baby bird lost

I know nothing about birds but this sweet little thing is at the bottom of my garden at this moment. Hasn't moved much at all. Anyone know what it is and what I should do to help it

awwww...such a sweet fuzzy little thing!!

Mr Canthus, it's some type of dove or pigeon and appears to be too young to be out of the nest. Probably toppled out in its eagerness to get a feed from a parent, or could have been displaced by a gust of wind. If it's heading towards darkness where you are, it will need to be brought inside for the night. It is perfectly OK to handle it with clean hands. It won't bite. It may "squeak" and push its beak into your hand. This is not aggression; it's what it would do to stimulate the parent birds to feed it. Keep it in a warm, dark, drought-free area - a small cardboard box with lots of tissues (never cotton wool) in the bottom and keep the box covered. I wouldn't worry about trying to feed it this evening. It looks pretty well fed. In the morning, have a look around the area to see if you can see the nest and even if you can't put it back in the nest, if you can put it on a sturdy branch close by, out of the way of predators, the parents may return to feed it. Keep and eye on it throughout the day. See if you can locate a bird rehabber in your area who will take over its care if the parents don't show up. If, by tomorrow afternoon there's no sign of the parents, it will be in need of sustenance and the rehabber/carer will be able to do this. Warmth is probably the most critical thing at this time and it's chances of survival without your help will be minimal. Good luck. Resin may know of some local resources to help you out.

Young Wood Pigeon.

Best thing to do is park it on a branch as high as you can reach in a fairly dense shrub or tree. Its parents will find it there and feed it.

Resin

Thank you both for the advice. I went out again to see it but it was gone. I fear the worst. There are lots of cats around here. I'd already phoned the RSPCA (UK charity that protects animals) and followed their recorded messages which seemed to be advising me to leave it if it was in a reasonably protected spot ( it was under a bush).
Really appreciate your expertise though. Next time I will have a clearer idea about what to do.