# Shadow



## RamseyRingnecks (Jun 18, 2013)

I'm not sure how attachments work, so please bear with me.

I've attempted to add a photo of the feral pigeon I'm fostering for the local wildlife rehab.

They gave it to me swearing it was self feeding, perfectly healthy, and days from release. >v<

The child is between four and five weeks old, severely malnourished, scarily light, and so calcium deficient that its legs are riddled with stress fractures and it can barely stand to move.

Malnutrition makes it hard for feathers to develop and this one's are so ragged that it couldn't keep itself aloft even if it could stand and did have the energy to attempt flight.

Gonna be a long haul with this baby. If it lives, it may not be releasable.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Calcium+D3 supplement should help him in regaining his bones strength, so legs should improve that way. 
Vitamins in water helps them to grow nice feathers. I have noticed a clear difference in feathers when I gave them vitamins and when I didn't give.


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## RamseyRingnecks (Jun 18, 2013)

kiddy said:


> Calcium+D3 supplement should help him in regaining his bones strength, so legs should improve that way.
> Vitamins in water helps them to grow nice feathers. I have noticed a clear difference in feathers when I gave them vitamins and when I didn't give.


Picking both things up today. ^v^
I keep ground oystershell on hand for my breeding birds and ran out yesterday.
I was thinking it would be a good idea to toss his feed in reptical (a powdered calcium+D3 supliment)

Vitamins will have to wait until his coccidia treatment is done, though. The pill can cause vomiting, so I'm using the water soluble treatment for him.

If he can't be released, there is already a home lined up for him once he's well.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Very nice. I am sure he is going to do well in your care. 
Thanks


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## Whytpigeon (Sep 14, 2015)

RamseyRingnecks said:


> Picking both things up today. ^v^
> I keep ground oystershell on hand for my breeding birds and ran out yesterday.
> I was thinking it would be a good idea to toss his feed in reptical (a powdered calcium+D3 supliment)
> 
> ...


If this was a kitten and had been found feral, would you just release it?. A reminder that pigeons are not native but come from domestic stock, regardless how long it may be in its linage. A young pigeon brought up domestically is best kept as a domestic pet. Pigeons captured as adults that have a hard time reverting to domesticity I do agree should stay with their feral flock.


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## RamseyRingnecks (Jun 18, 2013)

Whytpigeon said:


> If this was a kitten and had been found feral, would you just release it?. A reminder that pigeons are not native but come from domestic stock, regardless how long it may be in its linage. A young pigeon brought up domestically is best kept as a domestic pet. Pigeons captured as adults that have a hard time reverting to domesticity I do agree should stay with their feral flock.


You apparently missed that Shadow is not likely to be a release candidate and already has a home lined up once she's recovered.

As to the hypothetical about what I would do if she had been a kitten, that would depend on her age and temperament.

Cats are dangerous predators that have no place anywhere in the north american ecosystem under any circumstance, but even they are generally fixed and released if they cannot be tamed.

Like feral cats, feral pigeons are wild animals, regardless of what they are descended from. They have the instincts of a wild animal and while some tame easily if taken young enough, a physically and mentally sound feral will not appreciate human company. 

My job as a rehab foster is to prevent wild birds from taming in the first place. If it can survive in the wild, it is my responsibility to release it. 

Being a pigeon, with no laws protecting her, I can safely tame Shadow. But in the state of Georgia, that is not a luxury offered to any native columbid, so I do not make a habit of trying to tame anything from rehab.

A soft release is a training program that teaches a hand reared wild bird to forage in relative safety until it's in good enough shape to be capable of supporting itself unaided.

If she had been a mourning dove, the GA Deparment of Natural Resources would require by law that she be killed if she could not be released.

The penalty for failing to do so in Ga would be revoking my breeders licence, a heavy fine, and possible jail time for possessing a bird protected by the migratory bird act. 
I cannot afford to fail a native dove by letting it tame, so I am very good at preventing native and feral baby birds from taming.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Thank you for rescuing and caring for Shadow! Cute bird!


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## wiggles and puddles (Sep 3, 2015)

I agree with everything you just said. The laws that protect, or, more accurately, are supposed to protect doves that are native to a particular state or area are quite ill written, and often do more harm then good. Perhaps conceived in in effort to do good but carried out in a manner that needs re-evaluation. On a side note- I do agree that domesticated cats can be dangerous to small birds, but lets not forget that they fall prey to birds of prey - i.e. hawks, eagles, etc. As a "house pigeon" owner (who's birds are well protected, and when they get play time around the house every day in their bird diaper, yes, they wear one, my cats are always locked in my bedroom) and a indoor only cat owner, I don't want anyone to put them in the same category as wild and unmanageable predators, such as hawks, weasels, ect. Not that I felt you made that comparison, but some people do. The cat population has exploded because of irresponsible owners who go and get a cat, then don't have their cats spayed or neutered. We should not fault the cat, but the people who are so careless, and find more humane ways to deal with overpopulation then TNR. Thank you RamseyRingneks, for the thought provoking topic, and for helping your little Shadow. He is very lucky to have found someone so caring.


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## RamseyRingnecks (Jun 18, 2013)

wiggles and puddles said:


> I agree with everything you just said. The laws that protect, or, more accurately, are supposed to protect doves that are native to a particular state or area are quite ill written, and often do more harm then good. Perhaps conceived in in effort to do good but carried out in a manner that needs re-evaluation. On a side note- I do agree that domesticated cats can be dangerous to small birds, but lets not forget that they fall prey to birds of prey - i.e. hawks, eagles, etc. As a "house pigeon" owner (who's birds are well protected, and when they get play time around the house every day in their bird diaper, yes, they wear one, my cats are always locked in my bedroom) and a indoor only cat owner, I don't want anyone to put them in the same category as wild and unmanageable predators, such as hawks, weasels, ect. Not that I felt you made that comparison, but some people do. The cat population has exploded because of irresponsible owners who go and get a cat, then don't have their cats spayed or neutered. We should not fault the cat, but the people who are so careless, and find more humane ways to deal with overpopulation then TNR. Thank you RamseyRingneks, for the thought provoking topic, and for helping your little Shadow. He is very lucky to have found someone so caring.


It was basically meant to prevent poaching native birds for the pet trade.

By making the blanket statement of 'possession alive is illegal', the wild population stays that way, at the cost of what are considered biologically nonviable individuals.


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## Whytpigeon (Sep 14, 2015)

RamseyRingnecks said:


> You apparently missed that Shadow is not likely to be a release candidate and already has a home lined up once she's recovered.
> 
> As to the hypothetical about what I would do if she had been a kitten, that would depend on her age and temperament.
> 
> ...


I know all this information. My point was a young hand fed pigeon is not wild or feral if brought up by a human reguardless of where it was hatched. It is irresponsible to drop it off or release it away from home without what it's used to as it is a domestic. Just like a tamed kitten found feral and dumped. That is the simple truth of it. I'm not sure why wild doves are mentioned but I'm glad you know the laws. His injury is another subject altogether.


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## RamseyRingnecks (Jun 18, 2013)

Whytpigeon said:


> I know all this information. My point was a young hand fed pigeon is not wild or feral if brought up by a human reguardless of where it was hatched. It is irresponsible to drop it off or release it away from home without what it's used to as it is a domestic. Just like a tamed kitten found feral and dumped. That is the simple truth of it. I'm not sure why wild doves are mentioned but I'm glad you know the laws. His injury is another subject altogether.


I mentioned wild doves because I treat physically sound feral pigeons exactly the same as I treat native wild doves in regard to their release.

The only difference between them is that if I mess up and let a baby feral pigeon tame, it will not have to die.


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