Mourning Dove Help

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Pentazole

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Jun 3, 2021
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Hello, and thank you for your help in advance.

My kids and I found Pesto the baby dove 4 weeks ago. Must have just hatched when we found it. We have been raising it since with the aim of releasing it once it's big enough.

From all my readings, the dove by now should be independent (at 4 weeks and 2 days). However, Pesto is refusing to eat on his (or her) own.

He (she) pecks the seeds, they go in his (her) beak, then he (she) throws them. It's very frustrating, and then he (she) is getting traumatized from me sticking a tube down his (her) throat.

Today I decided to leave food and drink out in the open, and not feed him (her).

Is this a bad approach? What can I do to teach Pesto to eat alone? I really am not a pet person but I don't have the heart to release him (her) without being fully independent. I can really use an expert's help.
 
Hello, and thank you for your help in advance.

My kids and I found Pesto the baby dove 4 weeks ago. Must have just hatched when we found it. We have been raising it since with the aim of releasing it once it's big enough.

From all my readings, the dove by now should be independent (at 4 weeks and 2 days). However, Pesto is refusing to eat on his (or her) own.

He (she) pecks the seeds, they go in his (her) beak, then he (she) throws them. It's very frustrating, and then he (she) is getting traumatized from me sticking a tube down his (her) throat.

Today I decided to leave food and drink out in the open, and not feed him (her).

Is this a bad approach? What can I do to teach Pesto to eat alone? I really am not a pet person but I don't have the heart to release him (her) without being fully independent. I can really use an expert's help.
I rescued a blue jay last June but now "it" went to live independently. I would usually bring "it" outside and sort of free range every day and "it" would peck at the ground and eat a lot of worms and seeds. I continued this for a few months and it worked!
 
I rescued a blue jay last June but now "it" went to live independently. I would usually bring "it" outside and sort of free range every day and "it" would peck at the ground and eat a lot of worms and seeds. I continued this for a few months and it worked!
"it" ceased to be when kids named "it" Pesto. It's "he" to them but I'm still open to gender. While I appreciate the response, this doesn't really help me. It doesn't really deal with any of the issues I am asking about for a dove. I am leaving my house in 3 weeks for 2 months, and I need to resolve this issue asap. Please I don't want this dove to die so I really need sound dove related advice.
 
I rescued a blue jay last June but now "it" went to live independently. I would usually bring "it" outside and sort of free range every day and "it" would peck at the ground and eat a lot of worms and seeds. I continued this for a few months and it worked!
 
Glad it worked out and he or she was able to live independently. They are not "its".
 
Ok...then what should I call it other than he/she or "it"?
Simply call them he or she, or he/she. As I said, they are not simply "its"; they are living beings with distinct lives and personalities.
 
Just some advice for the future, mourning doves (and Blue Jays) are protected under the Migratory Bird Act. It's a federal crime to be in possession of the eggs, chicks, or adults.

In the future, please bring any chicks you find to your local wildlife rehabber so they can be properly raised and released. Hope this helps!
 
I would bring the bird to a wildlife rehab center. They might be able to get him to a point where he can be released. It might honestly be too late for him now though. He is fully dependent on people, and has no idea how to survive in the wild.
In the future, bring any baby birds you find directly to a rehab center. They will raise the baby in a way that will allow him to be released back into the wild.
 
Simply call them he or she, or he/she. As I said, they are not simply "its"; they are living beings with distinct lives and personalities.
It's a bird though... I can call the bird an "it" if I don't now the gender
 
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