# danger an insect



## PigeonHandRearer (Sep 25, 2002)

i found in one of my pigeons which flies an insect like the fly but it is flat some how.
what is this ?
what i do ?
and can i catch this pigeon or not ?

please help


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## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

Hi,

It's called a pigeon fly, It's grey and scary( to me







)
It's pretty fast too and sometimes looks like a grey feather running on the pigeon and hiding under the feathers, I'm really not sure how to catch them or kill them.. I have had afew pigeons who got sprayed but the fly didn't die with my spray.
I tried bathing them or at least soaking the whole body(Except head) in water but I'm starting to think those bugs can turn into little submarines








If you get him off the pigeon it's very hard to kill them too, My grandma squashed him but he didn't die, she then put him in the toilet and flushed him down but at the end I could still see his little legs moving and he wasn't dead









Mary



[This message has been edited by maryco (edited December 06, 2002).]


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## PigeonHandRearer (Sep 25, 2002)

what can i do?
is it only one or more?
and it is dangerous on the pigeon and me or not?


please help


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## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

Well, I'm not sure about how many can live on but someone said that if you see one there could be more so I guess there might be afew more? When I caught one fly on a pigeon I never found another so I guess maybe one big one will live on a pigeon..

You can buy "sevins" dust from a garden centre or hadware store and dust him with it everywhere, under the wings, tail ..etc 
Cover the mouth, nose and eyes when dusting, I hope it works for you!

As for them harming you, I don't think they can live on you but someone said that they bite and it is pretty itchy so I usually watch out









Mary


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## york (Jun 26, 2002)

I really would not worry chap. 

Just try to get it off, and kill it like any normal fly. It is quite a pest indeed... it might fly onto you for protection or back onto the pigeon. 

I found that the best way to get it off and kill it was when I was washing 
my pigeon in the bath tub.

It might act dead too. 

Good luck.


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## PigeonHandRearer (Sep 25, 2002)

> Originally posted by york:
> *I really would not worry chap.
> 
> Just try to get it off, and kill it like any normal fly. It is quite a pest indeed... it might fly onto you for protection or back onto the pigeon.
> ...


ok thanks
but
*how can i catch it*


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## PigeonHandRearer (Sep 25, 2002)

*please help*


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## PigeonHandRearer (Sep 25, 2002)

*Please Help*


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## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

I'm not sure how to catch the fly but when you handle the pigeon alot I noticed they will jump out, one it jumped onto my mom's hand then the curtain and that's how we caught it.
Yesterday my mom went over through all the feathers around the tail and under the wings to see if Dotty had any but no sign as when I woke up I thought I saw one on his (Just alittle one) but either we couldn't find it or I wasn't fully awake









I would hold the pigeon and go through the feathers around the tail (If you are not afraid, I'm too scared so my mom does it







)
He should jump out... 

Mary

[This message has been edited by maryco (edited December 09, 2002).]


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## bpigeons (Dec 7, 2002)

i will say to you a good way to catch it
use your finger to catch it . it is the best way by a helping of someone but i want to advice be angry and dont abandonment it.
to be nice person.


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

I could be wrong here, but I think this guy wants to know how to catch the PIGEON, not the bug??????

Mary, maybe you could post your famous pigeon trap?

Also, you guys are mentioning pigeon flies? I'm not sure, but do you mean the same thing as pigeon lice? Because I believe there is a difference. 

I've never seen a pigeon fly, but we have had lice on our birds. We use an avian lice spray from the pet stores, and it gets rid of them quite well. The lice are small and grey, and very fast. You will find them primarily under the wing, and hanging off the neck feathers, if the infestation is bad enough. If you are wearing a dark shirt and handle the birds, you will see them easily on your shirt afterwards (they aren't harmful to humans).

While lice don't hurt the birds, if they have enough of them, they are very uncomfortable, and don't sleep properly, because they are so itchy (we call it the "bug dance"...the birds literally stomp up and down, trying to get rid of the bugs)


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## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

Janine,

Aren't lice the little long bugs that are sort of brown and hand along the neck feathers, under the wings and on the back?
A flat fly "Pigeon fly" is sort of grey and looks really ugly, I am dealing with one right now on my poor Dotty, He itches very hard all of a sudden and I noticed blood on the skin when my mom was picking between the feathers... I saw him run onto the tail then back in.. They are HORRIBLE and I want to catch it but my mom went through the feathers and they(Him) are hiding








I sprayed Dotty 3 times with my spray but I don't see any dead bugs on the floor and I also clean the poops away right away since I learned that the fly will lay about 5 eggs at a time in the droppings ... 

Mary


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## WhiteysFriends (Aug 19, 2002)

Yes. Lice look like little tiny cigars. They are very different from pigeon flies. Lice are brown. Pigeon flies -- at least the few we have seen -- are gray.


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## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

Yup, Pigeon flies are grey and much much much larger than a louse, a pigeon fly is the size of a normal house fly but it looks so grey and fast that it's hard to see how they look in detail.. All the lice on my birds die in 10 minutes after spraying but those flies







.. They won't die no matter what I do!!!!
I bathed the pigeon 3 times and I don't know but can those flat pigeon flies breath under water?!

Mary


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

> Originally posted by maryco:
> *Yup, Pigeon flies are grey and much much much larger than a louse, a pigeon fly is the size of a normal house fly but it looks so grey and fast that it's hard to see how they look in detail.. *


Hmmm... yup, now that I think about it, lice are a brownish, not grey. I don't usually look to close ... LOL Makes me itch, just looking at them.









Nope, never had pigeon flies on our birds. Now, we do bathe our birds regularly with borax or copper sulphate solutions...that could have something to do with it.


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## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

Hmm..Do you think the copper sulfate will kill the pigeon fly? I have a pigeon fly on my Dotty now, I would really like to get rid of it because now I'm afraid to touch Dotty and poor thing is stuck in his cage all day








I sprayed dotty 4 times and no sign of a fly on the floor or the cage ... I just hate those things!!!!!!!! I need to get rid of it (I hope there is only one)
That fly knows I'm afraid of his so he only comes out while I am holding Dotty then when my mom checks there is no sign, I saw him the first time when I just woke up and no one believed me as they thought I haven't fully awake but this time I was awake and Dotty's tail is black and that fly was clearly grey walking up on his tail (YUK!!







)
I hate lice too but these things give me a panic attack







and I start itching too.

Mary


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## PigeonHandRearer (Sep 25, 2002)

I found the answers i took my pigeon to a vet who took 5 $ and sprayed it with an upnormal spray from that time tell now i didnt saw the fly.....


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

> Originally posted by maryco:
> *Hmm..Do you think the copper sulfate will kill the pigeon fly? I have a pigeon fly on my Dotty now, I would really like to get rid of it because now I'm afraid to touch Dotty and poor thing is stuck in his cage all day
> 
> 
> ...


I did a google search for answers. 

Part of the problem with parasites is that they don't always stay ON the bird. They leave to lay eggs elsewhere. If you don't treat the bird's surroundings, the problem returns when the fly eggs hatch

Found this link -- it explains the different external parasites. http://www.siegelpigeons.com/asked-external.html 

Unfortunately, the link to the treatments isn't clear on what is in each product, and which would work specifically on pigeon flies. However, the last product just says lice and mites and tick, not flies. It contains permethrin, which is what is found in most avian sprays, so if that is what you are using, it might not get rid of the flies.

I searched a bit further, and found this on another site:
"We must take all necessary precautions to control external parasites. In the cases of lice, pigeon fly, and mites, quarantine any new birds and dip or dust the birds with pesticides. (Insectrin G.P. Poultry Dust, No-Pest Strips, Insectrin X Liquid Form are excellent in the USA.)"

We do use no-pest strips in the loft, but I personally would hesitate to use them inside, with kids and birds confined inside at this time of year.

We sometimes use a Poutry Dust we buy at the local feed stores. It contains Rotene and sulpher. It says right on the bottle to sprinkle in the nesting area.

Hope this help some...these things sound rather nasty...I'm glad we've never had any!

Janine


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## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

This morning we decided that the bug has to go! I would not touch Dotty otherwise and poor guy has to be lonely all day!
Mom went through the feathers again but no sign so if our own antiparasite spray that I bought from Siegel (That is on the list that Janine posted above) wasn't going to work we were going to do something else.
I put some potato flour in water and we bathed Dotty then all his featheres really looked soaked so we could go through the feathers again but no sing!








Then we decided to bath him again with normal water since he could not fly with the potato in his wings. He got a bath his feathers were fluffy and nice.
I read your post Janine and decided to clean the room. 
I removed the cage(Table) and everything. then to see a PIGEON FLY on the floor of the cage stuck under the towel.. I was SO HAPPY








My mom turned him over and he just moved one leg then died.
We took pics of him and for anyone who has not seen a pigeon fly here is a really clear pic of it next to my mom's finger for size. They are so scary...eweee








Dotty (hopefully) is clean of pigeon flies now, and the room was cleaned very well and hopefully they will stay away.
The pigeon fly is flattened into a science book now so I can look at him any time








http://community.webshots.com/photo/53884725/57187768HYANoi 

Mary

p.s Just to get everything straight, the pigeon fly died from the spray after I sprayed dotty 4 times, I wonder if the potato water would work on it's own? I have found out that those flies DON'T die even if they are underwater... What a headache to kill that thing, I even slept in the living room last night because I was afraid to go into my own room









[This message has been edited by maryco (edited December 09, 2002).]


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## Inti (Nov 6, 2002)

Thanks for the picture, I've never seen one of those flies before, and hope I never do!

Mary P.


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## WhiteysFriends (Aug 19, 2002)

When we had a pigeon fly on a feral pigeon (the one that ultimately died), we sprayed with the lice spray, and even though we did not expect it to kill the pigeon fly, later on the avian vet could not find any pigeon fly on the bird. So we think that the spray actually did work.


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