A baby mourning dove is trying to blend in outside the door
Posted By RichC on August 14, 2020
Wouldn’t you know, just as I was contemplating how to get rid of our annoying pair of Mourning Doves (pretty much pigeons in my book), they go and have at least one baby. Now I can’t in good conscious shoo them away.
The little guy must have jumped or fallen out of the nest and wandered his way into the stones under a bush next to the door of the detached poolhouse garage (they also love to take selfies in the Canary cam)? He or she can’t fly yet but has nice feathers and bright eyes .. also camouflaged nicely for the surroundings. The mom and dad are hanging around as they always do (sit on the peak of our house every evening), but also stand with the little fledgling bird until I approach. I wonder just how long before flight? Let’s look it up!
Dove babies grow exceedingly fast. By 12 days old they’re big enough to leave their nest and venture into the big wide world.
If they’re over-cautious about leaving their nest then they’ll find themselves hungry, as their parents stop coming to the nest to feed them after this time.
They don’t abandon them completely though, instead, they keep an eye on them from a nearby branch and watch as they eventually leave the nest.
At first, they won’t be able to fly. Instead, they become fledgling birds and will spend the next four days stuck on the ground before they grasp the art of flying.
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