LUMBERTON — Eight-year-old Chloe Sinclair, an aspiring veterinarian, got her first lesson in animal care when a fledgling dove wobbled recently into her neighborhood.

About two weeks ago Sinclair’s mother, Ashley Tate, came across the bird during her morning commute to work.

“I saw the bird sitting in the middle of the road,” Tate said. “I thought that was weird.”

Tate said she kept driving, but when she came home that evening, the bird was under her neighbor’s car. She thought initially it was a different bird, but even during an evening walk with her daughter, she saw the neighbor trying to relocate the bird back to a tree.

“The neighbor said ‘I keep putting him in the tree and he keeps coming down,’” Tate said.

It didn’t take Sinclair long to grow attached to the fledgling and offer to help, especially after a storm came through.

“She was in tears,” Tate said. ”She left the bird some water and sunflower seeds. I don’t know if they even eat sunflower seeds.”

Tate said the neighbor found a box to keep the bird safe and they placed a sign on it letting people know that a bird lived there.

“We kept him a few days. We tried to let him go outside but obviously he kept coming back down,” she said. “The last time we sent him out to fly, he clipped his wing a little.”

Concerned, they went to a pet store for supplies. While there, Tate and her daughter came across a flier for A Wild Life: Center for Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release, a local nonprofit co-founded by Rebekah Kriston.

“We brought it to her. Turns out its a baby bird and the family was probably nearby,” Tate said. “She said that being that the bird was injured, we could go ahead and bring it in.”

Kriston worked to get the bird to SkyWatch Bird Rescue in Castle Hayne, but did not make it in time.

“Unfortunately, the bird died en route,” Tate said. “Chloe was crushed.”

Tate and Sinclair’s experience is a common one.

The bird, which Sinclair named “Miss Sofie,” was a mourning dove. The species is prevalent in North Carolina and is known to feed often on the ground in grasslands, agricultural fields, backyards and roadsides.

“Doves are ground birds,” Kriston said. “You see them a lot on the ground eating, and sometimes they’ll mess on the ground.”

Because they are on the ground and vulnerable, they often attract predators an concerned humans, Kriston said.

“They (humans) see them and they’re hopping and flapping their wings. They may come off the ground a little bit but not by much and people think that they’re broken,” Kriston said. “They have the best of intentions.”

This is a common misconception with fledglings, which are birds old enough to leave the nest but not be without parental supervision.

“That period of time usually takes up to two weeks,” Kriston said.

At this age, the bird can jump and get a small amount of lift with its wings to perch in lower foliage like bushes, she said. However, it takes them a bit longer to complete the task, which leaves them more vulnerable.

More often than not the bird’s parents are nearby in these situations and will call the fledgling and eventually lead them to safety under a brush or bush, Kriston said. Once the bird has made it to safety, the parents will continue to care for it and teach them to fly.

Because this is common, Kriston offers tips for people who see a fledgling and are concerned with its well-being.

“We get so many calls, like every day, about what they should do with the bird,” Kriston said.

People should first observe the bird from afar and confirm if it is injured, she said. Sometimes this can be obvious, with blood being visible or seeing a previous attack by a cat or dog, but often it is not.

“If you see it and question what is going on, the best for you to do is take a picture and leave it where it is unless it’s in danger,” she said.

Taking a video will help, and then contact the Wild Life nonprofit because they’re local, Kriston said. The rescue will give advice on whether or not to bring the bird to the rescue organization.

The N.C. Wildlife Commission also suggests locking away pet cats and dogs, who often see fledglings as prey, for a few days until the fledgling is out of sight.

Sinclair still hopes to be a veterinarian someday.

“That’s her dream career,” Tate said. “When she sees an animal, she wants to take care of it, and she was in mini-doc mode. She would go out and check on Miss Sofie every day.”