# Found pigeon sitting near neighbor's yard.



## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

About an hour ago my neighbor found a pigeon sitting in their yard and because they knew that I have a pet pigeon, they thought I could take care of it.

I went there to check, and it was just standing still on grass. My neighbor told me that pigeon was sitting there for about an hour. What's strange was that when I was trying to grab it, it wasn't trying to run away from me. It just stayed still. I did check to see if it had broken leg or wings, and they looked fine to me. It was kinda getting chilly outside so I decided to bring it in, and gave bath with warm water, left some water and food, and is now quarantined in bathroom since I wanted to make sure my pet pigeon is safe from any possible infection.

Any advice on what to do next?


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

here is a photo of the pigeon


Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## minimonkey (Apr 7, 2005)

Good luck with this bird -- please do keep it quarantined. If it isn't trying to escape you, something is definitely wrong. If you have a heating pad or a hot water bottle, it would be good to give the bird supplemental heat (heating pad set on low, covered in a towel.) 

Give as many details as you can -- check the throat for anything abnormal, give descriptions/pictures of droppings, listen to its breathing, report any smells (breath, droppings) -- is it eating and drinking, etc., and perhaps someone will be able to point you in the right direction as to what might be wrong with the bird. I hope it isn't anything too serious, and that it can be treated.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

I would do just as minimonkey suggested. Heat and rehydrating is most important *first*. A dash of salt and sugar in the water. Is he drinking at all?


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## minimonkey (Apr 7, 2005)

If the bird isn't drinking, it is going to be necessary to hydrate it (this needs to be done carefully, but detailed instructions are available if you haven't done that before) 

As MsFreebird suggested, a pinch of salt and sugar in the water in the dish is a good start. You can get the unflavored pedialyte solution at most drug stores in the baby section -- I use that for hydration when I have a rescue. 

Please check back in when you can and let us know how the bird is doing ... and someone can walk you through the necessary first aid procedures.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*PLEASE follow these basic guidelines to stabilize the bird. If he is not strong enough to fly or try to get away from you he could be sick/starving/dehydrated or injured.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f108/basic-steps-to-saving-the-life-of-a-pigeon-or-dove-8822.html *


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

Thank you all for trying to help. 

I apologize for late reply, I just got back from work. Here is an update.

Since I didn't have a heating pad, I heated a towel using a dryer and placed it under the bird this morning, and turned on an air conditioner to a warm temperature before leaving for work. Btw, the bird looked OK overall, it just looked little scared of its' surroundings.

When I checked the bird after getting home from work, it looked like it did eat some foods I left inside last night. Not sure if it did drink some water I left there though. What's strange is that when I tried to pet it, at first it was trying to get away from being petted by moving away from my hand, but after couple more try, it didn't seem to mind being petted, and started to preen itself. May be this pigeon has been someone else's pet previously? So far, I haven't seen this pigeon flap its' wing yet. Possible wing injury? I dunno... Since it was dark outside when I found the pigeon yesterday, I couldn't take a closer look. Could someone here walk me through proper way to check if bird's wing is broken or not? 

Here are photos of droppings and the bird.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*What a sweet looking face on that bird.

What makes you think the wing is broken, is one wing hanging down? Is he not able to lift or extend it to fly?

If so, you should gently run your fingers around the good wing from underneath where it is attached to the body to the end and then run your fingers thru the wing that hangs/drags and see if you can feel a difference.

If there is a problem with wing you can immoblizie it. 

http://www.pigeonchat.net/viewtopic.php?t=2115*


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

The bird just flapped its' wings when I placed it on my hand. It's not holding one of its' wings lower than other or anything like that. So I don't think it's a broken wing problem.

Though, I heard some sort of farting sound from the bird when I placed the bird on my hand. And when I was trying to take pictures I wasn't hearing them. 

Eating wise, it looked like the bird was eating some food I left in the carry on cage but very small amount. And I am not sure if it drank some water I left there. I did buy Pedialyte as minimonkey suggested last night, should I force feed it? If so, what do I need? A syringe perhaps?

Behavioral wise, it's inactive. It likes to just stay inside of carry on cage even though I left it open.

Here are additional photos:









I kind of have a feeling that this pigeon was an unbanded racing pigeon or someone else's pet, if this was a feral, I doubt this bird would feel comfortable with standing on my hand as you can see from one of the photos. And it's not afraid of my iphone which is really strange cuz my pet pigeon hates it when I am trying to take photo of her.


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

UPDATE:
The pigeon is eating and drinking well. I think he/she may have been exhausted when I found him/her? 

I am still not sure if I should release him/her or not because this pigeon behaves more like pet pigeon than a feral one. (doesn't mind standing on my hand and camera friendly, etc.)

Any advice?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

He doesn't have the beak of an unbanded racing pigeon. It is likely that the pigeon was hand raised and someone decided to let the pigeon go and this poor thing doesn't have a clue as to how to survive. You also may have a completely different acting pigeon once he has had a chance to recuperate.
Does have a sweet face...I totally agree!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

No, he isn't a homer. Have you looked way down his throat with a flashlight? Anything down there? I wouldn't force water into him. To easy to aspirate him. You could keep trying to dip his beak into the water, but not over the nostrils, of course. If he isn't eating enough, you may have to hand feed him. frozen peas which have been defrosted under warm running water would be good.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Jay...FeralNinja said the pigeon is eating and drinking well. Flashlight's a good idea though.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Oh yeh. I missed the update where he was eating and drinking well now.
Don't think you should just release him though, as there had to be a reason why he was down in the first place. So he will probably end up the same way again. Either he is sick, or is lost or has been released and doesn't know how to survive.
Have you checked way down his throat yet?


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

Hi, I just checked his throat and it looks fine I think? I didn't see any bulges or lumps so that's a good sign right?

Still not sure if this was a pet pigeon or not. If this was a feral pigeon, he shouldn't be feeling comfortable standing on my hand right? And he doesn't really mind being petted although when I try to touch his beak he kinda shakes it off by shaking his head but no "Scary human hand! I must get away from it!" kinds of reaction.

I will keep you up to date before deciding what to do next.

Thank you all again for your help!


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

He's adorable. Can you purchase vitamins for birds and follow the instructions and give it to drink in the water...


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

Thank you for your suggestion Dima, since I already have vitamins for my pet pigeon, I just refilled water bowl with vitamins.


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

The bird looks to be fully recovered! I left the carry on cage open earlier this morning so that he could have a look around the bathroom and minutes later I heard flapping noise coming from bathroom. 

Btw, droppings look healthy as you can see in the below photo.



So my conclusion is that this bird was exhausted/starved when I found him. I don't think it had any sickness or injuries.

Oh and this guy still doesn't mind petting and standing on my hand. I just took this guy out to balcony while he was sitting on my hand, and he just stood there, he didn't try to get away from me or fly away. So this confirms that he's not a feral pigeon right?

Also should I keep him quarantined from my pet pigeon or should I at least try to have a peek at each other?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

The droppings do look pretty good. I don't think it would hurt to treat for canker though.
It would be okay to have them in the same room, in separate cages to keep them from sharing food or water. 
Many quarantine for 4 weeks. I quarantine for at least 2 weeks and up to 4 weeks depending on the individual circumstances.
To me, a feral pigeon is one that has mixed breed heritage and hatched in the wild or has parents of mixed breed heritage that have been hatched in the wild. Feral pigeons can be tame if raised by humans. I think you have a feral pigeon. *The heritage of your rescue, makes him no less valuable or worthy than any other pigeon.*


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

UPDATE:

This morning while I was getting ready to go to work, the bird flapping its' wing inside of the cage I bought a day before so that I could freely use my bathroom. I took that as a sign of wanting to get out of it so I decided to leave him in the living room and confine my pet pigeon in my bedroom. Anyways, the pigeon started to walk to balcony window and while in mid-air started to sort of push the window forward with its' feet. So, I took that as a sign of wanting to get out, and I placed him on my hand which he didn't seem to mind, and we went outside. The pigeon started to look around sky for couple minutes while standing on my hand and abruptly he flew off. I started to look for him and found him staying on a roof top of neighbors apartment building, he was sort of staying there for a while, and flew off !!! ??? !!!

So I guess it was a wild pigeon after all??? 

I suspected it was raised and released by a human due to the fact that it didn't mind me petting it and also didn't mind standing on my hand.

But there are two things that makes me think he/she is a wild pigeon. First, while I was giving a bath, his/her feathers had higher water resistant compared to my current pet pigeon. FYI, mine does get bath weekly or biweekly but my pet does not get baths from rain drops like the wild ones. And secondly, his/her nail didn't look like it required trimming. My current pet pigeon requires nail trimming due to her being an indoor pet. By comparing my pet pigeon's nail, I can suspect that he/she is a wild one.

I am really having a lot of mixed feeling about this. If it was a wild pigeon this might be a happy ending. But, if this wasn't a wild pigeon, that means I really should have kept him indoor, and I worry for the safety of the pigeon. I really don't know...

@Charis I really didn't mind keeping that pigeon as a pet, since mine is formal feral pigeon whom I hand raised ever since she was a little squab (My mother found her near her work place). And I was thinking of getting her a mate before she gets too old (she's currently 7 years old). I am not sure if the flown off pigeon is a male or a female though.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

FeralNinja said:


> UPDATE:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm glad to here that. Some people attach more value to pigeons other than ferals and I'm delighted you don't.


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

Too bad you let him go.
I had my own pigeons who grew up in the house and who will stay with me in the back yard and then one day they just decided to take off. I am sad i did that last year. I hope they survived but chances are slim. They didn't know how to find food or water and identify a predator. If they were adaptable they would have been with the flock at the mall which is big one about 200 pigeons. A tamed pigeon will always look for people and not for their own kind andc thay will be lonely out in the wild and that way exposed to starvation, sickness and predators.
Your pigeon was a feral one who was handraised by someone. It doesn't differ from being a pet..he has lost his skills as a feral, as a matter of fact he would never have the ferral skills.
But i hope he will be around and you can live seeds for him on your balcony. He will be looking for you...


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