We spotted a little baby pigeon on our way into the park this afternoon, he was still there when we left and had strayed towards the road, looking lost and sickly. There were no parents to be seen so we took it home. I have him in a box with a towel, water and some birdseed and mashed up nectarine. His feathers are all fluffed up and he is not moving much although his eyes are quite alert. I have tried feeding him with an eye dropper but he is not taking any water or the fruit. The vet wont take him, and advised that Wires wont either. I am not sure what to do to help him. He has lots of feathers and some new little yellow ones poking coming through on his head.He has some insects with wings on him, I am not sue if he picked them up while he was on the ground. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks.
i am no expert in helping young birds(as Araminta knows),but here are a few suggestions:
1:keep it warm:this is one of a baby birds many weakness's
2:pick off all the bugs(if you hav'nt already):they could be biting and/or sucking blood from it
3:keep a watch in the area you found it,in case you spot the parents(very unlikely,that was just a random suggestion)eg:two pigeons sitting at an empty nest and crying out load for their baby(yes,that was a joke)
4:you can buy special bird raising fluids(one of my friends raised a 4-5 day old laughing dove with them),and just feed it with an eye dropper or something likewise,maybe an eye dropper is a bit too small
sorry if i misspelt anything,i usually do
Thanks NathanY for your advice, unfortunately he didn't make it
I am so sorry Clare , you must feel very bad about all this. Now that Nathan(a very nice guy) has brought my name up,I might tell you, I would have left the bird where it was, I still think the parents would have been somewhere. Although I would have prevented it from going on the road. What I don't understand , is the response of the Vet,if the little bird was weak, he should have put it down humanely and quickly.(the ethical thing for a Vet to do)
Just like Nathan at the time, you tried your best. But next time you find a baby bird, you think is abandoned, if it is not injured or in danger, just leave it where it is. If you think it is just about to get run over by a car, put it out of harms way, the parents will be watching you.
M-L
M-L
Thanks M-L I will follow your advice in the future