Lily the Oops Baby Dove
Scroll down for updates.
MickaCoo took in nine new foster doves on Saturday and one of them was a surprise to all involved- an oops baby. In the box on the way, she had too many would-be dove parents piling into her nest and so rode in volunteer Doug's warm hand for safety and comfort.
Tuesday 4/26/11 UPDATE:
Tuesday 5/3/11 UPDATE:
5/19/11 UPDATE:
Lily has been completely self-feeding for almost a week now and has taken at least two baths that I know of. She's learned to fly too.
And she's getting in her black ring. Her coloring is mostly brown with some soft blue-gray and a bit of white on the underside and her outermost tail feathers.
When Lily was younger, I kept their shared cage space extremely simple to minimize the chance of her big friend Neo stepping on her or anything like that. Now that Lily is mobile and agile, they have perches and a basket to share.
7/22/11 UPDATE
While I had never intended to adopt a dove, I cannot give up Lily.
MickaCoo took in nine new foster doves on Saturday and one of them was a surprise to all involved- an oops baby. In the box on the way, she had too many would-be dove parents piling into her nest and so rode in volunteer Doug's warm hand for safety and comfort.
Once everybody was added to the Filoli foster aviary, we tried several different ways but failed to reconnect her with her parents.
We also tried connecting her with a sitting pair of doves as foster parents but that didn't quite work either.
Running out of time to get the baby fed and warmed, I ended up taking her home for hand-rearing. The irony of awkward human me caring for this delicate baby bird when we have doves desperate to raise babies was lost on none.
I named her (?) Lily and I'm very, very happy to report that she's doing great. She quickly learned how to manage her new meal-delivery system (me and a syringe) and is eating great and growing fast! These pictures were all taken within 36 hours.
Tuesday 4/26/11 UPDATE:
And here she is cradled in king pigeon adopter Shae's hands.
Tuesday 5/3/11 UPDATE:
And here she is 4/29.
Her friend baby king pigeon Neo loves to preen all her pin feathers and snuggle with her.
On 5/1 she learned a new skill... climbing!
And she doesn't agree that a full crop should interfere with being fed.
Here she is outside with her friend Neo for the first time on 5/2. Check back for more updates soon.
5/19/11 UPDATE:
Baby king pigeon Neo and oops baby dove Lily are growing up and both are doing great. They are still close friends but Neo is so much bigger at 534 grams to Lily's 128, that I worry a bit about their continued rooming together now that they are both more active. Neo has really big feet and is a bit clumsy. He's always sweet to Lily but I have seen him step on her accidentally in his rush to stay close to his friend.
While I'm not a big fan of Neopolitan ice cream (two-thirds too little chocolate for my vote), it certainly is what comes to mind when ever I see Neo. His dyed-pink feathers will molt out over time and he'll be his natural brown and white self eventually.
Lily has been completely self-feeding for almost a week now and has taken at least two baths that I know of. She's learned to fly too.
And she's getting in her black ring. Her coloring is mostly brown with some soft blue-gray and a bit of white on the underside and her outermost tail feathers.
Lily loves her friend Neo but is also extremely bonded to me. Whenever she sees me she wants to fly to me and tease me to feed her even though I haven't hand-fed her for quite a while now. When I take her picture, I have to be quick because she flies to me and lands on my camera leaving me with a picture where she used to be.
Lily is an adventuresome bather but Neo not so much.
Originally, I hadn't intended to keep Lily and only handfed her for lack of a better option. Since she came along around the same time I decided to befriend foster pigeon Neo and groom him to be a pigeon ambassador (demo pij), it occurred to me that maybe they could be my demo duo, since it's good to take both a pigeon and a dove to adoption fairs and outreach events. But I'm not sure that that idea will really work. Typically I'd be taking Neo around on my shoulder because he's big and sturdy enough to wear pants and a harness but, so far, since that would leave Lily either home alone or riding along shotgun in a small cage, I've not taken either. I know they would each miss the other if left home alone and taking both seems less manageable. We'll figure something out. I am very glad that they've had each other as childhood buddies. They've been great company for each other and Neo taught Lily how to eat seeds. Eventually, I have a feeling Lily will be adopted, hopefully with a dove friend, and Neo will probably join the flock in my backyard coop and make new friends. But for now, they are an adorable couple.
While I had never intended to adopt a dove, I cannot give up Lily.
She (?) is so charming and dear and thinks so highly of me that I can't imagine giving up this little oops friend. She lives indoors in a flight cage (and on my shoulder and on the computer monitor) and spends time outside in the pigeon coop everyday as well.
Typically I don't recommend that a dove live with pigeons (unless in an extra large and under-crowded aviary) because doves will often start conflicts that the much larger pigeons will finish but Lily does great out there. I'm still supervising closely and there may come a time when it won't work but for now, it does. And, adorably, Lily has maintained her friendship with Neo, the baby pigeon with whom she grew up (and who is now quite the giant young man bird out in the coop).
Further proof of Lily's almost supernatural social skills is the fact that she is even winning over curmudgeonly Tookie, my green-cheek parrot.
1 Comments:
What an amazing journey Lily has travelled so far, and thanks all to your tireless efforts. Thank you for the extraordinary work that you do. These birds are indeed intelligent and extremely sensitive and wonderful creatures totally worthy of every chance they can get, but too often meet tragic fates. Thank you for the big heart that you have for these birds and for being an inspiration to many others out here!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home