There’s a baby wood pigeon currently living on the ground in my back garden, a week ago there were 2 but one managed to start flying so now there is just one and I’m worried as it’s getting extremely cold outside, I haven’t interfered with it I just leave it food when it goes hiding in the bush. Is it normal for them not to be able to fly for that long after fleeing their nest? It has been on the ground now for 9 days. Advice would be appreciated as i don’t know much about them! Thank you.
Hi B weir, the chances are the adult parent birds are around and will be keeping an eye on their young and also helping feed it until it can fly properly; I'm not an expert on the subject but from what I read they tend to take a while to fly once they leave the nest but will walk around the ground so as long as it is moving, as you seem to indicate, I wouldn't worry too much. If you keep close observations on the youngster you will more than likely see the parent birds coming down to it as they are usually dedicated parent birds. I'm not sure I would be putting food on the ground towards night-time as it could attract predators. My advice would be to watch when you can and more than likely you will see the adult birds in attendance. Only if you think the bird is in imminent danger should you intervene. Good luck and let us know how you get on. If you are still worried and it doesn't move off within a few more days of its sibling then you can try search for help via helpwildlife for advice by entering some details on their form.
post edit: took me so long to google info that I x-posted with Alan !!
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Regards, Hazel