Happy Mardi Gras and Dovey Update

Happy Mardi Gras! This morning, Greg and I went to a Coffee Café where one of his high school friend’s, Phillip, is the owner. They used to play in the school band together. It was nice to see him and I couldn’t resist ordering the Mardi Gras “king cake” decorated donut. Did you see the Fleur de Lis on the crown? Adding the king cake baby was an extra touch. I remember when I was a little girl, digging through the cake, not to eat it, but to see if I got the baby. The tradition is ~ whoever got the baby in their piece had to bring the next king cake. It was treated as an honor and fun!


Lovey Dovey ~ we've decided it's a "she" based on no knowledge of a bird’s nether regions, but just because, well, she's a sweet little dove. Lovey Dovey is at a new home. We gave her warmth, kept her nest clean, gave her food and water and now, we're giving her to people who know how to raise a bird and can help rehabilitate her back into the wild.

Clearwater Rehabilitation Center is located on the Northshore; Greg brought Lovey Dovey there yesterday. We read so much on the Internet about doves and learned something important ~ we have no idea what we're doing.

As much information as there is available, there are equally conflicting views. Some people said to feed the dove every 30 minutes, some said only 4 times a day, another person advised every 3 hours and the best yet, "Wait to see when the crop is empty." (Tell that to a person who didn't know what a crop looked like!) Also conflicting was how much food to give a baby dove and HOW to feed the dove.

As much as I would love to raise a baby dove and it breaks my heart to give her another home, I knew it was in Lovey Dovey's best interest. I want her to live and be taken care of by professionals who understand her needs.

It was a beautiful experience and in the process I've learned:

- it's common knowledge that Doves build nest in the worst places.
- it's common knowledge that mother Doves don't make good parents and that the first two times they have hatchlings, the babies don't live.
- baby doves have little spike fluff that later turns into feathers
- baby doves have a crop that looks like a puffed up chest when full
- baby doves stick their beaks into a parent's beak to feed
- feeding a dove is not an easy thing, but the best way I found was using a tube, to mimic a parent dove's beak
- using a straw for the tube is not a good idea, because the baby dove sticks its entire beak and gets it stuck in the straw!
- you can create a bottle feeder for a dove for water using a brand new (clean) chemical testing bottle (thanks, Honey)
- warmth is everything to a new born baby dove and it likes to be cradled in your hand
- a heating lamp is the best way to keep the dove warm, but when you don't have one, using a heating pad is a good idea and keeping the room a warm temperature
- not to use newspaper for a nest, because the newspaper ink can irritate the baby's skin; paper towels are the best
- if you have a piece of soft velt, you can curve it into a low cone and put this slightly over the baby so it feels as if the momma bird is keeping it warm
- a baby dove needs to have a nest so as not to sit flat, because it could make the feet spread out and deform its legs
- baby bird formula is found in most stores.
- baby doves like the formula warm and a milk-shake like consistency
- dogs will try to eat the baby bird formula if you leave it in a bag on the ground
- in the middle of the night, you wake up thinking you hear a weet-weet sound and go into the office room just to make sure the baby is sleeping and breathing and is ok
- the first time you hear a weet-weet it is the sweetest musical note ever
- the first time the baby bird poops, your husband smiles and says, "That's a good thing!"
- a bird's nest needs to be cleaned a minimum of once a day
- we have a harmonious family, with a baby bird, cat and dog in the house and no blood shed
- when a cat is curled up on the top of the sofa and the first time the baby bird goes "weet-weet" the cat's head swings up with a "What the -----" look on its face!

but most importantly, what I learned....

- no matter what type of baby, your heart melts to see how helpless the baby is, a human, a dove, a puppy or kitten ~ and just as helpless as the wee little one looks, you feel just as helpless sometimes to know what it needs. I have an even higher appreciation for any Mom out there.

Greg brought Lovey to her new home. He turned on the heated seats in his car and turned up the heater to make sure the vehicle was baby dove friendly. The dove "weet-weet" during the drive and it made Greg want to pull over and feed her, but he couldn't. The lady who cares for birds said we did good for the baby bird. Greg said, "This lady has the same nurturing feeling that you do, Aleta. The baby bird is in good hands with her."

She, Wanda, was glad that we did a lot of research, because plenty of people don't. She explained how one person brought them a baby pigeon and fed it human baby formula. Wanda had to put the pigeon down, because it couldn't digest human formula. (Made me so sad to hear that) She was very pleased with how we kept the dove warm and how we fed it. She's going to leave it in the shoe box for a little while until it gets older and said that it's no more than 4 days old. Lovey is being kept warm under a heating lamp now. Before Greg left, Wanda said, "If you hadn't done what you did, this baby would have died. You did a good thing."

That makes me happy and even more so that Lovey is in capable hands. Greg thought I'd have a more difficult time giving Lovey up, but I knew I wanted the best for her. We gave her a chance and learned a lot in the process. We never did put her in the birdcage that Greg bought and now I wonder if we might get some Love Birds? Greg thinks a cat and dog are plenty and he's probably right.

Here’s a picture that Greg took of Wanda. He sent it to me in an email and wrote: “Wanda is dressed for Mardi Gras. She is not crazy.” Ok, she’s dressed for Mardi Gras, but I have to wonder….. about the feather…

We do plan on putting a screen or something around the top of the garage door motor, because we don't want any tragedies in a bird's nest. The other thing I read is that dove's will repeatedly go to the same area to nest, even if it's not the same dove, other doves see where the nest was and will rebuild it each year. We'll screen in the garage door motor and find some nice bird homes to put out instead.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions and thoughts. It was heart-warming!