Well, we've got a dove chick in the nest. And another egg to go.

When I first noticed the momma dove gone, there was a chick, an egg, and half of an egg shell in the nest. By the time I got my camera the other half of the egg shell was gone. So it must have just hatched.

I guess a dove puts off more BTU's than I figured.

Talked to a lady the other day, her daughter raised pigeons, she said that they lay an egg every other day. Not sure? But the chick is a tiny little thing.

What do dove chicks eat this time of year?

Well, I guess the chick that just hatched will be fed "dove milk". I've only watched dove chicks fed just a couple of times. It's stuff that's regurgitated from the mother dove.

I'm sure there are quite a few folks here in town that have bird feeders out. We're back to bare ground now, that last snow only lasted 2 days, here in town. But there is always some kind of grass or weed seed or something out there for them to eat, in the road ditches or fence lines.

I watched a grouse eating birch twigs one time.

Our spring turkey season starts in a month or so? Most times they don't have much in their craw, but I've found pine needles, twigs, old dried up acorn shells and caps. Grass and those little wild onion tops. Pieces of leaves.

Now and then you'll kill one that's just stuffed full of wheat or corn. (It's illegal to bait turkeys here.) You'll get home and clean up that bird, notice it's full of corn, and think. Hmmm, the nearest corn field was 10 miles away, and that field was harvested back in November.

My opinion, turkeys that are fed or baited don't gobble like they should.

3/19/22. The second egg has hatched.

3/24/22, I didn't see the dove chicks yesterday, but their eyes are open now.

I've watched them feed 2 times now. The first time that I did actually watch them eat, their little heads would have been just about the size of a pencil eraser. Maybe a little bit bigger? And I'd guess their wings would have been less than 3/4's of an inch long.

It's hard to see them in the nest, the momma dove pretty much has them covered up most of the time. But they are growing.

Is 2 all they have? Do they raise a second brood?

Thanks!

I think doves can set 2 or 3 times per spring/summer. I'll need to read the entire thread again.

I think it was last spring, a dove hatched 2 or 3 chicks, in this same nest. Then the second time she layed eggs, that's when the sides of the nest were smashed down and the eggs fell out.

A while back Musher posted a video on his Utube channel, forget the name of that issue? But they were banding waterfowl, that was interesting. I was checking out the duck trap.

Here is a recent link that ties rignt into banded ducks. A mallard that was tagged in Canada, was shot down here in West Virginia. And that bird was tagged a long time ago.

https://wvmetronews.com/2022/03/16/hunter-brings-down-an-old-duck-in-lincoln-county/

Old mallard, indeed.

My duck banding videos all have "duck banding" in the title. We get excited when we have a "revenant" appear. That banded mallard was a male. So he followed a female, likely femaleS, back to where they were born for nesting.

Thanks for the link.

I have a few bird bands, not many. But they are a kind of trophy.

Honestly, I don't remember where or when I got my first leg band? That was years ago, we could use lead shot and were asked to mail in the information. Eventually, you'd get a postcard with the info about the bird. If you were lucky. But it is pretty neat.

A long time before the www, doing stuff online and all.

Thinking about it now, I don't remember ever taking a band off of a dove or a crow. I have pigeons. The little small leg bands, the size of a drinking straw, that are not crimped on like you would a goose leg band. I have some that are wrapped in plastic, little tiny print.

I bought my Federal bird stamp, didn't get a chance to go out at all this past season. We don't have waterfowl like over in Virginia or the eastern shore of Maryland.

Well, watched the dove chicks feed again this morning. They're not as big as a sparrow yet, but they are growing.

Well, the nest is empty.

For the last few days, I've noticed that the dove chicks were constantly preening, stretching their wings, flapping and all.

March 30th, I noticed the hen dove was gone, that's the first and only time that I've checked the nest when she wasn't with the chicks. I'm sure she was going out everyday to feed and all, I'm not there to constantly babysit.

Yesterday, March 31st, all 3 birds were in the nest at daylight. An hour or so later, one chick and the hen were gone. I didn't see them at all yesterday. The other chick stayed in the nest all day, it was there after dark, alone. It was in the nest at daylight this morning, 4/1/22. A little after daylight, the final chick was on a limb about a foot from the nest.

The female dove has a broken feather on her back, it sticks up about a half inch out of place, you can't miss it. I noticed her walking around out back this morning, the little chick was like a shawdow. The chicks are just a shade darker gray. But all 3 of them were together, with the chicks being fed.

I've been feeding the birds on my porch, I feed them in the mornings, only put out a tablespoon full or so? Cardinals are always first to show up, then the rest of the birds, they'll have it cleaned up in 20 minutes. Five minutes ago the little dove chick was sitting on the porch rail. They're out back someplace, we'll see if they return to the nest.

Our temperature dropped back down to 16* F. the other morning, they were snuggled up tight.