How do you teach a wild bird to fly?

Question

I found a dove that was left in a can of old cooking oil. It's still alive and I took it home. I tried to get the oil off with washing up liquid, but I couldn't get all of it off. Its only a young dove coz it can't fly yet but it has feathers. What can I do to help this poor creature?

Answer 1

You need to contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. You can find one here: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm

These people have the specialized training to care for sick, injured and orphaned wild animals. They also have the required state and federal licenses that allow them to keep the wild animals until they are healthy enough to be released back into the wild.

In the US, all native migratory birds are protected under federal law (Migratory Bird Treaty Act) and it is illegal to have one in your possession, even for the wonder purpose of saving it, unless you have the proper permits. You need to surrender the bird to a licensed rehabber if you are in the US. Many other countries have similar laws regarding their native species.

The licensed wildlife rehabilitator will know how to finish removing the oil, will know what to feed the bird and how often, will know how to condition it to recognize and find food for itself in the wild, and will provide a large flight cage for the bird to exercise its wings and commence flight. The rehabber will know how to accomplish all of this while handling the bird as little as possible, and not allowing the bird to become too tame. This will give it the best possible chance for survival in the wild.

Thank you for rescuing this bird! I hope you will now turn it over to the professionals for rehabilitation and release.


EDIT - PLEASE ignore the advice to place water on the bird's nostrils! That is something you never, ever do to any bird! The bird can aspirate and die! Also, please do not attempt to feed this bird by hand. If it has feathers, it is old enough to be eating bird seed. If you do not know how to hand feed a bird, again, it can aspirate the food and die! Or, if you do not get the formula to the right temperature, you can cause crop burn if it is too hot, or sour crop / crop stasis if it is too cold.

Just get it to a rehabilitator right away!

Answer 2

Keep it in a big box, open on the top, covered with a wire mesh (like a fridge shelf). have a bowl of water and seeds available. If she eats, just change the newspaper at the bottom of the box for some time, until she gets old enough, and then you can free her. If she doesn't eat, you must feed her soaked kitten food (made like a cream) or baby food with a syringe without a needle. Put the food deep in her mouth, not in her beak, just don't choke her. First of all give her some water, by dropping a few drops on her nostrils. Don't put anything other than water through the nostrils though, you don't want to block them.
She will learn to fly by herself, but you must wait until she is completely adult. When she can just fly a little bit she will not yet be ready. It is best to contact a wildlife rescue centre. Good luck.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to teach it. It's either going to learn by instinct, or it's never going to fly. Or, it might be able to fly, and the oil is stopping it. You should contact whatever service you have in your area for animals/birds/wildlife, and ask them for help.