Dove love?

Twenty years ago (about) we bought a window bird-feeder with 6 stations. It had suction cups on the back, was mirrored so the birds couldn't see our eager faces on the other side, and attached it to the dining area window. We--all of us, me, spouse, kids, cats--learned a lot about fowl, principally that there are many little birds that sneak under our radar when we're busy admiring cardinals and robins.

We learned the seasons of our visitors, eventually went to an all-sunflower-seed-all-the-time diet for them, and beat on the window to scare the squirrels away. The latter didn't work more than a time or two, so we learned to live with them. We even watched a dove (who was not coming to the feeder but was just on the fence) face down a squirrel in a fauna-version of "mine is bigger than yours."

In the spring we watched the parent birds bring their offspring to the feeder. Most notable are the cardinals, who will line their current clutch up on the fence and then proceed to the feeder to crack the seeds and return to the fence to stuff such down their dears' gullets. The babies make a pitiful chirp and flutter their wings in avian-begging. Keep in mind that in the cardinal family by the time they're on the fence, they are as large as the parents and quite capable of feeding themselves, as we've caught them doing.

So it was with interest this afternoon when I saw a parent dove with a baby. The doves have only recently become comfortable enough with the feeder than they will eat from it. They've admired it from afar for many years. I had never seen a baby dove before. Half the size of the parent, its feathers were mottled and its tail short. It huddled on the fence while mom or dad found a seed at the window and flew back.

I expected a full scale assault on the parent as I've witnessed before. Instead the parent almost ignored the chick. Baby barely flapped one wing and ever so cautiously inched toward the parent. Reaching him, he nestled his head against the parent's breast, but no food exchanged.

This was so out of proportion to what I had seen before. I was amazed. Would the parent eventually feed him? I'll never know because after making a few mournful sounds, the parent flew away, hungry chick close behind.