Hello, we had a mourning dove mama bird living in our hanging pot in the balcony for the last 26 days. She laid 2 eggs, which hatched like 5 days ago. She was a very dedicated mama, incubating her eggs 24 hrs and then staying with her nestlings all day and all night long. Just since today morning, she is nowhere to be seen near her nestlings. It’s pretty cold outside and it’s been almost 20 hours that she didn’t feed her babies. I am really worried about them, given they are just 5 days old, can’t eat by themselves and it’s cold outside. What should I do? Should I cover them with any cloth? Or contact the wildlife rehab? I am not sure if it’s a normal behavior for a mourning dove mama bird to leave her little ones alone for such a long stretch. Any help is appreciated. The attached picture is from yesterday.
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Mourning Dove Mama Bird abandoned her nestlings (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Kritika
- Start date
Hi Kritika and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. We have some general guidelines here for the care of injured and baby birds.
They don't look too far off fledging, but it would be best to contact your local wildlife rehab for assistance.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
They don't look too far off fledging, but it would be best to contact your local wildlife rehab for assistance.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
Thank you for your response. Don’t these nestlings need their parent’s guidance/assistance for fledging and for food?
Yes, they do usually have the parents around who feed them for a couple of weeks I think, gradually reducing the amount they get until they are completely independent.
This is why I said it would be best to get in touch with your local wildlife rescue organisation - they probably have others of a similar age and they can all be released together.
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