# Rescued baby pigeon too tame, doesn't integrate with the other ferral pigeons



## winston_smith (May 26, 2015)

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on this wonderful forum, so please be understanding with my lack of knowledge regarding etiquette and my poor English.

I decided to ask for advice regarding a baby pigeon that I rescued about a month ago. This is the story short. About two months ago, I discovered a pigeon nest in some remote corner at my work place. There were two young chicks in the nest. For the following weeks, I watched them daily and left food for the parents. The two babies developed well and, to my eyes, the looked like they would start flying soon, in a matter of days. Unfortunately, the weather changed and there were lots of heavy rains. One day, I discovered that one of the chicks was severely ill. He couldn't move and he couldn't even keep his eyes open. The weather was still cold and wet and I realized that he had just hours to live if I don't do anything. I took him home and I struggled for a number of days to keep him alive. I was lucky to have some antibiotics (amoxicillin) and I did my best to give my pigeon about 30mg of it every 12 hours. After two days, the pigeon began to keep his eyes open and his situation improved. I kept giving him antibiotics for 6 days. He then started eating by his own and everything seemed to go well. He "helicoptered" and it seemed I would soon release him. Now he is fully developed and roughly two months old, if not more (and yes, he is a male). The problem is that he is completely tame. I tried three times to release him with a big flock of feral pigeons not far from my home, but he shows absolutely no interest in the other birds, nor in flying. He does not run away from people or bicycles. Children immediately see that he's different from the others and start to pet him. At this point, there is no way he can survive in the wild. I must say that I live in a block of flats and there is absolutely no way to keep him as a pet. Until now, I kept him in our small balcony, but it's not a pleasant sight.

He is also picky when it comes to food. Otherwise, his health seems fine. He has no canker (visible, at least), he also started to peck me and make the typical male pigeon sounds. Yet, he has no interest in flying, although I know he is capable of. During one of the attempted releases, he did fly up in the air about 10 meters.

Do you have any advice? I truly like him and I would do anything for this baby bird, but there is absolutely no way to keep him. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Alex

PS And now the even sadder part of the story. When I rescued him, I didn't take the other squab because he/she seemed fine enough and I thought his parents would do a better job than me. About one week later, however, I found him dead near the nest, as the parents were sitting on a new pair of eggs.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Find a home for him like one would do with any other pet. What is his name? Post a picture etc...


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## winston_smith (May 26, 2015)

Hi,

Thank you for your answer. I shall post a photo later today. We call him Piccione, which is the Italian word for pigeon (which we consider to sound very funny).

I did try to find him a new home, but I couldn't find anyone interested. In addition, I must admit I would very much want him to be free.

Thanks!


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

If he acts tame and is not fitting in with the other pigeons I hope you will either keep Piccione or find a home for him because his tame ness makes him a sitting duck for predators.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

winston_smith said:


> Hi,
> 
> Thank you for your answer. I shall post a photo later today. We call him Piccione, which is the Italian word for pigeon (which we consider to sound very funny).
> 
> ...


Because he is so tame and approachable he may meet trouble from predators, cruel pigeon hating people, other pigeons can be harsh too. Pigeons are considerd feral because there are few if any original wild ones left. Turning him out could very well be like dumping a cat , cats can survive but can suffer . Feral pigeons life span is pretty short as well, like four years average. 

If you do end up releasing him he may also just fly back to you. You would have to do a slow release where other pigeons are to see if he can live the feral life.


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## winston_smith (May 26, 2015)

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your suggestions. I will not release him in his defenseless state. I try to take him to the park (where there is a large pigeon flock) daily. Unfortunately, he shows very little progress and absolutely no willingness to fly. If I throw him into the air, he would immediately prepare for landing.

Meet Piccione.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

The pigeon is a hen. As she is human imprinted, it would be cruel to release her just because you want her to be free.In the wild, she would be lucky to survive a day.
She doesn't identify with pigeons because she doesn't know she looks like them. She probably thinks she looks like you. I would give her a mirror so she can see herself and start to make the connection.


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## winston_smith (May 26, 2015)

Charis said:


> The pigeon is a hen. As she is human imprinted, it would be cruel to release her just because you want her to be free.In the wild, she would be lucky to survive a day.
> She doesn't identify with pigeons because she doesn't know she looks like them. She probably thinks she looks like you. I would give her a mirror so she can see herself and start to make the connection.


Thank you! I must admit that the news that our Piccione is a hen came as a little bit of shock. You are obviously so much more experienced, but may I ask whether you are absolutely sure? For a novice like me, Piccione exhibited the typical male behavior (spinning around on his own "axis", making the typical male sounds, "attacking" me whenever I put my hands in his/her box).

I shall not release him/her until I'm confident he/she can survive. I didn't mention this, but this is the second baby pigeon I rescued this spring. The first one was released a few weeks ago and he/she is doing well.

I hope I didn't seem insensitive. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I really wish Piccione to be free, even if the life expectancy in the wild is much shorter. What kind of life would he/she have with us, without interacting with other pigeons, without being able to enjoy the freedom that every bird deserves?

I shall definitely try to install a mirror in his/her box. I'll let you know how it goes.

Many thanks for your patience and suggestions,
Alex


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Well...if a pigeon thinks she a human, spending her days with other humans would be okay. I have two like that. They live inside and are companion pigeons. They are not companions to each other.
Even female pigeons dance and spin and vocalize in a way that can make one think they are male birds. Many have been fooled by this behavior!
I can tell yours is a hen by the cere.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

winston_smith said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Thank you for your suggestions. I will not release him in his defenseless state. I try to take him to the park (where there is a large pigeon flock) daily. Unfortunately, he shows very little progress and absolutely no willingness to fly. If I throw him into the air, he would immediately prepare for landing.
> 
> ...


His eyes are very much like a domestic homing pigeon. So he is not too many generations feral, that may be why he is so easy to keep domestic. As far as sexing, it's not that important when it is almost impossible to sex pigeons at young ages. I've fallen for every method out there and I'm still 50/50 wrong or right .


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

You know...it's a myth that pigeons hatched feral and human raised do not remain tame. If human raised, they do not just become wild.It doesn't have anything to do with how many generations removed or not removed from a domestic breed. Domestic breeds can be just as wild as a feral. It all depends on with whom they identify. Certainly, giving a feral baby a mirror does help but is no guarantee. 
Sure...the pigeon could be a cock bird but I doubt it.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Agree that releasing this bird is not advisable. She probably imprinted on people. Suggest you learn to love having a pet pigeon. We acquired two former ferals and they seem healthy and very happy.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Charis said:


> You know...it's a myth that pigeons hatched feral and human raised do not remain tame. If human raised, they do not just become wild.It doesn't have anything to do with how many generations removed or not removed from a domestic breed. Domestic breeds can be just as wild as a feral. It all depends on with whom they identify. Certainly, giving a feral baby a mirror does help but is no guarantee.
> Sure...the pigeon could be a cock bird but I doubt it.


I've never heard the myth. What I've seen is every pigeon is different, and some that are hand raised when mature are stressed and pace and flap in cages or act more"wild", perhaps because it is that's birds genetics. Others are so tame they are unreleaseable and then there is everything in between. I have no problem releaseing wild acting birds that were hand raised as that is what they seem to be trying to tell me. 

The bird in this thread is too tame and or perhaps underweight as well. I would not even attempt to release until mature and of good weight with teaching how to forage and introduced to other pigeons. But he may just choose to be a pet.


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