# Second sick feral pigeon within week, is it paramaxavirus???



## Jen74 (Dec 15, 2013)

Hi,

I am an avid bird feeder. We have been feeding our back yard birds for a couple years now. We get sparrows, robins, starlings, blue jays, and of course some pigeons. We ground feed in the winter. Last week we noticed one pigeon acting odd. She was just sitting on our back porch kind of just facing the wall. She would fly to the garage roof and sit there for a bit and then fly back to the back porch. The first day we noticed her she stayed until dark and then flew off. The second day she seemed a bit worse. I tried feeding her some seed on the porch. A couple other pigeons came up and a male started to jump on her( probably trying to mate with her is my guess). Well I ran out and shooed him off of her. She at that point was just walking super slow. I was able to pet her and get right next to her so this told me she was not well otherwise she would not let me get that close. I captured her and placed her in a small doggy cage lined with a t-shirt and a few puppy training papers. Sadly she passed away during that night. Well a week later and now I have another pigeon acting odd. This one kind of decided to stay on my upper level back porch. It is semi-enclosed like a turtle shell. The stairs to the upper level back porch walk up into an enclosed area. Well this pigeon has been staying up there most of the day and all night for the last couple days. She is hidden and out of the elements so she is safe up there I would think. She is sitting on the ledge. I thought about trying to capture her but I decided to let her be for now. Where she is I am afraid to try and grab her is fear she will try and swoop down the stairway and hurt herself. 

I do not know what is wrong with her. I know she is pooping a lot and one poop on the porch I Noticed is Greenish looking. She does not look physically hurt at all. She will fly down to the bird bath we have on the ledge on the lower level of the porch to get a drink. She eats some, but not a lot I do not think. The only time I have seen her eat is when other pigeons come up there to try and eat the seed I lay out for her. Then she will come down and eat a little. Maybe she is trying to act as normal as possible in front of the other pigeons, I don't know. I just know she will not leave the porch. I am worried that whatever she has could be contagious to the other birds. They have all been around her as I believe she belongs to this flock that have been coming here for the last three months to eat. 

I have been reading about diseases pigeons can catch from one another and I came across the paraxamavirus. I live in the city of Chicago and with the weather getting warmer soon, we usually wean all the birds off feeding over a week or two. We have neighbors who are Not nature friendly. When it gets warm out they sit in their back yard and will give us crap if we have a bunch of pigeons flying around pooping all over the place. IN the winter months it is not so bad because no one is sitting out there. I am worried because this is the second pigeon within a weeks time that has come here sick. Is Paraxamavirus common in city feral pigeons?? Will every pigeon catch this if they are exposed to it? I cannot have a bunch of sick pigeons roosting on our back porch sick. I don't know what to do. I have never seen any birds like this. I feel so bad for the poor thing. They are such beautiful birds. Any suggestions to what this might be?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Thank you for your care and concern over the pigeons. 

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

Yes, it could be PMV or other disease, here is a link to PMV: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f107/pigeon-paramyxovirus-aka-pmv-ppmv-pmv1-pigeon-12250.html

Here is information on salmonella/paratyphoid: http://www.pigeonmania.com/salmonella-paratyphoid-in-pigeons/

The most important thing is to get bird contained when first noticeable, especially if bird is not eating, because once they stop eating they go down quickly. 

Is this bird eating? If not, the bird needs to be force/hand fed until it eats well on its own, and/or the disease has been diagnosed. Perhaps the links may help you determine what is going on, but getting them fed is extremely important. Hand feeding: http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/peasandcorn.htm

Now that the bird is contained are there any other symptoms? *


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## Jen74 (Dec 15, 2013)

I do not have the pigeon in my care, it is on my back porch. I now have another possibly sick pigeon that is sitting up there with the other one. I do not have any experience with dealing with sick birds. I believe there is some kind of illness passing between the pigeons though. I have decided to stop feeding all of our back yard birds immediately to hopefully discourage the healthy pigeons from coming here as I fear they will get sick too. I am unsure what to do. I feel like a crud to stop feeding, but I don't think I have any other choice at this point. Any suggestions? I am thinking about maybe trying to capture the sick ones and take them to a wildlife rehab place but not sure I will be able to even catch them.












Skyeking said:


> *Thank you for your care and concern over the pigeons.
> 
> Here are the basic first steps to save the life of a pigeon: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f108/basic-steps-to-saving-the-life-of-a-pigeon-or-dove-8822.html
> 
> ...


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Unless you see at least 2 or 3 of the Paramyxovirus symptoms as per Skyeking's second link, it is more likely to be something else.

Really, there's no way to figure what if the bird is still on the loose.

There are quite a few things that birds can pass on to each other (but not to humans).

Typical ones can includee what is loosely called 'canker' (trichomoniasis) which is an internal parasite that block the throat, crop or other parts of the digestive system so the bird, if it can still swallow food, will not digest it properly. That is common, and there are meds for it.

Another is as per the third link. Salmonella can cause enteritis without any exterior signs like lumps or what can look like seizures.

One with a fairly similar effect is E.coli.

There are meds for all of these, but we would need to get a better idea of what's going on, which is nigh impossible unless you can catch and confine it.


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## Jen74 (Dec 15, 2013)

I agree. I called a wildlife rehabber not to far from where I live. They are called Flint Creek Wildlife and they rehab all kinds of sick and injured birds. The guy there said to take up all food and water for now in case there is some kind of contagious illness passing between the pigeons. He said if I can capture one of the pigeons that is sick and bring it in they can examine it and see what it going on, possibly even help it. That is my plan for now. I just hope I can catch one of them. Where the one is sitting up there, she is on my rail so for me to get close to her I hope she wont try and swoop off and hurt herself. Now I have another one up there who is not acting right. I just worry that if I go and try and grab one, it will scare the crap out of the other one

















John_D said:


> Unless you see at least 2 or 3 of the Paramyxovirus symptoms as per Skyeking's second link, it is more likely to be something else.
> 
> Really, there's no way to figure what if the bird is still on the loose.
> 
> ...


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