Found this poor girl in the middle of my parking lot yesterday afternoon.

First inspection revealed a broken wing. While I was wrapping the wing I located a puncture wound to her breast, under her good wing. It pierced the skin but not the muscle so I think it should heal up without any problem.

I'm pretty confident this is the work of a cat, as there are 2 that roam around the complex (grr...stupid cats).

We are pretty much completely without the services of an avian vet out here, and I couldn't find a rescue organization to save my life. She isn't in shock, and needs her wing set (though honestly I'm not sure if she'll be able to fly again), but I need to know what kind of bird she is so that I can stop with the seed and find her something I know she'll eat.

My thoughts were mockingbird or dove...but, maybe an immature bird? I really don't know...and usually I'm pretty good with identifying birds.

Notice the white tips on her tail.

Also, she made it through the night, so that's at least one hurdle we're over.

I didn't edit the pics so you could see her "true" coloring. Unfortunately the yellowing light of my bathroom doesn't help, but its as good as I can do right now.

4/1/2007 9:07:19 AM

A) What's up with all your animal threads lately?
B) Is there a good breakfast place in this part of the state?

4/1/2007 9:51:35 AM

have you heard its call yet?

4/1/2007 10:07:34 AM

^^ Big Ed's is a great breakfast place in downtown raleigh. NoFo in five points serves a great sunday brunch.

4/1/2007 10:10:17 AM

looks like some sort of dove, although I admit that I don't know jack about the reptiles with feathers (i.e. birds)

4/1/2007 10:15:04 AM

I don't know anything about birds (I know you said you wanted somewhat of an expert opinion), but when I googled for doves, this picture of an adolescent dove came up and it looks pretty identical to your bird:



http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.animalrangeextension.montana.edu/ExtnAgents/deptphoto/wildlife/baby-dove2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.animalrangeextension.montana.edu/ExtnAgents/deptphoto/wildlife/birds1.htm&h=525&w=600&sz=67&hl=en&start=13&tbnid=9F26uW9_ZKVGPM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbaby%2Bdove%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DISO-8859-1

4/1/2007 10:17:09 AM

Quote :

"I'm pretty confident this is the work of a cat, as there are 2 that roam around the complex (grr...stupid cats)."

Stupid nature!

4/1/2007 10:27:50 AM

why do people take the time and money helping injured birds and squirrels and stuff like this. getting injured or killed is part of nature. doves are not endangered, they dont need your assistance.

[Edited on April 1, 2007 at 10:56 AM. Reason : .]

4/1/2007 10:54:48 AM

I'm a poultry major (don't know if that makes me an expert) but I'd say you have a mourning/morning dove because of his/her white tail feathers Though I could be totally wrong and it's just a common ground dove.

Either way, feed her some good parakeet type seeds w/ lots of spray millet. Make sure you don't put her in a bird cage, since doves tend to be easily freaked out and can hurt themselves on the bars of a cage. A dog carrier with smooth sides should surfice with an old towel on the bottom. Make sure she has access to plenty of water.

If you can, take her to a wild animal rehab center. If she got bit deep by the cat, she could get some nasty infections from the saliva. Also makes sure to wash your hands plenty since the doves are ground feeders and drag their little tails all over the place and can have mites/lice.

Hope this helps

4/1/2007 11:48:25 AM

definitely looks like a mourning dove to me.

4/1/2007 12:57:12 PM

dove



JSnail gets the wildlife award this week


first saving a snake and moving it from the path and now a bird

4/1/2007 1:08:55 PM

its definitely a dove, what the hell else could it be

[Edited on April 1, 2007 at 1:26 PM. Reason : /obligatory "hop on the popular diagnosis bandwagon" like the above two posters ]

4/1/2007 1:25:57 PM

tis a dove, they are a legal game animal in nclike msot states, they come through in the thousands in a single flock, with this time of year it is msot liekly a resident bird, most rescues will not take them as they are fedrally regulated as they are a migratory bird.

4/1/2007 1:27:34 PM

whateva. i didn't even look at what anyone else posted. i just saw the pictures and said what i thought it was.

4/1/2007 1:33:17 PM

you can email the avian vet at the birdie boutique in durham and see what he says to do

4/1/2007 2:44:01 PM

thanks everyone

4/1/2007 10:01:57 PM

HAHAH YOU SUCK!

4/1/2007 10:47:08 PM

vet-to-be's

or vets-to-be

?

duh.

4/1/2007 11:13:08 PM

Thats a dove, don't need to be pre-vet to figure that out (though I am). I've shot a bunch during dove season.

4/1/2007 11:19:56 PM

aw it's so cute!

4/1/2007 11:32:50 PM

^^ exactly. who doesn't know what doves look like?

anyway, gg to jsnail for being a good human.

4/1/2007 11:38:07 PM

shes only pretending
DONT TRUST HER

4/2/2007 4:12:19 AM

lol well I figured it was a dove...call it a lapse of functioning brain cells, lol. If I heard it, saw it flying or saw it sitting normally I wouldn't have had a problem, but when I found it, it was all frazzled, and then after wrapping it up, I guess I just started thinking too hard about what it was!

and yes, again...brain fart on the thread title...

4/2/2007 5:44:49 AM

Quote :

"exactly. who doesn't know what doves look like?"

Quote :

"My thoughts were mockingbird or dove"

4/2/2007 9:40:41 AM

they're pretty much the dumbest birds ever

4/2/2007 11:50:51 AM

It's a mourning dove.

And... I can make the mourning dove sound with my hands . Learned it from my uncle. You just cup your hands together with fingers tightly sealing each side of your hand. Then with your thumbs partially bent, you blow through them softly. You'll get a whistling noise, at this point you can lift one pair of fingers and repeat(depends on how you cupped your hand).

Thank you.

4/2/2007 2:47:09 PM

I hate birds.

4/2/2007 3:06:46 PM