# How to 'evict' grown up rescue pigeon



## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Hi everyone!
Our baby rescue Sue is finally fully grown and ready for the big city life. I was following a fellow reader's advice to do a 'soft release' from our balcony. About a month ago I built him a little shelter in a bucket and we put water and food out every day, in the hope that he would make connections in the neighborhood and move out.
So far it didn't happen. He leaves in the morning, and then comes back at 3-5 to eat, and then go away again, just to land at 8pm and go to sleep. When he is here, he tries to sneak back into the house, trying to reclaim his 'territory'. There was only 2 nights in the last 2 months when he didn't spend the night here. I can only hope that when he is not here, he spends the time foraging with other birds. I know there are a few in the neighborhood, but they can't be seen from the balcony.
Now, we want make sure that he moves out before the winter starts. If he gets stuck here for the winter, we will be in trouble, as we move out next spring, and the landlord will surely discover our illegal stowaway.

We have a few ideas, and I am looking for advice on which to choose.
First, we could remove his shelter and his food and drink so he would be forced to find shelter somewhere else.
Second, we could do the above, and put scarecrows on the balcony, for example old cd-s or plastic snakes.
Third, we could feed him spicy food, so that he would hate to be here.
Fourth, we could catch him and take him to a nearby place for release.
I know these might sound drastic and mean, but he must go.

I must say that he is a fully functional, healthy and strong bird, and he does not allow us to touch him. Completely feral. Any advice?


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## Friend John (Jun 10, 2018)

I don't think the spicy food idea will work. I might be wrong, but as far as I know, pigeons have very few taste buds and can't really taste spicy food.

*Curiosities: Why can birds eat hot peppers?*
"Birds may be able to eat peppers because they have so few taste buds: Chickens have just 24 taste buds, and pigeons have 37, Pidgeon says. Humans have close to 10,000 taste buds, and rodents and other mammals likely have a similar number, Pidgeon says. “We can’t be sure why birds don’t sense the hot taste, but they seem not to be affected by it."
https://news.wisc.edu/curiosities-why-can-birds-eat-hot-peppers/


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If he was raised by you as a very young bird, then he probably won't survive out there on his own. He never learned any survival skills from his parents and flock, and he knows that he doesn't know how to live in the wild. He doesn't know how or where to find food, shelter, or evade predators. Pigeons don't last out there alone, as they live in flocks where they have more protection. You said there aren't really flocks out there near you, so he has no where to go. If you just force him out, he will probably die. If you put time and effort into him then surely you don't want to see that happen. Maybe there is someone who would take him who has other pigeons. 
Where are you located?


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Sorry I didn't specify quite well. The closest flock lives about 70 meters from here, and there are many many in the neighborhood. They are just not visible from the balcony, as it faces a closed garden.
But when Sue is not here, he must be outside of the building, and I assume that he is actually spending his time with other pigeons.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You cannot know where he spends his time. The idea of leaving the food and water out for a released bird, is to do that for as long as they need it. The idea is that eventually they will hopefully find a flock and move on. But till they do that, they need the food, water, and shelter in order to survive out there. It can take some time for them to find and join a flock, and to be accepted by the flock. He doesn't understand that you are trying to get rid of him. He probably feels that it is his home and you are just letting him have some freedom. Many people do that with their birds but they want them to come back home at the end of the day.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Quick update on this ungrateful brat of a bird...
The other day I captured him and took him to the nearest flock, about 70 meters down the house. I went home. 3 hours later he came back... Well, I expected it. Maybe not as quickly. But I get the feeling that he is quite familiar with the surrounding one square mile at least. I don't think we could just take him somewhere else, he would very easily find his way back.
For now he is staying with us, but we decided to only feed him once a day, at 5pm. This way when he flies out in the morning, he will be hungry and will be more motivated to find food on his own. I hope my reasoning is good.

The real problem is, that we are moving house next spring/summer. I want to clarify how difficult this situation is for us. I don't want to be cruel with this bird, but we have to do something. Every day, Sue tries to come into the apartment. If the door is closed, he sits on the window ledge looking in. Now, if we were to move house, the new owner wouldn't feed him - of course. And they would be pissed that a random pigeon walks in whenever the door is open. Unless we cage him, and take him with us to the new apartment. But even then, it is likely that if we let him fly, he would just come back here... Provided even that the new landlord would allow a pet, especially a wild pigeon.
Then again we can hope that he grows lonely, and when spring comes he will find a mate and join a flock. There are no guarantees for that either.

Any more advice?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Agree with Jay3 that if you just evict him he will likely not survive because you are his flock and he is dependent on you. Would look for a home in someones aviary. Where do you live?


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

I understand that pigeons under 1 year of age have a high mortality rate, even when they are raised by their parents. Regardless, I hope that if we stop giving him attention and don't let him in the house, he will find himself a flock and move on.

I don't think I could find an aviary here, but let's give it a try. We live in Oslo, Norway. If anyone knows anyone, please let me know.


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## Friend John (Jun 10, 2018)

Not much, but it's a start:

https://www.lindbergduene.com/index.php/om-oss/our-history

"We are all members of Oslo Brevdueklubb (Club) and gruppe 1 (Federation). 

Marianne is secretary in Oslo Brevdueklubb and Snorre is foreman in gruppe 1."

Maybe you can find some useful information from these groups.

Also try this:
https://www.pipa.be/clubs/norway/oslo/brevdueklubbene-i-oslo-gruppe-1
https://www.pipa.be/en/links/links_for_country/1960


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Friend John, thank you for posting the links. Hope the bird will get a good home.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

TundeVi said:


> *I understand that pigeons under 1 year of age have a high mortality rate, even when they are raised by their parents. *Regardless, I hope that if we stop giving him attention and don't let him in the house, he will find himself a flock and move on.
> 
> And by not being raised by his parents, his chances are even less. I do understand if you can't or don't want to keep a pet pigeon, but it would be worth it to try and find a home for him. As cwebster has pointed out, you are now his flock, and that's what he knows. Would be like if a pigeon was tossed out of the flock he grew up in. He would more than likely die.
> 
> I don't think I could find an aviary here, but let's give it a try. We live in Oslo, Norway. If anyone knows anyone, please let me know.


Friend John--Thank you for the help.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Hi! Quick update on the little monster.
I found a wildlife rescue center that rehabilitates primarily injured birds. The lady said that she has two pigeons at the moment and she is happy to house Sue. We did not discuss what is going to happen to him in the long run, she said that at first we have to see how he gets along with the other birds.
So, on the first of October we are going to put him in his cage (gosh how he hates the cage) and take a 2 hour train trip to deliver him. I hope no one gives us trouble for traveling with a pigeon.

I don't think there is an answer to this 100%, but if let's say, in 6 months the lady lets the birds go, will Sue fly back to us again? Or will he stay around his new home?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

They would probably do a soft release with food and water available for as long as he needs, or introduce them into a flock. He most likely won't come back to you. But weirder things have happened.
Thanks for the update and for doing the best you can for him. 
Do let us know if he comes back.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Update!
Sue had an accident today 
In the end we decided not to take him to the rescue center 2 weeks ago, because he started sleeping somewhere else. We did not see him at all for 4 days, and we thought he might have died, when he showed up for lunch the next day. A few days later we cleared his bed away on the balcony, and since then we only saw him once or twice a day, when he came around to eat. We are positive he found a flock and he sleeps with them. Other birds show up around here now and then, but they are not brave enough to eat from our balcony.

Now, today... We are at home today, and about an hour ago we heard this wild flapping noise. We went outside, and Sue was sitting on another balcony nearby. Without his tail feathers. He lost every single one of them. It was a horrible sight to see. We went to the garden, and found his feathers under the bench. Not just the tail feathers, but a bunch of insulating feathers as well. There were a couple of blood feathers among them. We think that a cat sneaked up on him while he was pecking and chilling under the bench.
By the time we went back upstairs, he was gone.

Evidently he can still fly, but I am worried if he has some broken blood feathers, he might bleed out before we get to him. The sun will shortly start to go down, which means that we probably won't see him at all until tomorrow.
We think maybe we should put him back in his cage for a couple of days to see how he is doing, and perhaps we could take him to the bird sanctuary after all. But maybe, because he can still fly, he will recover in a few months, and it would be cruel to separate him from the other birds in the area.

I am not asking for advice, I just keep the readers updated! Any support is appreciated tho. Thanks for reading!


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Hope Sue is OK. If he was attacked by a cat the bird needs antibiotics ASAP. Am glad he or she is alive and think your idea of caging him to keep an eye and protect him. Thank you for looking out for his welfare.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Update! Sue is OK. I saw him flying about the same evening, he looks like a bowling ball with wings. Poor thing. The good thing is, he was flying behind another pigeon. A partner maybe?
The next morning he came shuffling through the balcony door, like he usually does. He is not bleeding! We gave him medicine we got the same morning from an avian vet. He has an appetite, and looks fine otherwise.
Today he had a bath, and we managed to take some pictures. He got a real Brazilian wax. My biggest concern right now is, it's going to be 10 degrees Celsius all week (50 F), and I am afraid he will catch a cold with his butt exposed like that.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Oh the poor thing! I would rather keep her indoors until those feathers have grown out again. Too bad, she was just getting used to being outdoors and finding a partner.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Agree with MarinaB. Please keep him indoors and warm to make sure he is safe while his feathers are growing back. He looks cold, fluffed up. If he has any cuts he may need antibiotics. Thank you for helping him.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

He was taking a bath in warm water in the sink, and he always fluffs up and wiggles when he is bathing  Otherwise he does not look cold to me. Luckily he doesn't have any cuts, we checked under the wings and everywhere. But he got medication anyways.
We will keep him in as much as we can! Also I think I will start a new thread with an appropriate title, so others who might need help with injured birds can find it more easily.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Because of being raised by humans, his survival skills are not very good. That's why something was able to get him more than likely. I don't think he will last long outside when eventually released again. Would be safer in an aviary situation.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Agree strongly with Jay3. Hope he gets an aviary home.


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