# Wild baby pigeon - HELP!



## overmarco (Jun 8, 2009)

I have found a baby pigeon at my work place in London City. Looked arround, just tall buldings, waited for about 6 hours, no adult bird came to feed him. RSPCA advised me just to leave him there, as they will not help. Checked their website they advise everyone not to interfere on anything. Probably better.

He is full feathered, doesnt look ill; he didnt eat anything the first day, so I had to forced-feed him with a syringe. He is absolutely terrifed by humans and I realised later if isolated he will eat seeds. Not much, but he will eat. The problem is I dont think he drinks water. As he wont eat in the presence of humans, I have no clue if he drinks or not. My bet he doesnt. I give him every day arround 5 ml of water with a syringe. Im afraid to give him more as he literally fights it if I try. I am quite happy he hates people as he it might be his chance of surviving when released. He poops a lot, thats a good sign also.

Questions:
- Is there a trick to notice if he drinks or not
- How much water should I give him per day (I attached a picture)
- How do I teach him to drink. I tried to put his beak in the water, only result is he snnezes a lot. It's hard to make him do something as he is terrified by people. I know a guy who has has racing pigeons, if I place this baby next to them, to see other pigeons feed and drink, will that help? This pigeons is a wild one, not a race that people breed.

My email is [email protected]
Thank you so much in advance,
Marco


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

If you gently dip the tip of his beak in the water, he might drink. At least then he'll know where it's at and how to do things.
Yep, that is definitely a wild pigeon. I don't know what kind though, almost looks like a dove  I don't live near you so I wouldn't really know.


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

I think it's a baby wood pigeon. . .? Please check these links:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f47/

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f20/

Hopefully just dipping his beak will trigger him to drink; it usually does. More people with info about woodies will be along. Good luck with him.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hi Marco,

It is a wood pigeon, they are very nervous of humans. When you approach him do it very slowly and gently, think reassuring thoughts.

It is very difficult to tell whether a pigeon is drinking by itself, they drink very little at a time. I don't know if it is the photograph, but it doesn't look at all well.

It could be dehydrated, so instead of offering it plain water mix a pint of warm water with half a teaspoon of salt and half a tablespoon of glucose, or honey or sugar and offer that to him.

Is he pooping? Can you describe the poops?

What part of London are you in? Would it be possible to get it to one of these rescue organisations that we know treat pigeons?

London Wildcare,
Beddington Park,
Church Road,
Wallington,
Surrey SM6 7NN

020 8647 6230

http://www.londonwildcaretrust.co.uk...s_hospital.htm


Pigeon Recovery
8 Vermont Road
Sutton
Surrey

If there is no-one in, facilities exist outside the front door for leaving poorly pigeons, and the sanctuary owners are never away overnight. If at all possible, a small contribution posted through the letterbox when you leave the bird(s) would go towards paying for the bird’s treatment, food etc.


Swan and Friends Bird Rescue
55 Copsleigh Avenue ,
Salfords,
Redhill,
Surrey RG1 5BQ
Telephone 01737 773712 or 07712 753919

Cynthia


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## overmarco (Jun 8, 2009)

Thank you so much for the replies.

Picture was taken at midnight he was totally asleep.

Poop was yellow/green and inconsistent when I got him. I forced feed him a 5 ml syringe 
of the hydration solution and after a while about 2x 5ml of a mixture of egg/milk/porridge.
Then he started to pick seeds, a little but he did. Poop is now consistent brown/some yellow.

I will see what he did today, if he didnt eat, I will feed him again.

RSPCA totally scared me away. This wildlife hospitals would they force feed him if he doesnt wanna eat/drink? I am more then willing to get him there and pay also.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hi Marco,

I would never give a pigeon to the RSPCA or recommend them to anyone else!

You could telephone London Wildcare and ask if they will forcefeed him while he doesn't eat himself. One of their staff came up with this recipe for feeding woodies:

wild bird seed
frozen peas
finely chopped apple
finely chopped peanuts
finely chopped fat balls
finely shredded greens
wholemeal bread crumbs

We have found that they thrive when hand fed defrosted peas and sweet corn. They need at least 50 twice a day , but because I feel that the very act of opening their mouths to pop the peas etc in damages them and because they have relatively big mouths I feed them 2 or 3 peas at a time.

Another member who is very successful with treating woodies chops up organic rocket, spinach, watercress and dandelion leaves and makes these into pellets for handfeeding...those are natural foods for woodies. http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=36774&referrerid=560

Cynthia


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## overmarco (Jun 8, 2009)

Good news: I forced feed him the peas, it made a huge difference. I think it was his 1st real meal in 5 days. He's flying arround the apartment and ate 10 peas by himself. He changed his biggest wish also: until now he only wanted for humans to dissapear from the planet, now he only wants to go out.Water still a mistery, I dont think anybody will ever catch him drinking. But the peas are moist so it should be enough. As soon as Im positive he eats/drinks by himself I will have to find a way to release him. It's a free bird, not a pet - as far as I can tell. I will keep you posted.


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## overmarco (Jun 8, 2009)

*Three Owls or else?*

Thank you again for all your messages.
The woodie is making progress, but he/she will not eat by himself. He picks up some seeds, but surely not enough, as his crop is almost empty when I feed him the peas. I guess he is like a kid who only eats chocolate . Nevertheless, he is full of energy, his appearance has changed, he flies arround, he wants out like there's no tomorrow. I looked arround on this forum and I think the best place for him would be Three Owls. As I am in London, it would be a trip of 5 hours door to door. I dont care about spending some money and I can go on Sunday, but I am worried about putting back in box as he absolutely hates it. Can anybody advise me please?


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

He should be OK, as long as the box is comfortably padded. John has transported wood pigeons to Norwich from Brighton and Lancashire. One even came from the Midlands by Amtrak and was fine. But he might be as well off at Wildcare...one of our members works there, I will ask her to e-mail you, perhaps you can discuss what they can do for him there.

Cynthia


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## pidge-girl (Jun 10, 2009)

He looks like a white wing dove to me but I don't have wood pigeons where I live so I don't know. A great way to see if he is drinking or not, since it is hard to tell by the level of water, is to put the water dish in the corner of the room or a large box and sprinkle a light layer of flour around it, if you see little birdie footprints near it you know he at least knows there is water there, and most likely drinking. Especially if he still has energy and is perky.
One thing that worries me is that white wing doves are prone to pox. and that looks like it may be a small pox legion near the tip of his beak along the bottom. There should be no lump there, and it is visible in both photos :/


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

> One thing that worries me is that white wing doves are prone to pox. and that looks like it may be a small pox legion near the tip of his beak along the bottom. There should be no lump there, and it is visible in both photos :/


Can you take a photo of the lower beak overmarco? Pox can be devastating for a juvenile wood pigeon, but those that get it usually get it in autumn. If he has pox then he would be better off in your care.

Cynthia


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## PigeonQueen (Aug 13, 2006)

Hello. I think you should phone either London Wildcare Hospital in Wallington surrey 0208 647 6230 they are open on Sundays from 8am -8am. You could phone them first and ask to speak to Jackie or Tania. They will take good care of your woodpigeon. A five hour drive will not be good for the pigeon and apparantly the weather is going to be very hot.

Also Pigeon Recovery have good knowledge of Woodpigeons. You could take the pigeon to their address in Sutton Surrey. There are two boxes outside the front door where you could safetly leave the bird. Just put envelope through door saying bird is in box. They would appreciate a small donation. 8 Vermont road, sutton , SM1 3EQ. Best to leave bird before 10am on Sunday morning.
you could phone to say your were coming but they do not return calls usually 0208 644 7349

Both these addresses Cynthia has given in a post above. However I have sent you a private message with my telephone number if you want more information.

No need to travel 5 hours to three owls. They are very good but woodpigeon will be looked after well at either Wildlife hospital or Pigeon Recovery.


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## overmarco (Jun 8, 2009)

*pictures*

oh God... 
this is the best I could do with my camera. he wont sit still of course.
please take a look. I will take him here to Wildcare for a vet to see him.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

I don't think it is pox.

My poor little Milkwood got pox last year, it started with just the tiniest little pustule, but even at that stage it was angry and red. And it grew very quickly.

I have had a woodie with a lump on its beak that wasn't pox and now I have a dove that also has a non-pox lump on its beak.

Cynthia


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## overmarco (Jun 8, 2009)

*thank you*

the lump is the same colour as the beak, I hope you're right. I will take him to Wildcare for a vet to see him. I keep saying him, but my bet its a she


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

She is beautiful. Their eyes are amazing at that age.

Cynthia


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## kittypaws (Sep 18, 2005)

Hello Marco,

I work at London Wildcare and we have lots of woodpigeons in. If he doesn't eat then we will force feed him by syringe a mix of porridge (ReadyBrek) and Farleys baby rusk and he could be fed this about 3 times a day up to 25 ml a time if he is not eating for himself. If he is pecking at seed then we would probably give him 2 feeds a day to begin with and see how he goes. We weigh our pigeons about once every 3 - 4 days so we can see how they are doing with their weight and if he isn't gaining then we increase feeds or if he is gaining then we reduce. We also monitor food wastage daily by each bird and the colour of their poo for abnormalities.

Woodpigeons as you have been told are very skittish and much more difficult to handle than feral pigeons, but that won't be a problem.

When he gets to a good weight and is eating for himself then we would put him out in our pigeon aviary for a week or two then when we are confident that he is eating OK in the aviary and can fly well, then we test fly and then let them go free. The hospital is situated in a massive park where there are loads of woodpigeons so he will be fine.

The pox? - doesn't look like pox to me either so I think he will be fine in that respect.

Bring him along to us - we would be happy to help.

Tania x


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## pidge-girl (Jun 10, 2009)

It doesn't look like pox now that I have seen the closer pictures. thank you. I was worried there for a bit. Well what ever you deside to do with the little one, I hope it turns out well :]


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Thank you Tania! 

Cynthia


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Those blue eyes! I had such a surprise and fell in love when I saw them on my woody.

Praying your little one makes it.


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

She certainly is a very pretty woodie 

Glad this little one has such a good chance of reaching healthy adulthood

John


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## kittypaws (Sep 18, 2005)

Marco brought his pigeon in on Saturday - unfortunately I was busy giving first aid to some other animal at the time so he saw Pete who took the woodie off him.Marco has looked after the woodie very well as is a nice healthy bird and he is pecking and eating his bird seed, but as I have said to Marco via PM we will monitor his weight over the next few days and if he starts to lose weight we will supplement them with porridge feeds.He is in his own cabin at the moment where he will probably stay until he reaches 300g then out in the aviary for him for a week or two to check that he is still eating Ok with others and "weathering" OK too. Once we are happy that he is coping and he can fly, he will be let free into the park.We released some the other day and when I was out hanging the washing at the hospital , a pigeon flew very close to my head - it was a woodie who looked young and probably one of the freed ones that day. He then decided to land on the washing line - so I plucked him off and popped him back into the aviary for a longer spell - having so many comapssionate and caring volunteers any pigeons that aren't quite ready after we release them even though they may have flown beautifully on their test flights are easily found and brought back into the aviary for another stay!!Also we seem to have lots of baby pigeons in at the moment - 4 of which were all destined for the builders skip!! ( These came as separate pairs and were rescued by the homeowners when the builders advised that they would " chuck them away" ) Luckily they are now safe with us... GrrrrTania xxPS - I must thank Marco for the very generous donation he made - if only everybody was as kind........


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

KITTYPAWS!! How nice to see you posting!! 

Looks like things are going very well for you! DO please say a BIG HELLO to Ted and also give him a HUG from me, if he permits!! 

Marco, bless your heart!! You sure took your Woodie to the BEST place! WELL DONE!!

Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi and the gang: Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Woodie was very lucky to be rescued by someone like Marco. If the RSPCA had got its way Woodie would be dead now, 

Thank goodness some people have compassion. How could anyone who considers himself human "chuck away" a baby animal.

Who knows how many of these poor little innocents fall into the wrong hands. They should teach compassion at school, perhaps that would lower the crime rate and save a fortune on prosecutions and trials.

Cynthia


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