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[dislaney]

On my way back from giving my hens their morning treats, I spotted a tiny baby wood pigeon writhing around at the foot of our yew tree, obviously having tumbled out of its nest. In haste to get it out of our Jack Russell's eyeline, I scooped it up and popped it in a makeshift paper nest in an egg box, then put it in a quiet outbuilding. I then spotted baby pigeon no. 2 which had obviously just done the same trick, landing in exactly the same spot!

 

Both little ones are now together in the egg box nest out of harm's way - they're about 2 inches long, starting to fluff, but with eyes shut and clearly very young. Assuming they survive the shock of the fall, what should I feed them and how should i care for them?? An animal rescue centre is dropping off a herd of goats (don't ask!) to us at the weekend and they look after infant wildlife so if the pigeons survive till then, they could take them back to the sanctuary with them.

 

All advice very very gratefully received - thank you!

[Olly]

Please take a look at this thread, there's also another recent thread about a baby crow which may be helpful.

[dislaney]

Thanks Olly - had a quick read and agree that non-intervention would be best but A. I can't get them back to the nest as I can't even see it - it must be quite high up! and B. with the amount of domestic predators we have (2 Maine Coons, 1 JRX) they would be goners for sure if left on the ground or even in a border. I don't let my chickens out beyond their run for this very reason. The JR decapitated an adult wood pigeon he brought down 'on the wing' in front of the coop the first day the chickens arrived ...

 

I guess I should keep them warm, see if I can feed them if they come out of shock, then get them to a rescue?

[Duncan08]

We learned this the hard way.

Whilst walking the dog in the woods found a baby owl just sat in the middle of the path where there are loads of dogs running around.

 

We decided to "help", wrapped it up in Hubbies coat and took it home and rang the RSPB for advice, (It was before mobile phones). They told us to take him back and if we had a cardboard box to sit him in the box in the undergrowth by where we had found him on the path. The box would give him a little protection from the dogs, and the parents would be able to tip it up when they came back for him.

 

The only think was the spot we found the poor thing was about an hours walk into the woods, we did a lot of walking that day

Also had to throw out hubbies coat as the poor thing pooed all over it.

 

But learned that we should leave nature to be natural.

 

However must admit to throwing things at the Magpies waiting for the baby blue tits to fledge.

[dislaney]

A thought - what if we created a nest (old hat + straw lining) and then attached it to some lower branches of the yew tree, with the babies in it?? Would that be enough to attract the parents back to feed them?

 

Both very hungry - beaks wide open when I went to check on them, so fed them some porridge through a pipette and now they're asleep.

[Chucky Mama]

Are they feathered yet and if they are are they able to flutter a little way? If they are fluttering they are not feathered they may have been ditched from the nest by the parent who may consider them non viable. If they are fluttering they will have left the nest as the natural progression where they get fed on the ground by the parent birds. They will call and communicate with each other during the day to ensure that they get fed. Intervening and feeding them yourself will result in the parents abandoning them I am afraid. Animal rescues and vets are over run with fledglings at this time of year and very few survive when hand reared and even more rarely to they ever successfully get released as they need their parents to teach them to fly, feed, etc. It really is best to let nature take it's course. Popping them in a hedge to offer a little more protection is fine but I wouldn't do much more that that. The only exception to this rule would be an injured fledgling or a more rare endangered bird and even then I would seek advice before touching them. The other birds that sometime need help are swifts and swallow who find it nigh on impossible to take off once they land on the ground. People often mistake them for baby birds of prey. Gently releasing these birds from a height at dust usually does the trick

[dislaney]

No - not feathered yet - only partially covered in fluff, eyes not open - really very little, only about 2 inches long. Not fluttering as there's nothing to flutter with! I haven't actually touched them - used something else to scoop them up so they wouldn't smell of people. Perhaps worth a shot to get them back in the tree with a dummy nest? I know what you're saying about full rescues but I couldn't just stand by and let them die on the ground, or worse, get scoffed by our dog!

[Chucky Mama]

Oh dear, they are quite wee then. Their parents wont feed them on the ground at this age. I know it is really not very nice to see them like this. I would suggest that if you can't return them to the nest that you take them to the vet.

[dislaney]

Update - not baby wood pigeons! Baby finches.