# Racing pigeon with insufficient ID found in North/Central FL



## Gala (Sep 7, 2013)

We have caught a pigeon walking on the ground by our barn, in North/Central Florida (near Gainesville). It will not fly. It does not appear to be injured. I don't know enough about birds to be certain. The fact that we could catch it suggests that it's at least not well.

We do not know anything about birds. But it was on the ground, so it was in danger from feral cats, the spaniels, and the curious horses who'd like to make friends, preferably by pawing with a hoof. 

We have put it in a plastic dog crate and given it water. I looked but we don't have ANYthing like grains in the house, and the horse feed is probably not good for it (a pellet designed for horses, not mixed grains). A neighbor is going to give me some wild bird seed.

It has a green band, "AU 2013 ALONSO LOFTS 12"; we looked up racing pigeons, found pigeon.org, and tried to find its owner and what to do until then.

I tried to report the bird through pigeon.org and got an out-of-office autoresponder.

Pigeon.org says that if a pigeon is just tired, it can rest for 24-48 hours and then probably find its way home. I don't know enough about birds; I don't want to hurt it, or miss it if it is injured and I can't tell, or let it go too soon. Feral cats, spaniels, coyotes; I don't want it to come to harm.

I tried to contact Alonso Lofts in West Palm Beach and they didn't speak much English, and my Spanish is really rusty. He gave us a Tampa number and said he'd given the pigeon to them. The Tampa number says it's not their bird. He tells me that Alonso Lofts breeds a LOT of birds and it could belong to just about anybody in Florida. 

I'd be happy to just hold it and feed it for a few days then let it go, but I don't know if that's the right thing to do. I'd be a lot happier turning this pigeon over to someone who knows pigeons. 

Can anybody put me in touch with someone in the area who can evaluate the bird's condition and maybe get in touch with the owner?

Thanks!


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## pigeon is fun (Sep 6, 2010)

Juan Alonso 561-723-3673


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## Gala (Sep 7, 2013)

pigeon is fun said:


> Juan Alonso 561-723-3673


Yes. I tried to contact Alonso Lofts [Juan Alonso] in West Palm Beach and they didn't speak much English, and my Spanish is really rusty. 

He gave us a Tampa number and said he'd given the pigeon to them. 

The Tampa number says it's not their bird. He tells me that Alonso Lofts breeds a LOT of birds and it could belong to just about anybody in Florida. 

My Spanish is just too rusty to have an informative conversation with Senor Alonso.

~ ~ ~

If I could be put in touch with someone in the Gainesville area who could take a look at this bird I'd feel a lot better. I am happy to just feed and water it and let it go, and hope it finds its way home...but I'd feel better if someone knowledgeable about birds could tell me whether or not it's injured.

After a few hours enclosed with water it does look a lot perkier and more confident.

It's throwing all the various bird foods I offer it on the floor: sunflower seeds, millet stalks, wild bird mix. Will it eat off the floor, or do I need to find another food?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Thank you for helping this needy bird.

It is possible that it may just need a few days to regroup or not, as it is probably tired and hungry as well as lost. 

You an use a mix of wild bird seed for now. Please keep us updated on his condition.

This link also has a page on caring for lost birds: http://www.pigeon.org/bandlist.php?year=2013&f=A 
*


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## Gala (Sep 7, 2013)

Certainly, that's the page I was referencing when I said "Pigeon.org says that if a pigeon is just tired, it can rest for 24-48 hours and then probably find its way home." 

Although I did find a side note that sometimes in bad storms pigeons can entirely lose their way, and we have had a few of those lately. And we think this pigeon has been hanging around our barn for a few days now [perhaps tired, perhaps lost], before he got to the condition such that we spotted and caught him. We've had a lot more bird droppings than usual in and around the barn, particularly considering that we do have that colony of feral cats; birds tend to avoid our barn. 

His leg tag may not be enough ID, but it does indicate that he was only born this year, so he may be kind of young, too. I'm more and more thinking he was really lost.

~ ~ ~

Well, as I said, I didn't know what I was looking for trying to find pigeon breeders or racing groups near me. But with a "throwing spaghetti at the wall" web search I found a few breeders _sort_of_ near me, and emailed to ask if they could put me in touch with someone closer.

It turns out one of those is the president of his region's group, and he happens to be coming to my area on unrelated business. So he says he's happy to take the bird, check him over, see if he's in a better position to find the owner. And even if the bird just needs some rest and food, he can determine when the bird is ready to go much better than I can. 

What a relief. I still don't mind caring for the bird, I just want to be sure he's okay. He should be a lot more okay in this gentleman's hands.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Gala said:


> It turns out one of those is the president of his region's group, and he happens to be coming to my area on unrelated business. So he says he's happy to take the bird, check him over, see if he's in a better position to find the owner. And even if the bird just needs some rest and food, he can determine when the bird is ready to go much better than I can.
> 
> What a relief. I still don't mind caring for the bird, I just want to be sure he's okay. He should be a lot more okay in this gentleman's hands.


*Thank you for going out of your way to search for someone to help out . I'm glad you found this person, please ask him to keep you updated on the bird once he takes possession of him.

Thank you for the update. *


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## Gala (Sep 7, 2013)

The nice gentleman has collected the bird, says the little fella is in fact sick, but he thinks he can treat him. I hope so! And now I feel *much* better about getting him to someone knowledgeable.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Thank you for letting us know.


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