# FOUND Band AA 33175



## BayBreezes (Mar 2, 2014)

Hello, I found this pigeon hiding in the bushes at our home today. It doesn't appear to be injured, (but I have no experience with birds). With the very high winds today, I thought maybe it's from nearby and will be able to make its way home once the winds die down? 

For now, I have secured it in a pet carrier to protect it and given it food and water. I checked with the local pet stores and no one was able to give me info on any local clubs who may be able to trace the owner through the band.

Any help anyone can give in tracing down the owner through the band or any other suggestions would be appreciated. I am not sure I have all of the info off the band but posted what I've been able to see so far in the subject line. (As I said, I'm not experienced with birds and don't want to frighten it more by handling it too much.) We are located in the northeast part of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Thank you for your help.


----------



## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks for helping this bird, Seigles Pigeon Supply sells the AA bands. There should be more info on the band like AU 2013 AA 33175, I don't think Seigles keep good records on who they sell bands to. We have people from the SF area that may be able to help you with this. If you can post a pic of the bird.
Dave


----------



## BayBreezes (Mar 2, 2014)

*Thank you! Here is photo*

Thank you for your reply, Dave. I now can see AU 2013 on the band as well, so from what I've read, this is probably a young bird?

Here is a photo.


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Thank you for helping this bird. 

Is the bird eating and drinking well?

The bird was hatched in 2013.

Are there any more letters on the band, there should be more letters to signify the club?

Here is the website of the AU http://www.pigeon.org/carelostbird.htm *


----------



## BayBreezes (Mar 2, 2014)

*Morning report*

All I can say about eating and drinking is that the food and water bowls have been disturbed. I haven't seen it eat or drink with my own eyes. I think some of the food is gone (I picked up pigeon food yesterday). This morning I moved it into a dog crate where I hope it will be more comfortable, and instead of just letting me pick it up as I did yesterday, it ran around the room but only took very short "hop" flights--probably only 8-10 inches off the ground.

I still don't see signs of obvious injury, but I wasn't able to spot more letters on the band either.


----------



## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

AU 2013 AA 33175 will be the only thing on the band, Seigles does not have a club affiliation they just sell bands.

If you could put a brick in their they prefer not to perch on the ground.
Dave


----------



## BayBreezes (Mar 2, 2014)

Thank you for the suggestion of the brick. I'll put one in the dog crate I have the pigeon in now, which is much bigger than the carrier shown in the photo and I hope more comfortable.
I called and left a message with Siegel's this morning.


----------



## BayBreezes (Mar 2, 2014)

When I went to put the brick in this afternoon, the pigeon made a break for it. I let it spend some time going around the room, and when I tried to get it back in the crate, it flew across the room 3 different times. So it was good to see that it is able to fly, but it flew right into a window and a door trying to get away from me. I don't think it hurt itself, but I certainly don't want to make a temporarily bad situation for the pigeon worse in an effort to help. I'd really like it to get it safely back home as soon as possible.

I did spot 6 pigeons at the end of our street but didn't spot bands on any of them. I put up a sign on a lightpole there since I couldn't tell where they belonged. As I was leaving the neighborhood, I saw 4 more pigeons, so that gives me hope that maybe this pigeon isn't too far from home. I'm not aware of many feral/street pigeons in our city, so I tend to think the pigeons I saw belong to someone in the neighborhood. Any advice as far as whether I should just try to let the pigeon go to see if it heads for home or tips on ways to track down where the pigeons I saw may live would be appreciated. My work schedule won't allow me to spend a lot of time going door to door or walking around listening for them. 

Thank you.


----------



## BayBreezes (Mar 2, 2014)

*Update*

A pretty disheartening day. I've had no reply from Siegel's on finding the owner through the band although I called again during business hours but only got voicemail. My efforts to find the owner locally have also turned up empty so far. 

Got home from a long day at work, and it looked like the pigeon had barely eaten and it made no attempts at escape tonight. I don't know if that's a sign it's not feeling well or just because it was late. It did look like it drank water and ate some food but not very much. I put some peas in the crate tonight and made some changes to try to be sure it's warm enough.

I think the pigeon spent the whole day on the brick, so it is loving that.


----------



## GrLkLoft (Apr 30, 2012)

BayBreezes said:


> A pretty disheartening day. I've had no reply from Siegel's on finding the owner through the band although I called again during business hours but only got voicemail. My efforts to find the owner locally have also turned up empty so far.
> 
> Got home from a long day at work, and it looked like the pigeon had barely eaten and it made no attempts at escape tonight. I don't know if that's a sign it's not feeling well or just because it was late. It did look like it drank water and ate some food but not very much. I put some peas in the crate tonight and made some changes to try to be sure it's warm enough.
> 
> I think the pigeon spent the whole day on the brick, so it is loving that.


I bet they would return your call in a hurry, if you wanted to buy something.


----------



## doveman2 (Jul 22, 2012)

did you find the owner? let me know i will adopt it


----------



## BayBreezes (Mar 2, 2014)

*Quick update*

I'm happy to report that things took a turn for the better yesterday.

The delay in hearing back from Siegel's was because the person who handles that function was out on vacation. I now have a phone number and am trying to reach the owner. 

Also, when I got home last night, I was very relieved to see that for the first time it looked like a serious amount of the food had been eaten. The pigeon is acting much perkier today as well. So I hope I'll be able to get it back home soon and it won't be much the worse for wear for my fumbling attempts to help in its time of distress.

Thank you for the offer, doveman2. I hope this bird will be safely back home soon, but am very glad to know there are options if I run into issues or can't establish contact with the owner.


----------



## Woodnative (Jul 4, 2010)

Good luck! IF you had done nothing the bird would have been dead. Pigeon racers are a varied lot.....some care for each and every bird as an individual......others feel that if a bird does not make it home it is worthless and will not have anything to do with it. Hopefully the owner will contact you. I bet those other pigeons you saw were ferals (probably noticing them more now that you have a pigeon "in hand"). Glad he is eating etc. How do the droppings look? They should be relatively firm....sort of equally brown and white...........certainly not green or runny.


----------



## BayBreezes (Mar 2, 2014)

*Outcome*

Thank you for the encouragement, WoodNative. I think some of my friends and family thought I was a little nuts to go to the trouble.

The phone number registered for the band turned out to be the breeder rather than the current owner, but he came right over to get the bird and said he could get it back home. He said the bird didn't look injured to him, but that it did look hungry. So I think I was right that it wasn't eating enough on the first couple of days it was with me.  It also hadn't eaten much on the day he came to get it because I had let it out while I cleaned the cage and only had food inside the cage hoping it would go back in on its own. Instead, it stayed out enjoying the freedom.

Regarding the droppings, I wasn't sure what to think. Sometimes they looked fine (brown and white and firm) and other times they did look dark green or yellow and runny. The day after I found the pigeon it did pass what looked like almost straight water. Being so unsure about the droppings was one reason I was very glad to get it back in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing and can determine whether there is an issue. 

A huge thank you to everyone here who was so helpful and for all the info readily available here!


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

BayBreezes said:


> Thank you for the encouragement, WoodNative. I think some of my friends and family thought I was a little nuts to go to the trouble.
> 
> The phone number registered for the band turned out to be the breeder rather than the current owner, but he came right over to get the bird and said he could get it back home. He said the bird didn't look injured to him, but that it did look hungry. So I think I was right that it wasn't eating enough on the first couple of days it was with me.  It also hadn't eaten much on the day he came to get it because I had let it out while I cleaned the cage and only had food inside the cage hoping it would go back in on its own. Instead, it stayed out enjoying the freedom.
> 
> ...


*I'm glad to hear the breeder picked up the bird. Thank you for everything you did for this bird and your time spent locating the owner.*


----------

