Dovekie Strandings

Hi All,

I am still getting lots of calls about stranded dovekies so I thought I would make a little post in here to help people decide what to do. I have gotten calls and birds from all over, but they seems to be stranding everywhere as I have gotten calls from NB, PEI , Cape Breton and of course the mainland. Several of the birds we have gotten are quite thin and have died despite my best efforts and I am assuming some of these are young from this year which have a pretty low survival rate anyway ( sad but true and part of survival of the fittest). I have also gotten several in good body condition that are quite vigorous and are just victims of the weather and been blown ashore. I'm giving the whole spiel here so if I am saying a pile of stuff that people know about already..sorry :-)

So, Dovekies are pelagic seabirds, meaning they spend all of their time in the ocean and are not normally on land unless they are nesting. If they do come ashore they are pretty much in trouble as they can't take off from land and can't even walk around very far due to the placement of their legs. When people call, I try to convince them to bring them to me so I can assess them and figure out if they are a healthy stranding or a thin bird in trouble. If they are a healthy ( good body condition ) stranding, I keep them long enough to get a dose of fluids and a meal into them and provided the weather is good, bring them to the ocean ( not a river or lake, needs to be salt water). If they are thin or weak, I keep them for several days, give them fluids and food, and decide when I think they are healthy enough to go back. Of course some of these die as they are in poor condition and have very little energy reserves left. A few notes on dovekies in captivity....they generally will NOT eat in captivity as they eat very tiny fish, crustaceans and copepods in the wild...I have been able to get a few to self feed with tiny minnows. I feed them by inserting a specially designed stainless steel tube into the crop via the mouth. They dont like this but rarely regurgitate the food as it is a slurry. I have tried to forcefeed minnows in the past..which they usually just regurgitate back up. Many people want to put them in the tub...if your water is hard you can interfere with their waterproofing and if they are in dirty water ( fecal contamination) ..the same thing happens. Also, even oils from your bare hands can compromise their waterproofing so they are best not handled or if you must...wear gloves. I house mine on a suspended net bottom pen so feces dont get on their feathers and allow limited access to softened water to let them drink on their own. River or seawater works too for temporary housing. Warning..if they are thin or weak and are left alone in water..they can drown...

Many people think they are are in good shape because they are bopping around and trying to escape and look " puffy" which many equate with being "fat". This is often far from the truth. The best way to assess body condition on any bird is to feel the breast or pectoral muscles. Again..sorry if I am preaching to the choir here but I tell my volunteers and students to imagine a full chicken breast...the keel being the middle cartilage and the plump breast muscles on either side. If you feel for the keel, you should feel muscle on either side...in many cases close to level with the keel ( some seabirds have a more prominent keel and streamlined muscle...but you shouldnt feel sharp keel)..if the keel is sticking out of the breast muscle like a blade..they are thin and possibly even emaciated.. Some birds will beach on purpose when they are dying and if you put them back in the water they will just drown or beach again. For this reason I try to get people to bring them to me so I can examine them before putting them back in the water.

Lastly... we shot this little video for our website/blog/facebook to help people who have found these birds identify them. The one that seems lame...is. The other 2 are fine and were released.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVWHgO5of-Q

Ive had 4 more calls tonight about more of them. Feel free to pass on my contact info below to anyone who has found one and if I can help I will.

Thanks

Helene

Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre

Truro NS

893-0253

birdvet@hotmail.com