Hello,
Recently I found a baby dove on the ground in my yard with its mother sitting next to him. The prior day, she was sitting near another nestling that had also fallen out and I noticed that the baby had died. (I suspect ants got him). Yesterday, I noticed she was sitting near a baby and the baby was still alive, but a batallion of ants were crawling around on him. Thinking that the ants had killed the last baby, I gently picked the baby up (the baby was on hard gravel rocks - I live in Arizona) and placed him on a plastic bedding for a bit and made sure the ants were not getting at him anymore. The baby is a pretty good size, about the size of a golf ball, and has started developing feathers. I placed the baby in a box near the nest and hoped that the mother would come back. She never came back that I saw. When my dad got home, he placed the baby back up into the nest. We never observed the mother coming back to her baby. If the mother has not come back since, he has probably been without food for about 24 hours. Will the mother come back to the nest anytime soon? Or should I start learning how to care for the baby until its old enough to fly? How long can this baby go without any food until it's a gonner? If there is still time and I have to feed it, how many times a day should it be fed and what should it be fed? I have no idea how to care for this baby dove and would appreciate any and all help. Hopefully the mother has been feeding it while I'm away from home.
Thanks in advance,
Shawn
Recently I found a baby dove on the ground in my yard with its mother sitting next to him. The prior day, she was sitting near another nestling that had also fallen out and I noticed that the baby had died. (I suspect ants got him). Yesterday, I noticed she was sitting near a baby and the baby was still alive, but a batallion of ants were crawling around on him. Thinking that the ants had killed the last baby, I gently picked the baby up (the baby was on hard gravel rocks - I live in Arizona) and placed him on a plastic bedding for a bit and made sure the ants were not getting at him anymore. The baby is a pretty good size, about the size of a golf ball, and has started developing feathers. I placed the baby in a box near the nest and hoped that the mother would come back. She never came back that I saw. When my dad got home, he placed the baby back up into the nest. We never observed the mother coming back to her baby. If the mother has not come back since, he has probably been without food for about 24 hours. Will the mother come back to the nest anytime soon? Or should I start learning how to care for the baby until its old enough to fly? How long can this baby go without any food until it's a gonner? If there is still time and I have to feed it, how many times a day should it be fed and what should it be fed? I have no idea how to care for this baby dove and would appreciate any and all help. Hopefully the mother has been feeding it while I'm away from home.
Thanks in advance,
Shawn