# Will soon release, would like some input



## Femalepigeon (Nov 2, 2012)

I found a wet emaciated young pigeon 4 month ago on a busy road against the curb. Since then he's grown to almost an adult, he gets flight time out of his cage and lately has become aggressive flying on my head/hand and pecking what ever skin or hair he finds.With other family members he acts less cocky and stays away. I am wondering if this aggression is a good or bad sign for release? Since he's not scared of me. When I put my pet pigeon (she's can't fly and has bonded to me as her mate) and the rescued pigeon together he will try to court her, that I know is a positve sign. I am planning on doing a soft release as soon as the weather becomes more stable. I have been checking out the area where I found him, the flock usually gathers on the near by appartments and look for food under the trees that are in the parking lot of the appartments which is about 9 meters by the busy road way. The flock is not large maybe 20 to 30 pigeons. I was very suprised to see that they have adapted to eating the olives that fall to the ground from the many olive trees. Question, is releasing him back to this location ok since that's where I found him or should I find a bigger flock? Better area? Should I worry that he might have to much confidence with humans? He has contact only with me when I feed, clean the cage and take out for flight time he is not scared of me but will shy away from other people. For the rest of the time he will coo ALL day in front of the mirror. Thanks for any suggestions.


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Buon Giorno.

Dove en Italia ? 

The location sounds good, a flock of 20-30 is pretty good. One question I have is whether there is any OTHER food at this location ? Or only olives ? Because if it is only olives and occasional scraps of other food, it may be better to find a flock which gets fed by humans, because I am not sure your Pigeon would adapt to eating olives quickly.

He may or may not have bonded to you...soft release will tell you this. You should plan on doing at least 6 days of soft release sessions.

Remember....the soft release sessions will tell you if this Pigeon has bonded to you or not. If he shows the proper signs of wanting to return (this includes trying to 'fly away' with the flock when you 'scare' them ~ literally jumping or crashing into the cage bars to follow the flock, and it includes pecking at food when the flock pecks at the ground to forage) then it is OK to release. 

But if, for example, he just stands there looking around whenever you 'scare' the flock into jumping away or taking off, this is a sign he is not releasable. 

This is why I suggest many sessions. You may not see this behaviour in him for several days before he starts showing it.

Hai una foto ????


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## Femalepigeon (Nov 2, 2012)

Grazie Jaye per la tua risposta.
Abito a Bassano del Grappa about an hour from Venice
Unfortunatly pigeons aren't well liked and I don't see people feed them at all, some bigger cites like Venice prohibit feeding which is so sad, I break the law when seeds pour out of my short pockets when I visit Venice (I keep a bag of seeds in my backpack and keep filling my pockets) a small satisfaction. Anyway there are grain and corn fields just on the outskirts of my town that I do see pigeons scouring the empty field in search of what ever they can find being it winter. I have no idea if that flock eats in other area's. As for the sessions how long should they last? I do plan to do as many as I can but for sure a whole week at least if not more but unfortunatly I can't do it in the morning because I work but only in the early afternoon and am willing to feed the flock after to get food to him. That is if he is releasable!! I could try to post a pic of him in the next few day's if I find out how that works!


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## Femalepigeon (Nov 2, 2012)

Soaking up some winter sunshine, this is a couple of weeks after I found him.


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## Femalepigeon (Nov 2, 2012)

This is him now....


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## longlive_pigeon (Aug 17, 2012)

I am afraid it doesn't sound safe to release him in the parking lot. Although drivers are assumed to be driving slowly in a parking lot, this is often not the reality. You mentioned pigeons are not welcome in your city. Drivers can respond to a pigeon ahead by accelerating instead of braking. I have seen such psychopath many times before who intentionally crush pigeons, either for fun, for venting their hatred towards pigeons or for retaliation of pigeons' droppings. 

Your bird has spent so much time indoor, he may not realize the danger of traffic. His friends may know when to flea with an approaching vehicle, but he might just transfixedly stand there. Also 9 meters from the busy main street is not a distance that pigeons will not reach. Especially when they are foraging for food they can easily wander into the traffic without realizing it. 

In addition, since your pigeon was still very young when you took him, he would be less likely to recognize the way home even if you release him in another flock. If he is an adult, I would suggest releasing him in situ because he might not settle in the new flock and might try to find his way home as he recognized. The point that he is still a juvenile convinces me that you ought to choose a flock safe and suitable for him. Therefore, I recommend you to release him in a large urban park with established flock which is not menaced by traffic.


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## Femalepigeon (Nov 2, 2012)

Most pigeons here live in the city center. My town is small and the parks are too, most parks are in the suburbs and are child play ground that never have pigeons but I will check the one in town but unfortunatly it too has two sides that corners the road which has lots of traffic!


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## longlive_pigeon (Aug 17, 2012)

IMHO, even a small park is still better than the parking lot. There is grass and soil in the park where pigeons like pecking randomly at. This helps confine the bird not to go too far. Also, a park should have some types of fences delimiting the park's boundary, seperating it from the busy roads. The fences help restrict the pigeon in the park territory. Keep finding, hope that you can find an ideal place for him to settle.


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