One morning I went out to refill my Goldfinch feeders. I glanced down and realized that I almost stepped on a scrawny, tan bird.
I looked closely and realized that this bird was missing most of the feathers out of the back of his head and looked sick.
The bird seemed unable to fly, and I observed that it would jump up on a branch that I had trimmed off my rhododendron.
I began to feed Ricardo each day and put a little bowl of water out for him. At night he continued to sleep on the rhododendron branch which must have been concealing him from my cat, Larry.
Weeks have gone by and Ricardo began to improve. He was able to fly up into the dogwood tree that held my Goldfinch feeders. He even grew the feathers back in his head.
I eventually bought a bird bath. Ricardo likes to bathe a few times a day. Another Mourning Dove has been hanging around. It is much larger and healthier than Ricardo, so now I think that Ricardo is actually a girl.
Ricardo has never let me pick her up, but I am able to sit inches away from her. She follows me around when I do yard work in the front area by her feeder.
Just recently she walked all the way to the back of the house to our large RV garage in the back of the house.
She came in while I was cleaning the garage and hung around for about 30 minutes. I was worried that Larry would find Ricardo there, so I coaxed her back to the front of the house with some seed.
The saga of Ricardo continues. I'm not sure if she will be able to fly away to warmer weather. If not, I may have to build a little birdhouse.
We had a storm that took out many trees in town. We were removing what was left of one of ours that was broken and hanging. While cutting the limb down we found two young Mourning Dove nestlings. The nest was safely removed and the birds appeared unharmed.
We were not sure how to relocate the birds and left the trunk of the tree as we thought the best to leave them on the original tree. We decided to place the nest in a hanging basket and attach it to the tree.
We watched for the parents to return but we did not see them all night. The babies both appeared okay through the hot night but one seemed to spend most of his time with his eyes closed while the other was more alert and moved a bit more. Unfortunately we lost one before the parents returned to the nest.
That morning two adult Mourning Doves returned. They searched around the tree and eventually found the surviving baby.
The baby flapped his wings when they made it into the nest. They both fed him and stayed in the nest for some time.
After the reunion, one stayed with the baby and the other left but could often be seen perched on the top of the tree. Hopefully the baby will grow and be able to leave the nest soon.
I went for a walk and came across a baby Mourning Dove. He was too young to be out of the nest and had a cut on his/her (not sure) leg.
He was peeping very loud at me and trying to get closer to me rather than escape. I had to get him. Brought him home and looked up what kind of bird he/she is.
I am feeding him a mix of kitten food, cooked egg yokes, infant whole wheat cereal, and added a drop of bird vitamins. My method is mix it well to a paste and then add water with each batch to feed him for the day.
I use a straw that his beak fits into perfectly, just enough room to open his mouth. I can't even believe how much he can eat. He really seems to like it and is a very enthusiastic eater.
He pretty much was a eating and pooping machine for the fist week and that was about it. Now he is still that but growing so fast also.
I let him sit on my shoulder often and will wear my bath robe and he nestles perfectly in the V in the front, so that I can walk around outside with him and let him look around.
He really seems to enjoy that. His home in the beginning was a little bowl with paper towels or tissues inside of a bigger bowl that I would fill with water and microwave after every feeding. (About every 4 hours or just when he had pooped a whole bunch and peeping increased.)
He was happy warm and humidified but dry in his little bowl. He has graduated now to a shoe box filled with paper towels and a water bottle that I nuke for warmth. (I put it under the paper towels.) He likes being out of the box more often now though.
I was in a debate with myself as to whether or not I should keep him. I think I will because of the mortality rate of the first year.
Plus they are not in danger of a low population at all and he seems to like me enough. Peeps at me all the time and seems to say, what cha doin?
When I let him roam around on the table he chases what my hands are doing and he likes to make typing impossible.
I think he likes me a little bit, LOL. So I am leaning towards keeping him at this point. I don't see the harm in keeping him, anyone disagree?
I suppose keeping him could be considered selfish but at the same time I am afraid that letting him go would be like a death sentence because he is accustomed to the good life at this point.
One of my thoughts was a mate. I was thinking of buying another bird once he reaches that age. Do they sell Mourning Doves as pets? Well my BB (baby bird, BB is his street name lol) is doing quite well and getting stronger and prettier every day.
I love the company and hope to keep him. I may do the whole if you love it set him free, and if they love you they will come back thing, but *sigh* part of me doesn't even want to do that. Well wish me luck!
We recently found a mourning dove nest shattered on the ground inside our patio. It was obvious that the nest had fallen from a precarious position on top of a post.
At my wife's request I rebuilt the nest by hand weaving the twigs together a little more securely and then wedged it into a better position on top of the post.
I was convinced that the birds would not return to the nest as I was told once that they will reject the nest if a human scent is there. I told my wife not to be too hopeful.
The following morning we awoke to see our doves returned and sitting on my newly built nest. We now have had the privilege to watch them trade off positions many times and they seem oblivious to us.
Although we cannot be exactly sure when she produced the eggs, they have been constantly nesting for 14 days as of today.
They did both leave the nest a few days ago and I was able to get a photo of the two white eggs. The photo is horribly blurred because I wanted to be very quick and not alarm or disturb them.
We are waiting patiently now to see the fledglings hatch and we hope that we will be a regular home for these wonderful creatures.
I have lived at the same address in San Diego California for about 9 years and every year Mourning Doves nest on a ledge above the entrance to the front of my apartment. For some unexplained reason they have taken a fancy to my Mini-Cooper this week and have been trying to build a nest on the car's front windshield.
I leave and run errands and visit friends, etc. and each time I leave I take the twigs off. When I return and park in my parking spot in the carport within a very short time the Doves return and start adding twigs.
This afternoon I decided to go for a walk and saw them building their little nest on my car so I shooed them away removed the twigs and went walking for an hour. When I returned they had been busy and had not only replaced the twigs I had seen but had even added more and have a pretty good sized nest there.
I have no idea what will happen tomorrow when I go to the gym early. If there are eggs deposited.... will they survive the freeway! I guess the rules of the wild may not be kind to these little stubborn minded birds. Is this nature's natural selection at work? I do love those birds though and they have given me much delight through the years. Maybe I can duct tape the nest down. For crying out loud.
One day we were in our garage (California carport-door on one side/open on other), and to our surprise we saw a dove nesting on our garage door opener. For the first couple days, the bird would fly away when we opened the door, but eventually she would stay put, only cocking her head to the side in response to the noise and shaking.
For several weeks we would come home and say “Hello Bird”. My wife has grown quite attached. She will constantly ask me “what’s that bird doing?” “Do you think she’s lonely?” “Is she cold?” My response: “Sitting” “no” and “We’re in Southern Louisiana, I doubt ANYONE’S cold”
It is quite intriguing to see this bird sitting motionless for hours at a time. My wife checks on them every few hours when we’re home. Every morning she greets her/him, and every evening she makes me look out the door and bid them a good night. No chicks yet…
Surprise! I opened the door to head for my car and I notice something different. “What is that?” “Honey, I think we have babies”. My wife runs from the bedroom, half dressed, squealing like a child on Christmas. “Where, where?” Finally she sees the little brown head and black eye. I grab the camera and take a few dozen pictures from a stepping stool vantage point.
Later that day I get an email from my wife with the pictures displayed like a proud mother. I almost cringed when I saw the length of the CC list.
Well, that’s the story so far. It IS kinda fun to watch…I just hope they don’t mess up my brand new door opener.
Addition: One baby hatched June 2nd. The other June 3rd. We are so excited....a picture is attached.
See the attached photo of a Morning Dove nesting in the rain gutter of our house.
While the Doves picked a good place that is out of reach of the neighborhood cats, they opened themselves up to a good bit of water in the event of a heavy rainstorm (which is common in the Houston Texas area). Luckily we have been having a dry spell.
This website was very informative in educating us on the nesting habits of Doves. Sure enough, they have been sitting for about two weeks and today we were able to see at least one baby’s heads poking up.
Our only concern now is the heat. We got up to 99 F today. There is virtually no shade. We hope they make it.
I have a hanging basket under the eave of my porch. I didn't plant anything in it this year and it is simply dirt and some dried stems of earlier plantings.
This year a pair of mourning doves have nested 3 times (thus far) and have produced only one offspring the first two times. On the second, I observed the yet to be feathered nestling perched on the side. A day later it was gone. Did it fly? Did it survive?
Now on the third nesting, they have produced two offspring. They aren't feathered out as yet. Yesterday I noticed them without either parent around the nest. This morning they were gone.
I thought they were too young fly and wondered what had happened to them. This afternoon I returned home and they were back in the nest!!!!!
How did they get out of the nest, which is better than 5 feet from the porch surface? Better yet, how did they return? This is amazing to me. I'm going to try and watch them tomorrow to see the procedure. I doubt they will leave again today as it is getting late?
Can someone give me a hint as to how they do this?
A mourning dove fell from a nest in the maple in our backyard. The parents hung around but I thought I would set something up to protect him from predators.
I placed a patio umbrella in the far corner, near the nest and hung a plant pot, with lots of dirt in it, under the umbrella.
His parents could easily access him from where they sat on our fence yet no overhead predators could see him. I put seed and fresh water in the pot daily. I handled him and took many photos of his progress. The parents stayed and continued to bring him food as well.
After 2 weeks he was attempting to fly. I kept swooping him into the air but still low to the ground so he wouldn't hurt himself if he stumbled.
Eventually he started to fly about the yard. And each night I returned him to the pot. In the morning I would find him on the ground again. Needless to say my cats were not allowed in the backyard at this time. They were not amused at being housebound.
One day we went to the Toronto Zoo and when we returned late evening, he was gone, nowhere around. I searched everyday for him to no avail.
I was heartbroken, thinking a predator may have got a hold of him. I could only hope that he had gained the strength and ability to fly and stay safe. Each and everyday I went outside in hopes he had returned even though I knew it was foolish to believe a wild bird would come back.
About 2 weeks after he had disappeared. my husband was mowing the back lawn and called me outside. He said, "I think your dove is back". I had named him 'Lovey Dovey' and called him that each time I approached him. I spoke to him constantly during the time he was with me.
When I saw the dove on the fence, I called out, "Lovey Dovey, is that you?" He tilted his head toward my voice.
I couldn't believe it might be him. I sat on the grass and called again. He came over from the fence and sat on the grass a few feet from me. He continued to walk towards me slowly and then flew onto my shoulder and then into my lap.
He stayed and allowed me to pet him. After a visit of about 20 minutes he flew back to the fence and sat for awhile. I kept talking to him and eventually he turned and flew away as I called out my goodbyes.
It was the most amazing experience and had a profound effect on me. I took photos from when he was nothing but quills and fluff to when he came back to visit. The posted pic is of his return.
