collared dove fledgling

[missmooncat]

My husbands niece brought home a bird about 2 days ago.It was a young fledgling that had either fell or been abandoned,she phoned for help i`m not sure who,they told her to drown it.My hubby brought it back home and we have been looking after it.He has done it before a few times he kept pigeons when he was younger and he has rescued an owl and magpie.The bird (now called cal)was half dead,he is doing brilliant now,looks 100% better,eating and drinking well.My hubby reckons when we let it go its gonna come back,he has done it before.I`m just wondering whether you think it will fly away forever,or be like a homong pigeon and come back.By the way it is a male collared dove

[missmooncat]

In my post i meant my hubby has raised abandoned birds before.He thinks it will come back after we release it.Anyone any experiece of raising pigeons/doves?do you think it will come back?

[WendyS]

Delighted your poorly bird is making a good recovery.  Unless it has become very tame I suspect it will revert to the wild once it's able to fly.  I once reared a baby sparrow which while it was a fledgling was so tame it would come out of the cage & fly to my finger while I gave it flying lessons.  But one day while teaching it to fly in the garden, instead of coming back to me it flew to a nearby tree and refused to come back.  It hung around the garden for a few days, coming down for food but soon reverted to a wild state.  I suspect your collared dove will do the same.  They are generally very nervous twitchy birds, scared of humans.  But if you've got a bird table, it may well come to visit you regularly for food so you may not lose him entirely. Do keep us all updated and let us know what happens. I'd be fascinated to know.

[Mazzini]

well done for taking the dove in.  I seem to raise several fledglings most years and even a few other thing too.  in some ways although it seems nice for them to be tame, I try to keep my distance when caring for them as they will fare better the 'wilder' they are when released. Some past releases come back, some don't, you never can tell. Doves, as WendyS states, are nervous.  If you put out their favourite foods, sunflower hearts being a winner, and try to feed them somewhere safe from cats and sparrowhawks, there is no reason why Cal shouldn't return with his pals although he is unlikely to be 'hand tame'. Good luck

[Mazzini]

I meant to say, don't take it to heart if your fledgling doesn't survive to release.  Even with the best care in the world some fledglings die even if they seem to be going along nicely. It happens and its always a disappointment if it happens to one of your fledglings.  Even trained wildlife rehabilitators get that. Anyway, all going well, when it can fly - try to practise in an empty garage if you don't want poop all over your house.  Tip for release, acclimatise for a couple of days outside in a cage during day (away from cat's reach and back indoors at night) and when you think the time is right, choose a mild still dry day and try to release early so it can get its bearings before night-time.

[missmooncat]

We have got him in the bathroom in the bath.With a few tree branches which he perches on.We leave him alone as much as possible,but he does eat from my hand and will walk/perch on my finger.We have him in bathroom because we only have small yard an there are lots of cats about.We have got no heating on in the house and the vent open in the bathroom.