Dove Relocation

by Heather
(Illinois)

We moved a Dove Nest to New Location Successfully

We had a storm that took out many trees in town.

We were removing what was left of one of ours that was broken and hanging.

While cutting the limb down we found two young Mourning Dove nestlings.

The nest was safely removed and the birds appeared unharmed.

We were not sure how to relocate the birds and left the trunk of the tree as we thought it best to leave them on the original tree.

We decided to place the nest in a hanging basket and attach it to the tree.

We watched for the parents to return but we did not see them all night.

The babies both appeared okay through the hot night.

One seemed to spend most of his time with his eyes closed while the other was more alert and moved a bit more.

Unfortunately, we lost one before the parents returned to the nest.

That morning two adult Mourning Doves returned.

They searched around the tree and eventually found the surviving baby.

The baby flapped his wings when they made it into the nest.

They both fed him and stayed in the nest for some time.


After the reunion, one stayed with the baby, and the other left but could often be seen perched on the top of the tree.

Hopefully, the baby will grow and be able to leave the nest soon.

Birds and Blooms	Pioneer Woman	People Magazine	First For Women

Doves nesting on Mini-Cooper windshield!

by Sharon
(San Diego, CA, USA)

I have lived at the same address in San Diego California for about 9 years and every year Mourning Doves nest on a ledge above the entrance to the front of my apartment.

For some unexplained reason they have taken a fancy to my Mini-Cooper this week and have been trying to build a nest on the car's front windshield.

I leave and run errands and visit friends, etc. and each time I leave I take the twigs off.

When I return and park in my parking spot in the carport within a very short time the Doves return and start adding twigs.

This afternoon I decided to go for a walk and saw them building their little nest on my car so I shooed them away removed the twigs and went walking for an hour.

When I returned they had been busy and had not only replaced the twigs I had seen but had even added more and have a pretty good sized nest there.

I have no idea what will happen tomorrow when I go to the gym early. If there are eggs deposited.... will they survive the freeway!

I guess the rules of the wild may not be kind to these little stubborn minded birds. Is this nature's natural selection at work?

I do love those birds though and they have given me much delight through the years. Maybe I can duct tape the nest down. For crying out loud.

Doves on Opener 2 babies

by Dan
(Baton Rouge, LA)

One day we were in our garage (California carport-door on one side/open on other), and to our surprise we saw a dove nesting on our garage door opener.

For the first couple days, the bird would fly away when we opened the door, but eventually she would stay put, only cocking her head to the side in response to the noise and shaking.

For several weeks we would come home and say "Hello Bird".

My wife has grown quite attached. She will constantly ask me "what’s that bird doing?" "Do you think she’s lonely?" "Is she cold?" My response: "Sitting" "no" and "We're in Southern Louisiana, I doubt ANYONE'S cold"

It is quite intriguing to see this bird sitting motionless for hours at a time. My wife checks on them every few hours when we’re home.

Every morning she greets her/him, and every evening she makes me look out the door and bid them a good night. No chicks yet…

Surprise! I opened the door to head for my car and I notice something different. "What is that?" "Honey, I think we have babies".

My wife runs from the bedroom, half dressed, squealing like a child on Christmas. "Where, where?"

Finally she sees the little brown head and black eye. I grab the camera and take a few dozen pictures from a stepping stool vantage point.

Later that day I get an email from my wife with the pictures displayed like a proud mother. I almost cringed when I saw the length of the CC list.

Well, that’s the story so far. It IS kinda fun to watch...just hope they don’t mess up my brand new door opener.

Addition:
One baby hatched June 2nd. The other June 3rd. We are so excited....a picture is attached.

Birds and Blooms	Pioneer Woman	People Magazine	First For Women

Not the Best Place!

by Jim
(Houston Texas area)

See the attached photo of a Morning Dove nesting in the rain gutter of our house.

While the Doves picked a good place that is out of reach of the neighborhood cats, they opened themselves up to a good bit of water in the event of a heavy rainstorm (which is common in the Houston Texas area). Luckily we have been having a dry spell.

This website was very informative in educating us on the nesting habits of Doves. Sure enough, they have been sitting for about two weeks and today we were able to see at least one baby’s heads poking up.

Our only concern now is the heat. We got up to 99 F today. There is virtually no shade. We hope they make it.

Too Young To Fly- Now they're back What?

by O. Gail Poole
(Norman, OK - USA)

I have a hanging basket under the eave of my porch. I didn't plant anything in it this year and it is simply dirt and some dried stems of earlier plantings.

This year a pair of mourning doves have nested 3 times (thus far) and have produced only one offspring the first two times.

On the second, I observed the yet to be feathered nestling perched on the side. A day later it was gone. Did it fly? Did it survive?

Now on the third nesting, they have produced two offspring. They aren't feathered out as yet. Yesterday I noticed them without either parent around the nest. This morning they were gone.

I thought they were too young fly and wondered what had happened to them. This afternoon I returned home and they were back in the nest!

How did they get out of the nest, which is better than 5 feet from the porch surface? Better yet, how did they return? This is amazing to me.

I'm going to try and watch them tomorrow to see the procedure. I doubt they will leave again today as it is getting late?

Can someone give me a hint as to how they do this?

O. Gail Poole. Norman, Oklahoma. 7-18-09

Rehabbed Baby Mourning Dove - Peanut

by Peanut's Mommy
(Lower Alabama)

Our Rehabbed Baby Dove - Peanut

Hi all, my husband and I are the proud mom and dad to our Mourning dove Peanut.

We found her/him a little over a month ago on the ground. Her mommy was standing on top of her.

At first, I thought the adult dove was hurt because it's odd to see one just sitting on the ground.

When we approached, she flew off and we saw why...there sat a tiny baby with barely any feathers and fire ants already on it.

We hashed and hashed over whether we should take it in, but several feet away lay its sibling, crushed where it had been run over by a car.

We immediately decided to take it, figuring it had a 50-50 chance of surviving.

We went and got formula and supplies to try and hand feed it.

The first and second nights went by and she (I say she cause it's dainty) seemed to be thriving.

She even was chirping up a storm! We fed her around the clock.

Several weeks have passed and she is a beautiful juvenile dove eating seeds and loves doing her thing.

She'll sit on our heads or shoulder and watch YouTube videos with us.

She has been such a blessing to our family!

We have tried twice to set her free because after all, she is a wild bird. She's flown back both times!

After the second time, we decided that she probably wouldn't survive anyway because she is so tame.

She follows us everywhere and is trying to coo now instead of chirp.

I had parakeets before and decided no more birds after that....well...I've eaten those words!

Peanut has been the most amazing bird and we love her dearly.

She also has such a sassy attitude too! I would love to post updates as long as we have her:)

Where Have Babies Gone?

by Jeannie Fazio
(Florida)

Hi,
I awoke to my very large Mourning Dove babies and parents gone.

I was relieved, thinking they had flown the coop as they were getting too big for the nest.

In fact, last night one of the two had to sleep on ledge, next to nest.

Well, no sooner do I start my day just now, the parents return and seem frantic as one searches the nest and the other flies in and out of covered porch, where they built their nest over my hurricane shutters.

One is now perched above the light out there.
Should I be concerned? Did they lose the babies?
I am worried.

Thank you for being here and for your help.
Jeannie
PS
I would also like to quickly relocate their nest next to shutters as hurricane season will soon be here.
Thanks, again.