Baby dove help please!

[JaeG]

We have these lace neck doves living wild in New Zealand and I found this little one outside. I've never seen one so young and its parents are no where to be seen. I spotted it yesterday and I did a double take (never having seen one so little) and this morning I found it back on the lawn and caught it easily. I was concerned it was injured as it looked pretty sleepy but it seems ok. Should it be eating independently by this age (whatever that may be)? Will it be ok if I let it go again?

Thanks for your help.

 

[biophiliac]

So cute, I wish I knew about it's care!
Is this the species?
https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/Lace-Neck-Turtle-Dove/

 

[JaeG]

So cute, I wish I knew about it's care!
Is this the species?
https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/Lace-Neck-Turtle-Dove/

Yes, that's them. They are everywhere in my city, most likely from people releasing them when they can't be bothered looking after them any more. That happened with Rainbow Lorikeets here and they became really invasive so had to be eradicated. I just wish I knew if it's still young enough to need parental feeding or if it should be weaned by now. Someone on here is bound to know though.

 

[JaeG]

So cute, I wish I knew about it's care!
Is this the species?
https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/Lace-Neck-Turtle-Dove/

I just went back and saw the price they were charging!

 

[biophiliac]

I just went back and saw the price they were charging!

From what I read they are an introduced species in Australia, breeding in the wild.
I found this -
http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/theturtledove.htm

Sounds like the care is similar to baby pigeons but they are much more easily stressed. I think this little guy may need your help to make it.

 

[JaeG]

From what I read they are an introduced species in Australia, breeding in the wild.
I found this -
http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/theturtledove.htm

Sounds like the care is similar to baby pigeons but they are much more easily stressed. I think this little guy may need your help to make it.

Thanks for that. I've given it a heat lamp and it's had a little hand rearing formula but it's not overly happy about being stuck in a cage and heads for the door if I open it. Plus it's not overly impressed by me either! I've given it a cloth to sit on and it's not sitting directly under the lamp, just to one side of the heat so it's warm enough. All I can do is try.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

That guy is little but he looks fully feathered - he might be older than you think.
You might offer him a variety of different foods - cut some fruit up into tiny pieces, offer him different types of seed, because you never know what he might like or eat.
Do you have any wildlife rescues nearby? Is that place I suggested near enough to hand him over to them?

 

[JaeG]

That guy is little but he looks fully feathered - he might be older than you think.
You might offer him a variety of different foods - cut some fruit up into tiny pieces, offer him different types of seed, because you never know what he might like or eat.
Do you have any wildlife rescues nearby? Is that place I suggested near enough to hand him over to them?

There used to be a bird rescue place very close but the lady had to give up. The place you suggested is quite a hike (and is now the only one in Auckland) and I have tried to contact them before but I never heard back from them.

I did find this little one picking at the millet spray I'd put in there but he doesn't seem quite coordinated enough to pick the seeds off so I had some lose stuff I've scattered about along with some Hulled oats and meatbird crumble (not sure if that's good for doves but our ringneck doves like it, plus it's what the wild doves visit to clean up when I'm refreshing the quail food). I'll try some fruit tomorrow. There's some normal looking poop on the cloth I put in there whereas the initial poop he did was just urates.

We had family photos this afternoon and when we got home the little dove had moved right away from the heatlamp so I turned it off. It's certainly not cold in our house so he should be alright as he's fully feathered.

I know the dove can fly because it flew off yesterday but I've seen older chicks still with their parents before, but never this little. The young ones I saw had long tails but no neck pattern yet. This baby still has a short, stumpy tail. And our neighbour's cat is a hunter, especially of birds (our cats stay indoors) so I didn't want to leave it sitting on our back lawn.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

It's so tricky to know what to do with them when they are in this awkward fledgling-but-not-quite-independent stage. It's possible that, even if you didn't see them, this little guy's parents are around and were feeding him. And if he can fly, it's likely he'd be OK if you put him back where you found him.
But of course if a known hunting cat is in the equation, you just don't want to leave the juvie out there to fend for himself. Eek!
He probably doesn't need heat at this stage, so I wouldn't worry about the lamp.

You might try to contact this person (she's a member of the same network as the center I volunteer at but I do not know her personally):

Auckland area: Baby Bird Rehabilitation
Renee Henderson (Altricial baby birds- native and non-native)
Phone: 021 2882 969
email: [email protected]