# Trying to catch white pigeon



## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

As many have, I found this forum after coming across a pigeon that needs help. I'm in rural northern NH, and a few weeks ago a white pigeon showed up on the bridge near a small power dam a couple of miles from my house. He(?) was quite noticeable because, well, WHITE!, just sitting on the bridge railing two days in a row. 

I went back the next day and found he'd moved to the edge of the woods alongside the river, and would let me walk up to about 6 feet from him before walking away. If I pushed him too hard he'd fly a short distance. He reminded me of the domestic rabbits that move into my sister’s yard from a neighbor’s: used to people, but not pets, always staying just out of reach. (If they stick around long enough, they get much friendlier!)

I went back the following day with a grain mix assembled from my pantry (split peas, barley, rice, sesame seeds, quinoa, etc.). He seemed very hungry.

Since then, he has moved to spend most of his time either on a bridge pier or on the abutment. The pier seems quite safe, since the overhanging roadway protects him from above and the sheer concrete face (20' or so) from below. Phew, I think his instincts have kicked in! I feed him on the abutment; that has a lot of obstacles that would seem to complicate a predator's approach. He seems to roost out of sight up under the roadway. So, I think he's OK for a while. Though it did make me nervous to watch a bald eagle making circles above the impoundment above the dam a couple days in a row.

But I can't keep going over to feed him, which I’ve been doing for a couple of weeks now, sitting with him a half hour or so each time. I'd love to catch him and bring him home & set up a place for him here. But first I have to catch him, and he’s not cooperating with that. He comes over to get food when I arrive. If I sit still and sprinkle food alongside me, he’ll come to within a foot, maybe 6” away. But he’s wary and not trusting - any major movement or attempt to reach out sends him scurrying away. 

I’ve read up on pigeon traps of the sort with the one-way doors, but I don’t really want to spend $65 (Amazon) or the time necessary to build one (I’m in the middle of moving back here and we’re making several 7-hour round trips a week trailering up “pods” of our stuff, then unpacking) for a single use. Do the classic city-kid (or Chinese-in-the-park) box-on-a-stick traps work? Any thoughts on the $20 net traps on Amazon? Are there other ways to safely grab a bird? 

(I just spoke to a neighbor to the bridge, who says he appeared suddenly as one of a pair hanging out on the bridge railing, but the other was just feathers on the roadway within a day. My assumption is that they were released at an event - it was in mid-June, so could have been HS graduation or a wedding. He has no band.)

Thanks for any suggestions!


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Please keep trying to catch him. He is obviously a lost domestic bird at great disadvantage due to being white, likely very vulnerable to predators. The box propped open might work. We have a net with a long handle that we got from a sporting goods store. Have heard that some wait until dusk, then throw a large towel ir blanket over the bird. Bless you for helping him.


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## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

"Lost" is almost certainly a very charitable way of putting it. 

I certainly will keep trying! What I'm afraid of is trying something and missing and making him warier.

I tried the box-on-a-stick thing this afternoon, but I'd already fed him in the morning so he wasn't very hungry, ate what was well away from it but kept his distance. Plus it was a gusty day, more so on the bridge abutment, so the box (actually a laundry basket) was wobbling in the wind. I left it on site, closed (i.e. completely upside-down) but with food inside and around it, hoping it will look less scary tomorrow (and that he's hungrier).

Picture is where I first saw him (snapped from my car). 

Anne


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Very pretty, and yes in danger because of being white. A hawk will focus in on him and he'll be lunch. That bald eagle has probably seen him and that may be why it keeps returning, looking for a chance to grab him. Poor guy is very vulnerable out there, and has no idea of where to find food. Are there ever other pigeons around? I hope you are able to get him soon, as something else will.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Good luck with catching him and thanks for looking out for him. The box and stick method is used a lot on a rescue group I'm on and with great success but don't put any food out there til you're there, the hungrier he is the more likely he is to fall for the trap. 
A friend sent me a pic of what she thought was a white sparrow on her roof with lots of other sparrows, I thought it was probably a white finch as I don't know what chance it had of being an albino sparrow. That was a couple of weeks ago
and she saw it almost daily - she came home from work yesterday and found a sparrow hawk had got into her conservatory and couldn't get out - not seen the 'white sparrow' yet but with a hawk that close we wonder if he ended up a meal. Poor thing.

It's a lovely bird though and at least the sparrows were safe - for a while.


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## hamlet (Oct 26, 2004)

Hello. Those sparrow hawks sure make a mess of the pigeon hobby. I wish they could be domesticated somewhat, so they would leave our/my birds alone.


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## hamlet (Oct 26, 2004)

Hello. If you do catch it and can't keep it long or find a home for it, then what about masking its white color with charcoal or other dark colorant untill, you find it a new home? This way it will not be too exposed. The black milk crated work also as a drop trap for catching pigeons with the string method. You can practice with other feral pigeons if you can and if you succeed, then tape both wings strongly with blue painter's tape and use it to lure the white one near the milk crate/drop trap/cardboard trap. Be sure to reward your feral accomplice pigeon before setting it free. Good luck, and thank you for caring.


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## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

Jay3 said:


> Very pretty, and yes in danger because of being white. A hawk will focus in on him and he'll be lunch. That bald eagle has probably seen him and that may be why it keeps returning, looking for a chance to grab him. Poor guy is very vulnerable out there, and has no idea of where to find food. Are there ever other pigeons around? I hope you are able to get him soon, as something else will.


I haven't seen the eagle since last week so I hope it's now hunting closer to their nest upriver. (At least I assume there's still only one pair nesting in town.) And I haven't seen this guy perched on the railing & so exposed in the last 2 weeks, thank goodness.

Interestingly, this bridge & dam have the only population of feral pigeons in town! And when I say "town," I mean a 7x7 mile square on the map that's home to about 350 people (and lots more critters of all wild sorts). I've seen up to a dozen or so perching on the edge of the powerhouse roof, and flying in under the building where I assume they roost in the girders. But they stay at their end of the bridge (the powerhouse half) and "my" guy stays at his/her end (the dam half). Here's the bridge from a hiking website (the AT crosses it): http://papabearnewyork.com/papabear/album%20singles/papabear_section_5/aaa.jpg -- you can just see the beginning of the half of the bridge (with green railing) that this bird is hanging out under.

And I do think I can keep him if I can catch him - things are a little crazy now as we move in, but I can already envision an aviary along the side of our barn, when I get a chance to build it. (I've been searching housing threads and doing image searches for ideas.)

Most of the food I left is in the trap (under the basket), where he can't reach it now that it's not propped up, but I hope the small amount I sprinkled close by it is little enough to leave him hungry. I may have been too generous. I did see how useful hunger is - I was away 3 days early on and he was much bolder the first day I got back.

And it's certainly encouraging to hear that the box-and-stick traps do work. I won't rush over - I'll wait until later today - and hope he is hungry! We have one more gorgeous day tomorrow (much nicer for sitting, waiting) before a couple of showery (and with that, buggy - the mosquitoes & black flies are miserable here) days, so fingers crossed that it doesn't take too long.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I hope you can get him. Let us know after you try.


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## SRSeedBurners (Jul 22, 2015)

My idea: get a cheap fishing net from walmart, large hoop kind. Start feeding him near and finally inside of the net as it's just laying on the ground. At some point you'll be able to get him. Quickly lift, pull and twist half-turn and he won't be able to escape. Never try to net them by slamming towards the ground you could hurt them. I use a net to catch my young birds that won't come in at night and will end up as owl food if I don't net them.


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## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

That's odd, I posted last night to say I GOT HIM !  and my post is not showing here today.

I waited until 6pm, both so he was good and hungry (and he was) and so my husband could be there to hand the box to as I climbed back up off the bridge abutment where I'd been feeding him. When I got there he was waiting right next to the upside-down laundry basket so I just propped it up, added a bit more food inside, and didn't have long to wait.

We got a large rabbit cage for temporary housing, and it's on a shelf in our screened porch now. He ate some overnight, but not a lot. A little while ago I lifted the cage down to the floor to change the cardboard under it, and then added more paper inside it, and all that has clearly stressed him more so I'm just leaving him for a while. I'm leaving food in there around the clock for now so that if he gets comfortable he can eat. 

That said, I have a question about some missing feathers on his neck. I've noticed that some of the long feathers have been missing since I first saw him 2 1/2 weeks ago. I can't really tell if it has changed. Most of it has the downy under-feathers present, but it does look like part of it might be a bit irritated. I've attached the best pictures we could get this morning - a couple from the side, and one (a still from a movie so it's a little lower-res) from the back showing a bit of pink. There were 3 little downy feathers loose in his cage this morning. Does this look like something to worry about, just something to watch, or something normal?








(I've cleaned the cage since this, and he has heavier dishes so I hope seed and water won't go everywhere now)
















Figures the best angle of the area is part of a movie so it's lower-res


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Not sure about the neckfeathers. But am so glad you caught him/her. What a lovely bird! Do you have aname yet?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Great that you got him! Good job!
About the feathers, not sure. Something could have tried to grab him and he got away. I really don't know, but he is probably fine. Would just watch him. He's cute.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Oh I'm so glad you caught him, although he's pretty so I'm thinking 'her' lol. I've got a wild white rescued feral and she's scared of me so I find the best way to clean her out is to catch her and hold her in one hand against my chest while using the other hand to do the cage, or get someone else to hold him for you. It saves all the stress of them thrashing about in the cage and when you place them back in it's like "what the hell were you doing?" Ha ha. But my girl doesn't stress at all once returned to her cage whereas before trying to clean the cage with her still in it was a nightmare - for both of us.


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## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

I wired a box (on its side) at one end of the cage, up against the top (so the bottom is about 1/2 way up the cage side), to give a perch with protection on top and sides, and he seems to spend all his time in there. I was getting worried yesterday evening because he never seemed to move. But then last night after I put in fresh water, and again after I fed him, I was in the adjacent kitchen and heard a sound and peeked out into the porch and saw him down drinking/eating - until he saw me looking at him and hopped back into his roost! 

I was still a little worried that so much of the poop was up there and so little on the bottom of the cage, but then this evening when I walked onto the porch to give him supper (I'd been out all day trailering the last "pod" of our stuff up from Boston) he seemed to know that's what I was there for and hopped down and was waiting at the food bowl. And as he ate I scooped the worst of the day's poop off the cage bottom and he'd move away from my hand, but only to keep a comfortable distance, no panic. So I'm pretty happy with how things are progressing so far.

The only thing that looked like a big setback to me was yesterday morning when I put the cage on the porch floor for a while as I changed the cardboard sheet under it - that did seem to stress him, and that's when he switched from hanging out on the cage floor (the first night) to the roost (yesterday, last night, and today). Now that I think about it, maybe that's just because in getting himself off the floor he discovered the roost and then decided he liked it.

The cage, being for rabbits, seems a little short, and I thought tomorrow I'd go back to Tractor Supply and get another, take the bottom off one and the top of another, and connect them so they're double height. It's 30" x 36" and doubled like this will be 36" high. Then I can put in a second perch (or 2) at a different height. The wire of the cages is quite flimsy, so while I'm at it I plan to build a frame from scrap wood to support the edges. 

I have two cats so have to be careful, but so far they're curious but not that interested. I think the pigeon is too big and doesn't move enough. But that's why I mentioned in a previous post that I'm planning to build an aviary rather than have a house pigeon. Of course I realize that means I'm going to have to get another as companion. Wow, when we retired here (where I grew up), we were planning to get horses (as I had when I was a teen here), and chickens, and my husband's stuck on llamas, but pigeons were never on the radar!


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## SRSeedBurners (Jul 22, 2015)

avjudge said:


> I have two cats so have to be careful, but so far they're curious but not that interested. I think the pigeon is too big and doesn't move enough. But that's why I mentioned in a previous post that I'm planning to build an aviary rather than have a house pigeon. Of course I realize that means I'm going to have to get another as companion. Wow, when we retired here (where I grew up), we were planning to get horses (as I had when I was a teen here), and chickens, and my husband's stuck on llamas, but pigeons were never on the radar!


Avoid the horses. M-o-n-e-y PITS! I hate horses but my wife had to get them as she grew up with them too. The difference between us, she always romanticized them, I grew up working cattle on them - couldn't stand it. Now that we have to have them again...I find myself spending all my time screwing with her damn pets. It's crazy the amount of work it takes to accommodate two horses. And the money they soak up!

My hobby, chickens, HighFlyer pigeons and parrots don't even cause a blip on the radar compared to the amount of money and time we spend on those two sh1t machines.


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## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

SRSeedBurners said:


> Avoid the horses. M-o-n-e-y PITS! . . . Now that we have to have them again...I find myself spending all my time screwing with her damn pets. It's crazy the amount of work it takes to accommodate two horses. And the money they soak up!
> 
> My hobby, chickens, HighFlyer pigeons and parrots don't even cause a blip on the radar compared to the amount of money and time we spend on those two sh1t machines.


You're not going to convince me on the horses - they've been my passion since girlhood, and I already had one for 23 years (1975-98), 21 of them here on this property, so I know what it entails! Of course, for most of that time, my parents paid the bills,  as my mom was equally horse-crazy (and had her own in her teens and 20s, in the '40s and '50s). 

It helps that we keep them at home and don't compete, just trail ride, so we keep them as cheaply as can be done in our climate - which is to say, of course, not cheaply at all. Before we've even gotten any, they cost us $60K for a barn we put in last year! We had horses here 20 years with just a home-built run-in shed in the pasture, but that was when a friend of my parents' (now deceased) would store our winter hay and deliver a month's supply at a time to where we kept it on pallets under a tarp. 

You could build quite a palace for any sort of bird for 1/10th of that barn's cost.

So, yes, I'm with you except the part where I'm ignoring logic


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Horses are beautiful animals. Do you have a couple of pictures you could share?


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## Oars (Jun 6, 2006)

Missing feathers could be due to molting. As long as he is not losing any more or scratching himself excessively (a sign of mites) and is getting enough nutrition, they will grow back. I would feed him fresh green peas and bird seed mix with some raw sunflower seeds mixed in. He is a beautiful bird and in a few months will really grow on you and you on him.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

He's a beautiful bird and very much like my tumblers with his shorter beak and chunky legs. I've had to improvise with my food and water bowls because they'd often poop in them and I didn't want them eating poop tainted food or water, so I use plastic one litre milk containers with a hole cut in the side. Hardly any grain mess and no poop in food or water.

10 month old tumbler hen - Grace.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

She is a beauty.


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## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

Good idea about the smaller milk jugs - I'd read about cutting holes in one-gallon jugs but that would be way too big for my single bird. I think I'll see what I can find in the 1-quart/liter size and give that a try. 

I didn't find anything pigeon & dove-specific locally so while down by Boston yesterday I made a quick stop in Petsmart (because it was most convenient on my route) and got some dove food. (Can't remember the brand & I'm not going to go downstairs at this hour to check!) Its protein level was lower than I see recommended and peas were way down the ingredient list so I'm supplementing it with split peas from my kitchen stock. Oddly, when I first started feeding him 3 weeks ago he was ignoring the split peas, but now they're among his favorites.

I haven't had any luck finding pigeon grit. Tractor Supply just has chicken grit, and pet stores have canary grit. The canary grit has some of the supplements I see in pigeon grit (oyster shell and charcoal) but is it too fine? The chicken grit I saw was just grit (granite), no supplements. I may have a chance to check a few feed stores in southern NH when I head back down to Mass. for a few days next week; if not or if they don't have anything I'll have to mail order. 

And he got some out-of-cage time in the screen porch while I doubled his cage height today. My attempts to hold him were a bit of a disaster, as he kept getting his wings free and trying to fly out of my grasp, but I was able to catch him (not elegantly; there were some grabbing and near-escapes involved) to get him back in the cage, which was my big concern. My only experience holding birds is my sister's bantam rooster (another creature, like the rabbits, that wandered into her yard from a neighbor's & decided to stay). He's a small bantam, barely larger than a pigeon, but even though less than thrilled about being picked up he's much more cooperative than this pigeon. 

Still working on a name . . .


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

I order my grit online because pet stores here only seem to sell chicken grit. I use versele laga with red stone and buy small bags at a time. If you catch him after dark it much easier as he can't see well and is easier to pick up without the panic. When I first got my rescue feral hen I used to put her away after dark by closing the blind and using a large satin cloth to cover her before picking her up. She never panicked at all that way - now I just have to usher her back into her cage because she knows the ropes at last.


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## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

Thanks, FredaH - the grit choices are overwhelming, both what's good to get and where to shop (esp. since for a small online order you never know the real price until you put it in your cart and start to check out & find out S/H). So any recommendations to help narrow the options down are appreciated.

I'd read that catching is easier after dark, but that's so late at this time of year! And no blinds on a screen porch  But the cloth idea is something I'll try.

Jay3, we haven't gotten my "retirement" horses yet, and digital pictures are scarce of my old horse because I haven't scanned that many, but I just started a Google album collecting those I've scanned and so far it's mostly the day in 1978 when we got our third horse. If you want to see horses being dramatic, it's a fun roll of film! We had had two mares for a couple years, and they wanted nothing to do with the new boy who just wanted to join them. My horse is the brown. Many of them need lightening or color correction, but if you take a look you'll see some body language that I don't think you have to be a horse person to understand! Plus a couple of dramatic poses.
https://goo.gl/photos/goBD4R3JqFLTVJkm8


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Gee thanks. Those are great pics. I really enjoyed them. Horses are beautiful and very smart. Your land is beautiful too. Thanks for sharing them. 
I'm a camera nut, and like nature shots. I have stopped and taken pics of horses interacting together out in the field, just because they are so beautiful, and can be interesting to watch them interact together. Their body language can be very interesting. And often very easy to read. LOL.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

What beautiful horses and stunning views too. How I'd love to live somewhere like that, you are truly blessed.


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## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

Yes, I've been wanting to move back here ever since I left - like so many beautiful places, it has everything except jobs. And my husband (from LA area) was on board with that. 

My dad has told me the story that when at college (Northeastern, 1951) he was going to interview with a Bell Labs recruiter when he saw a sign for the Brown Company (paper mill) recruiter. He looked at where that was, and thought hey, he liked skiing and fishing, so interviewed and became plant engineer. He moved into ski area management through serendipity. 

But, the point of this digression is _I could have grown up in New Jersey!_


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