I have a baby spotted turtle dove (feathered) that I have been feeding with a granivore rearing mix for 4-5 days, she weighs 46g now, not gained or lost any weight in the last 12 hours.
All seemed to be going well but now she seems unwell, her crop looks full but I think it may be partially air. She basically cant walk or stand at all and is just very unbalanced often sitting back on her tail.
Any advice fast, I am worried for her.
Suggest you get to a vet if your worried. It is a feral species, and my guess is that none of the wildlife rescue services in the link below will be particularly interested.
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/forum/Bird-rescuerehabilitation/What-do-if-you-find-injuredsick-bird-check-here-first
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Hi, John. I appreciate your concern for the young Spotted Turtle Dove. To a lot of people it seems harsh to ignore the plight of a bird in a poorly state but as Dale says, it’s a feral species &, therefore, competes with Australian native birds such as the Peaceful Dove. Our Australian natives are under incredible stress from habitat destruction & other human activities. They need all the help they can get to survive extinction. Helping the survival of feral species is the sort of help they can do without.
While the heart strings of most of us are firmly tugged when we’re confronted with a bird in distress I believe we need to focus on the many Australian species which are threatened with extinction. That’s where our heart strings need to be pointed if we’re really interested in bird survival.
I have taken the dove to our local native rescue (https://www.nativearc.org.au/ ) and they accepted it no problem. I did not think about the fact that they were not native. I know that the rescue centres here in WA will turn away Lorikeets as these are not native.
The dove did recover and has her balance again so looking fwd to possible release in about 4 weeks time.
That day I arrived back home to find a fancy pidgeon in our yard. Really nice mostly white with one grey wing and the blue/purple reflective colour on it neck. Possibly a lost pet I think, it just sits on our roof top most days and I have been putting some seed and water out for it. Any tips on what I could or should do to get closer to it, not sure if it is drinking anything??
The Purple-crowned Lorikeet is native to southern WA.
Because of the desperate plight of so many of Australia’s native birds could I again urge you not to release this Spotted Turtledove?
And before encouraging the pigeon in your yard I’d be very much inclined to obtain a definite identification lest it be a feral Rock Dove.