07/09/2026
I FOUND A BABY PIGEON, WHAT DO I DO?
Baby pigeons are unlike other species of bird where they are fed mouth to mouth, the parents regurgitate a crop milk that create in their crop for the first few days and slowly over the next week transition the baby to a seed with water mix.
If you've ever heard squabs being fed, it sounds like you've put marbles in a water balloon to shake 🙈.
Please do not syringe water or force any food down their throats, especially with tiny babies like in the last photo. As above, it depends on their age as to what is the most appropriate thing to feed, there is also the fact that starved babies need rehydrating before they are fed any sort of rich formula or crop milk. Feeding any animal that is starved before rehydrating them can, and does, kill them. It causes a condition called refeeding syndrome and their systems shut down.
Recently I've heard from a few finders that vets have recommended that they feed cat food to baby pigeons. This is not appropriate and can also cause issues. Pigeons are not meat eaters, they are strictly grainevore, meaning that grains, legumes, peas, ect, are what their systems are designed to tolerate. Introducing something so strange and intolerable to the crop cause cause statis, again, causing the systems to shut down one by one.
So, onto what you should do, the very first thing that any baby bird needs is temperature stabilisation, a hot water bottle (covered), a heat pad, a water bottle filled with warm tap water, even a boobie, all are great options to warm a cold squab up. If a baby is cold to the touch, it is too cold, they should be warm as they cannot create their own heat.
The next thing, is to find someone capable of caring for them with the correct equipment and feed. We used a few different styles of tips and droppers for the differing ages. Doves especially need a much lighter and more delicate hand as tiny hatching because they are so small. I've had to use something similar to a canula before to safely feed hatchling doves.
The last thing, is to get them to the person you find as quickly as possibly. Even though baby pigeons can go a longer period than garden birds without a feed, it can have detrimental effects on their development, digestion, and overall chances.
