# Found a pigeon on the street!



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

Hi everyone,

My dad found a pigeon on the street and brought him to me. He found him around 9:30pm and he says that the pigeon didn't even try to get away from him.

He doesn't have any visible injuries and seems very alert. He can stand (and walk) on both feet and uses both wings to slap my hands. He is very skinny though, his keel bone is very sharp. I put some seeds and water for him but he didn't eat any so I fed him some defrosted peas. Poop looks normal too. 

The only unusual thing I see is his weight and that he makes a little sound like a whistle. I checked for injuries in his crop but he doesn't have any. So I don't know if the sound is coming from some problem in his nose or maybe he is a young bird. He doesn't make this sound all the time, he only makes it when I try to to touch him. 

I have attached some pictures of him and also a video so you can hear the sound he makes, wait until the end because that's when he makes the sound. The poop in the picture is very small, but he made some normal sized before but I forgot to take a picture of them. 

Please let me know what can I do to help this little bird. Thank you! 

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp8AfINF-oU

PS. Don't worry, I'm not bugging him like on the video. The reason I did that was to make him do the little whistle sound so you guys could help me identify it!


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*
Thank you for rescuing the little one. He is protecting himself when you approach him with your hand. He is afraid and is stressed out, so please limit your touch to feeding and caring for him.

He seems to be peeping from what I can tell from the video but looks older. 

If he is not flying it is definitely because he is underweight and possibly sick. PLEASE check this link on feeding instructions:

KEEP youngster WARM, feed only when crop is empty, and make sure peas (defrosted, drained warmed) are warm. He will need to be fed extra until weight is back on. 

You can also help youngster with weight gain by giving him some probiotics to get the good flora/bacteria in check.

http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/caringforababypigeon.htm*


----------



## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

JennyM, thank you for helping the little guy! Please keep us posted on how he is doing.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Skyeking said:


> *
> Thank you for rescuing the little one. He is protecting himself when you approach him with your hand. He is afraid and is stressed out, so please limit your touch to feeding and caring for him.
> 
> He seems to be peeping from what I can tell from the video but looks older.
> ...



^ Agree. Also when finding a bird that way, always make sure to warm and re-hydrate for a few hours before giving any food. Feeding a dehydrated, or cold pigeon can kill him. Re-hydrate by giving a cup of tepid water with a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt mixed in.


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

Skyeking said:


> *
> Thank you for rescuing the little one. He is protecting himself when you approach him with your hand. He is afraid and is stressed out, so please limit your touch to feeding and caring for him.
> 
> He seems to be peeping from what I can tell from the video but looks older.
> ...


Thank you for the helpful link and suggestions, Skyeking! I gave him probiotics this morning after I read your post  

I'm actually not handling him too much or bugging him like in the video LOL the reason I did that is because I wanted him to make the whistle/peep sound so you guys could hear it and help me identify the sound. I was afraid that it was coming from a ruptured part of his body or that he had some problem in his nose. The other pigeons I have rescued never made a sound like this. Do you think it's nothing to worry about? 

He's still not eating on his own but I fed him more defrosted peas this morning and he has been resting too.




Jay3 said:


> ^ Agree. Also when finding a bird that way, always make sure to warm and re-hydrate for a few hours before giving any food. Feeding a dehydrated, or cold pigeon can kill him. Re-hydrate by giving a cup of tepid water with a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt mixed in.


yikes! I had no idea! thanks for the helpful information Jay3, I will make sure I do this the next time I found a bird like this. 




cwebster said:


> JennyM, thank you for helping the little guy! Please keep us posted on how he is doing.


I will, thank you cwebster


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

Hi guys,
The little pigeon is still not eating on his own. I've heard him peck the seeds but only eats a little bit, so I'm still feeding him defrosted peas morning and night, can't feed him at noon because of work. 

He can't fly either, on Monday I put him on the floor to see if he tried to fly but he just ran and hid underneath the couch. I picked him up again and held him a few inches from the ground, he jumped from my hands and used both wings to land on the floor but no flying. Could he be a baby that can't fly yet? or could he be to weak to fly? he's still very skinny. 

Also today, I noticed his droppings are a yellowish/mustard color (see pictures below). Do you guys think he's sick? his droppings were normal when I found him (see pic on first post) and they have now changed. Could it be that the peas are giving it that color? should I try feeding something else?

Thanks for the help!


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

I just read on a website that yellowish urates could be a sign of overfeeding! I've been feeding him 35-45 peas in the morning and around 25-30 at night. But on Monday (which was my day off) I gave him a little more than that. Could that be too much? If this was caused by overfeeding, can it be reversed? should I just let him eat on his own? or feed less?


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Don't think thats true about over feeding. It can be a sign of liver problems, or different illness. It can also be a sign of canker, which is very possible as stress will bring that on. He is a wild bird, and looks scared to death. Just feeding him would be very stressful for this one. Need to get him eating on his own, but till then, he needs to be fed.
As far as feeding, does he eat any by himself? If you can, measure the amount of feed you put in with him, and try it get a real good idea of how much he is eating on his own. But first you need to make sure he can drink on his own. 
That amount sounds about right if he isn't eating any on his own. And you should always wait till the crop empties before feeding again.


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

Thanks Jay3! it's hard to tell how much he's eating. On Monday morning I heard him pecking the seeds but I haven't heard him ever since. Every day I find seeds on the floor so it kind of looks like he has been moving the seeds in the bowl to eat the ones he likes, but I'm not sure as I haven't seen him or heard him. I will try to measure it tomorrow and see how it goes. 

And I think he knows how to drink on his own, the night I got him I put the tip of his beak in water and he drank it, he even put his beak deeper in the water to drink more.

I checked inside the beak and everything looks normal in there, no white or cheesy lumps. Could it still be canker?


----------



## wiggles and puddles (Sep 3, 2015)

I think he is old enough to fly on his own. Given how malnourished he is, I think it is a strong possibility that he is not flying as of yet because he is either weak or sick, or a combination of the two. I believe your dad saved his life by bringing him to you. Thanks for helping the poor little guy.


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

wiggles and puddles said:


> I think he is old enough to fly on his own. Given how malnourished he is, I think it is a strong possibility that he is not flying as of yet because he is either weak or sick, or a combination of the two. I believe your dad saved his life by bringing him to you. Thanks for helping the poor little guy.


I really hope he is not sick, as I have no idea what it could be  I'm hoping he is just weak and can recover soon. He makes a peep/whistle sound when scared, I never heard my adult birds do that. Do you think he is a young bird?


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

As suggested by Jay3, I measured the food I gave to him today. He ate about 2 tablespoons of seed mix! I think that's not too bad, what do you guys think? I think he also drank some water, but not too much. He is soooo skinny though, his keel bone is protruding so much (see pic below) that it worries me. He is basically just bones and feathers  If he keeps eating like this, how long until he starts gaining some weight? is there anything else I can do to help him?


----------



## wiggles and puddles (Sep 3, 2015)

I would wait a week or so but I would worm him. Given that he is wild, you can bet he has worms and it will make it harder for him to gain weight. For the peep, whistle sound he makes, have you ever seen a white powder like substance come from his nose? Does he ever make that noise while he breathes? If he does it _could _be air sac mites that you would use ivermectin to treat and eliminate. From the pictures you provided, I think he is about a year old, but that's just my opinion.The only thing I could recommend is to worm him, and somehow clean him up for lice/mites for both his sake, and to prevent any from getting on your birds. Doing that will be tricky since he is so frightened of humans, and you are trying to limit your time with him so he can rest and recover, but I think it would help to at least worm him.


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*If he is that skinny then that is the reason he is not flying and there may be a possible health issue. Once he puts all the weight back on he should gain enough strength to fly. Can you get a weight scale and weigh him daily, that you can track the progress? He should be eating at least 4 times per day to put weight on, but as mentioned there may be something else going on.*


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I would treat for the lice and mites right away, but wait till he has put on some weight and is stronger before worming. He looks younger to me. Is there no color on his cere yet?


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

Thank you everyone for your replies and help! I will try to get a scale this weekend so I can weight him everyday. I have already treated him for lice and mites, it was the first thing I did when I got him. I used sevin powder and all the lice came off immediately. 

Skyeking, I can't tell how many times he eats during the day because I'm at work most of the day. But today we heard him eating at around 4:00am and then at 7:00am. Yesterday he ate about 2 tablespoons of seed mix, do you think that's enough for him to gain weight?

Jay3, no there's still no color on his cere yet. He doesn't have the white bumpy stuff yet, it's all very smooth. Plus he makes that peep/whistle sound when scared.

Wiggles and puddles, he only makes that sound when scared, mostly when I put him back in his box. He does not do it when breathing and he does not not have anything come out of his nose. 

Thank you again for helping me with this little guy!


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

2 tablespoons is good. He will gain weight. If young, they are skinny anyway, and it takes a while to gain weight. But when they are that thin, not good.
Sky meant if you were feeding him that he would need to be fed that often. He is feeding himself. As long as you are sure he is eating that amount.
You could add some safflower seed or hulled sunflower seed to his diet. Those are high in fat, but not too much as too much wouldn't be good for him. Just a bit added to the feed mixture.
He's a cute little thing.


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

I am very sad to report that the little guy passed away about 2 hours ago. When I went to check on him he was laying on the ground and his right wing was spread out, when I picked him up some liquid came out of his beak. I then held him in my hands and I could see him gasping for air  He passed away quickly after that, it was a horrible thing to see. 

I am extremely sad that he is gone and that I couldn't help him like I wanted to but I have zero experience with birds. I wish I could have done more for him so he could have lived a little longer.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply on this thread and helped me with the cute little guy who is now gone. RIP little pigeon. ♥


----------



## wiggles and puddles (Sep 3, 2015)

Jennym, at least he went in peace, and you were there to comfort him in his final moments. He definitely had a lung condition, possibly from an injury of some sort, and from the sound of it, I doubt there was much you could have done medically. You helped keep him safe so his passing could be as quite as possible, and he was with someone who cared. He knew that. He is now at peace, and hopefully _you_ can take comfort in that.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Don't think he had a lung condition. He aspirated on the water coming up from his crop. May have been canker, as that is very common especially when a bird is under stress. Could have had something else too. Hard to know without tests what is wrong. Then could have gotten him on the right med. Sorry you lost him.


----------



## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

JennyM am so sorry to hear he didn't make it. You did a lot to help and comfort him. Thank you.


----------



## Purdy (Nov 2, 2015)

JennyM: without you rescuing him, this little guy would not have known what love is. All good things eventually come to an end but the important part is he had a home, food and water, protection and love. It happens to all of us, losing them at such a young age and it's heartbreaking when we all have such high hopes for them. I cried (a lot) when my little girl was gone but I learned a lot and will never forget the time I had with her. There will be another time when they will need our help again and we just need to be ready when the time comes.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Jenny, we try, but unfortunately they don't all make it. The more we know, the better we can do. Having a few meds on hand, for the more common things would be a good idea. That way you are prepared and don't have to order things. I have a feeling you will have more opportunities. Thanks for trying for the little one.


----------



## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

Thank you everyone for your kind words, it made me feel better. Thank you! ♥ I still miss the little guy and it breaks my heart that I wasn't able to help him, but like you all have said, he was in a safe place, with food, water and warm bed to sleep. I will try to be more prepared next time.




Jay3 said:


> Having a few meds on hand, for the more common things would be a good idea. That way you are prepared and don't have to order things. I have a feeling you will have more opportunities. Thanks for trying for the little one.


I thought about this too! thank you!! I will put together a little emergency kit, there are a lot of pigeons around my building so there is a possibility (sadly) that I will find more. I just need to figure out what meds to get.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Metro for canker is important. You can get it online, or sometimes you can get Fishzole (which is Metronidazole) tablets at places that sell tropical fish. You would be better off with the tablets as they are easier to give. But if you get that, then you need to be sure that it doesn't have anything else in it. Sometimes they add a dewormer to it, and that won't work.

Again, thanks for trying for him.

A broad spectrum antibiotic, like Enrofloxacyn, and a good wormer.


----------

