# Grounded pigeon



## Raeyven (Sep 18, 2009)

I have a pigeon in my back garden that I first noticed yesterday when the dog tried to chase it. Instead of flying off it scurried to the back fence and tried to hide behind some dead tree and plant cuttings. Last night I couldn't see it but then this morning i opened my back door and it was sat very close to it, again it scurried off and hid behind some trees. This time I went after it and had a good look at it. It's not banded, just appears to be a wild pigeon that's unable to fly. There's no obvious sign of injury, it's wings seem okay and it flapped them in its rush to get away from me. It seems bright and alert, won't let me get near it. The only sign of any problem is its inability to fly for whatever reason. Any advice on what I can do or who I should be contacting?


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Bring him in for now and offer him some water in a deep bowl. Let him drink as much as he wants.
Later on check his mouth for any abnormal growths, let us know what the dropping look like and we take it from there. Oh, you can also offer some seed if you have, see if he eats.

Where are you located? We might have someone in your area to help you out.

Reti


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## Raeyven (Sep 18, 2009)

Catching him will prove to be very difficult as he's not sitting in one place unable to move, quite the opposite he's running off before I can even get close. I'm in the Wolverhampton area of the UK.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hello,

Thank you for your concern for the bird. While it is on the ground and unable to fly it will be vulnerable to predators. 

Can you tell what sort of pigeon its is and whether is it an adult, baby or fledgeling? If it is a feral pigeon then you can drop a towel over it and grab it , but if it is a wood pigeon you will have to be slow and gentle as they can panic very easily.

Can you describe it (size, any white or brown marks, any yellow bits?)


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## Raeyven (Sep 18, 2009)

It's about the size of an adult wood pigeon with similar grey colouring with the slight brownish blush on the chest and head although it's lacking the white and coloured markings around the neck. I contacted a local wildlife rescue and they seem to think it's a juvenile wood pigeon that apparently spend a few weeks on the ground before leaving the nest. We do have a lot of wood pigeons, doves etc nesting in the trees at the bottom of the gardens in the street. As it certainly looks healthy in all other ways other than the lack of flying it does sound like a young wood pigeon, just a bit concerned about the cats and foxes in the area.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

> apparently spend a few weeks on the ground before leaving the nest


I don't know where they got that one from! Wood pigeons can fly when they leave the nest, they often return to the nest to roost. However, their parents continue to feed them after they leave the nest.

Can you make a note of where it is roosting? Once it is dark you can pick it up, but you will need a towel as they can panic and rush off blindly when disturbed and he could hurt himself. Once caught it should be possible to find out whether he is injured and whether he is releasable, based on that we can advise you on what to do next.

Cynthia


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## Raeyven (Sep 18, 2009)

Just an update - the wood pigeon proved difficult to catch alone so to cause it as little stress as possible (and because a cat had discovered it) the wildlife rescue centre I initially contacted came out and collected it. The young lady that picked it up gave it a once over and said it should have been flying by now but that it appeared to be healthy and that it would be taken back to the centre, kept isolated to keep an eye on it and to let it recover and then introduced to a larger pen with the other birds before being released into a nice much more rural location than Wolverhampton 

Thanks to those who replied and hopefully it has a long and happy life doing whatever it is wood pigeons do


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

I hope that it makes a full recovery quickly. Thank you for rescuing it, it certainly would have died without your intervention.


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## amyable (Jul 7, 2007)

Hi,

I don't know if you'll come online again, but just in case you do, I was wondering which rescue centre you had come out to pick up your pigeon. I'm always keen to know of any in the West Mids that will take in pigeons and this one sounds very helpful.

I hope your pigeon makes a good recovery and thanks for helping it out.

Janet


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