert wildlife rehabilitator quickly gives it the best chance of survival. These licensed professionals have the proper facilities, diet, and medical care to raise the bird to maturity.
What do baby mourning doves eat?
Baby mourning doves need a specialized diet to grow and develop properly. Their parents feed them crop milk, a nutritious regurgitated secretion from their crop organ. This perfectly adapted diet cannot be adequately replicated.
Attempting to feed an infant dove without proper training risks:
- Aspiration – Food/liquid enters lungs
- Crop burn – Foods ferment and sour in the crop
- Malnutrition – Missing key nutrients
- Dehydration – Not getting enough fluids
- Bacterial issues – Unsanitary food causes infection
- Injury – Damage to the beak or esophagus from force-feeding
The dove’s best hope is a wildlife rehabilitator who can raise it using proper methods and diet. This is why getting an orphaned baby dove professional care is vital.
How to care for a baby mourning dove
Here is a summary of tips for providing initial care to a rescued baby mourning dove:
- Handle with care – Gently pick up with gloved hands or a towel.
- Give warmth – Use a heating pad or lamp to maintain temperature.
- Ensure safety – Keep the bird in a ventilated box in a quiet space.
- Do not feed – Attempting to feed risks injury.
- Minimize stress – Restrict handling and keep noise/activity low.
- Act quickly – Get the dove to a rehabilitator as soon as possible.
- Call experts – Wildlife centers have the resources to properly raise doves.
Getting the baby dove professional help within the first few hours gives it the greatest chance of being successfully returned to the wild.
Can baby mourning doves survive without their mother?
Baby mourning doves depend completely on their parents for essential care in their first weeks of life. They are unable to independently find food, stay warm, avoid predators, or migrate. Fledgling mourning doves only have about a 10% chance of long-term survival without their parents. Raising orphaned or injured wild birds requires very specific expertise. Licensed wildlife rehabilitators have the knowledge and resources to give baby doves the nutrition, housing, medical care, and eventual release training they need to survive on their own.
Mourning dove facts
Here are some key facts about mourning doves to provide background on their care needs:
- They nest on the ground or in bushes/trees, with flimsy nests.
- The female lays 1-2 small white eggs.
- The eggs hatch after 14-15 days of incubation.
- Both parents regurgitate crop milk to feed the nestlings.
- Chicks fledge and leave the nest at 14-15 days old.
- The parents continue caring for them on the ground for a few weeks after.
- Juveniles reach full independence around one month old.
Knowing the natural history of mourning doves helps understand the time sensitivity of getting orphaned fledglings proper rehabilitation care. Every day matters for their survival and future release.
Signs of a healthy baby mourning dove
When observing a baby mourning dove to assess its condition, look for these signs of health:
- Bright, alert eyes
- Good body weight and muscle tone
- Smooth, well-groomed feathers
- Clear nostrils and beak
- Strong legs and ability to stand/perch
- Normal activity and movement
- Good appetite and begging for food
A strong, healthy dove has the best outcome. Seek immediate help for any dove showing signs of illness or injury. Quick action gives it the greatest survival chance.
How to locate a wildlife rehabilitator
To find a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in your area to assist an orphaned or injured baby mourning dove:
- Search online for “wildlife rehabilitation (your location)”
- Contact wildlife resource agencies like state departments of natural resources
- Call local animal shelters, nature centers, zoos, or veterinary clinics
- Look up wildlife rehabilitator directories through organizations like The Humane Society
- Ask law enforcement departments who handle animal issues
Confirm any center accepts mourning doves and has training in their rehabilitation. Time is of the essence to get the baby dove proper care.
Laws protecting mourning doves
Mourning doves are native wild birds and protected under federal and state laws. Here are important regulations:
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act – Federal law protecting mourning doves, nests, and eggs.
- State wildlife regulations – Governs hunting/possession of protected species like mourning doves.
- Permits required for rehabilitation – Only licensed wildlife rehabilitators can legally raise protected birds.
- Fines and imprisonment for violations – Illegal possession of mourning doves or other protected species can result in penalties.
It is vital to follow all applicable wildlife laws when trying to rescue a baby mourning dove. Contact authorities if you need guidance.
Can I raise a baby mourning dove at home?
It is illegal for unlicensed individuals to keep protected bird species like mourning doves as pets or attempt rehabilitation. Without training and permits, the chances of proper care and survival of the dove are extremely slim. Even experienced rehabilitators face challenges raising orphaned fledglings.
The dove’s best hope is immediately getting to a wildlife expert permitted by the state to provide professional rehabilitation. They have specialized facilities, diets, disease prevention, and conditioning protocols to ensure the bird grows up wild and can be successfully released back to its natural habitat.
Risks of improper mourning dove care
Attempting do-it-yourself rehabilitation risks serious harm to the mourning dove and illegal violations. Hazards include:
- Severe injury and death from improper diet/housing.
- Diseases from lack of sanitation or exposure to domestic pets.
- Malnutrition from formulating incorrect homemade diets.
- Euthanasia from chronic health issues or imprinting on humans.
- Fines and prosecution for violating wildlife laws.
Baby doves require very specialized care to survive and thrive. Wildlife rehabilitators have the right methods and legal authorizations to raise the bird properly.
When can baby mourning doves fly?
Mourning dove chicks take their first flight at 14-15 days old when they fledge from the nest. However, their initial flights are clumsy and short. The fledglings cannot yet fly well enough to evade predators, forage efficiently, or migrate. They depend on their parents during this post-fledging period to keep caring for them while mastering flight skills. Around one month old, the juvenile mourning doves can fly competently and independently. If a fledgling is orphaned prior to fledging, a wildlife rehabilitator must raise and condition it for several weeks before release. Premature release risks the dove not surviving in the wild.
How do you release a rehabilitated baby mourning dove?
Releasing a rehabilitated mourning dove requires careful timing and conditioning for success:
- The dove must be a minimum of one month old and demonstrate flight capability.
- Release it in appropriate morning dove activity periods.
- Select a site close to where it was originally found.
- Have adequate natural food, water sources, and roosts in the area.
- Soft release by letting the dove fly out of its cage when ready.
- Continue providing supplemental food at the site for 1-2 weeks while it transitions to the wild.
Ideally, releasing juvenile birds in small groups helps them adjust and learn wild behaviors. Solo releases are riskier but can be needed based on circumstances. Post-release monitoring helps confirm success.
Preventing baby mourning dove falls
To help minimize cases of baby mourning doves falling from nests:
- Put screens over vents and holes in buildings and sheds that birds could nest in.
- Install netting over alcoves and eaves to block nesting areas.
- Trim bushes and branches away from windows and walkways.
- Remove outdoor décor or lighting fixtures that could serve as nest spots.
- Consider native plant buffers that discourage nesting near high traffic areas.
- Avoid disturbing or removing active nests with babies.
Sensitive exclusions early in breeding season can dissuade mourning doves from risky nest locations. Never disrupt existing nests with eggs or chicks.
Conclusion
Coming across helpless baby mourning doves can pull on our heartstrings to want to intervene. However, good intentions can lead to poor outcomes without proper knowledge. These fragile infants require specialized care and prompt professional rehabilitation for survival. Their best hope is getting to licensed wildlife experts who can raise them with the right diet, environment, medical treatment, and conditioning. A rescued dove should never be kept as a pet. With appropriate long-term rearing, young mourning doves can be returned to the wild equipped to thrive on their own. Being mindful of avoiding unnecessary nest disturbances and getting qualified help for fallen fledglings aids conservation of this sensitive species.