# What type of pigeon is this?



## Oaznxe

He looks a lot like a wood pigeon except that his feathers are much whiter.

This pigeon comes in my garden a lot. I did used to dislike pigeons gobbling all the food but I'm getting quite fond of this one. He was around last summer and was pleased to see him perched on the fence again at the start of this summer.

He's obviously had some contact with humans as he has a tag on each leg. He seems fairly tame; he won't fly away at the site of a human although he will run away if anyone gets too close. I think he seems to recognise the sound of bird seed being shaken as when I do it he follows me and flies up onto the bird table as I'm pouring it out.


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## John_D

Hi

Not a woodpigeon. He is almost certainly a racing pigeon who has strayed or just decided to 'retire' from racing 

With a band on each leg, it's likely he was in a race when he went missing.

If he's been around that long, not much point trying to locate his home in my view. Many of them don't do well 'on the street', but I've had a couple where I am who have managed just fine and hung around for at least two years.


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## Oaznxe

Out of interest is it likely that the owner of the pigeon is local and can the tags on its feet be used to identify the owner? Even if that is true would it be a bad idea to handle the pigeon?


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## Msfreebird

Oaznxe said:


> Out of interest is it likely that the owner of the pigeon is local and can the tags on its feet be used to identify the owner? Even if that is true would it be a bad idea to handle the pigeon?


If you can get all the letters and numbers off the band, you could probably trace the owner.
It's safe to handle pigeons, you won't catch anything from them. 
As with any animal, use sensible hygiene.......wash your hands after handling. Cats carry more disease than pigeons. 
Where are you located?


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## John_D

One of the bands should have the identification details - most are GB followed by the hatching year followed by the owner's or the club ID. If you had the details, may be possible to track the club. If it's a GB band then the Royal Pigeon Racing Association would have the owner's contact details, but personally I'd not bother to report the bird after that long.

It would do no harm handling a reasonably 'friendly' pigeon, but if he is wary of anyone being too close then trying to catch him could just possibly scare him off altogether if one misses the first time.


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## spirit wings

good luck catching him..lol.. looks like he is eating well...


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## MaryOfExeter

He's beautiful!  I hope you can rescue him and return him home soon!


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## Oaznxe

Msfreebird said:


> Where are you located?


Staffordshire



spirit wings said:


> good luck catching him..lol.. looks like he is eating well...


Yeah, he's coped so far. Although I do get the feeling that he's very hungry as it seems like he hangs around in the garden waiting for me to feed him.



MaryOfExeter said:


> He's beautiful! I hope you can rescue him and return him home soon!


I don't really know anything about pigeons. That picture is from July last year so he seems to have coped OK for at almost a year at least, should I just let him be free?


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## PigeonVilla

thats a gorgeous pigeon you have there visiting you , hope you can capture it to help it find its way home , wouyld welcome that bird into my loft anytime .


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## Libis

Oaznxe said:


> Yeah, he's coped so far. Although I do get the feeling that he's very hungry as it seems like he hangs around in the garden waiting for me to feed him.
> 
> I don't really know anything about pigeons. That picture is from July last year so he seems to have coped OK for at almost a year at least, should I just let him be free?


He's such a beautiful bird, though--I'm sure someone is missing him. Also, I would think that his bright white back coloration makes him more visible to predators. 
I'm not sure he's entirely free as it is--it sounds like he just decided that you would be feeding him rather than his original owner.


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## 2ndwind

it looks like a barless pigeon to me...


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## Oaznxe

Libis said:


> I'm not sure he's entirely free as it is--it sounds like he just decided that you would be feeding him rather than his original owner.


I'm starting to think that, he used to just pop round as often as the local pigeon population. But lately he seems to almost all of his time in my back garden perched on the wall. He flies away occasionally but soon comes back and he disappears somewhere at night.

I'm not so sure I can catch him anyway, he came and ate his seeds whilst I was sitting a couple of feet away but he ran away at the slightest movement from me.



2ndwind said:


> it looks like a barless pigeon to me...


I presume that is a pigeon without bars on its feathers?

If so, you can't see it on the pictures but the pigeon does have light coloured bars.


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## 2ndwind

maybe it's a red bar..


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## doveone52

He's a lucky one to have you feeding him and must have learned some survival skills to have made it this long. It would be nice to find the owner but the owner may not want him back-didn't have what it takes to make it home. Sad but it happens. I'd really love to see him have some where safe and secure at night, though. He must be a smart tough pigeon to have done so well on his own.
The other possibility is someone close by is loft flying him and he comes to visit-and has a snack!


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## MaryOfExeter

2ndwind said:


> maybe it's a red bar..


Yes, he is a red bar  A pretty one too!


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## Oaznxe

> The other possibility is someone close by is loft flying him and he comes to visit-and has a snack!


I just noticed that on the picture I posted, there's either no or a white band on his left leg. But today he definitely had a red band on each leg.

So either its a different red bar pigeon from last year (unlikely I think?) or you're right and he is being looked after by someone near by.

Here's a recent picture from a camera placed on the feeding tray (an unsuccessful attempt to see the number on his tag!)


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## M Kurps

Just maybe this pigeon lives like a mile or so away and when he is let out he comes to your house to feed and hang out before he heads home again. The owner might be scratching his head wondering where he goes every day. Just a thought.
Kurps


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## MaryOfExeter

That is a countermark. They switch colors for every race. Some racers are more homers than they are racers  They can make the distance...just not the time. Maybe this guy has a real bad habit of stopping for brunch before going home to get clocked in!


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## PigeonVilla

Some pigeons just dont make it home for whatever reason they have and need a little assistance to get where they need to be , that is if you can help them get there and if not at least to someone that would appreciate them more ..In that reguard I do hope you are successful ,good luck.


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## Oaznxe

Pigeon is still visiting every day... He's still as shy as when I first saw him, he won't fly away if he sees me in the garden but doesn't like me being too close. He lets me get a bit closer if I have some food though!

He spent most of the summer trying to find a mate as he cooed like mad whenever a wood pigeon was in the garden, although he didn't seem to have much luck. I have seen him a couple of times sitting on the roof with a wood pigeon though.

I didn't see him last winter so I'm wondering for how much longer I will see him now that summer is over.


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## amyable

He is really a great looking bird. Got a slight identity problem though if he's trying to chat up a Woodie!! 

I see one just like that at my local Tescos and he has a yellow band. I can get quite close to feed but he's obviously fully integrated into the feral flock now so I just feed him and hope he'll be happy living the wild life now.
I had one last summer that came everyday but was very wary and would fly off if I went out. I asked someone to carry on feeding her while we were away on holiday but I don't think he did so every day and sadly I never saw her after we came back. You just have to hope she moved on to another place where they get regular food.

I'd just keep feeding yours and hopefully he'll make it through the winter with lots of good food available.

thanks for the update,

Janet


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## Oaznxe

amyable said:


> He is really a great looking bird. Got a slight identity problem though if he's trying to chat up a Woodie!!


I'm starting to think he doesn't have a loft to go to, in which case he probably doesn't get to see any other racers to mate with. I'd really like it if another racer came to my garden to keep him company, I did see another but she/he only visited twice.


> I'd just keep feeding yours and hopefully he'll make it through the winter with lots of good food available.


Yes, I'm definitely going to make sure there's lots of food available. I have one of these feeding stations with a tray attached, I'm going to order a couple more trays just so there's always plenty there as him and the local woodies easily gobble it up it in less than a day.


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## Libis

Oaznxe said:


> I'm starting to think he doesn't have a loft to go to, in which case he probably doesn't get to see any other racers to mate with. I'd really like it if another racer came to my garden to keep him company, I did see another but she/he only visited twice.
> 
> Yes, I'm definitely going to make sure there's lots of food available. I have one of these feeding stations with a tray attached, I'm going to order a couple more trays just so there's always plenty there as him and the local woodies easily gobble it up it in less than a day.


Yeah, but if he changed bands for different races--then he's gotta be going home eventually and then returning to visit you periodically right?


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## Oaznxe

Libis said:


> Yeah, but if he changed bands for different races--then he's gotta be going home eventually and then returning to visit you periodically right?


The bands on his legs have changed but not for at least 6 months. 

The main reason I think he has no loft to go to is because I ran out of seed and I didn't get round to buying any more, assuming he would get fed somewhere else. Pretty soon he started looking unhealthy, he lost weight and feathers. I'm glad to see that after a month of making sure there was always plenty of food (esp. lots of his favourite seed: sunflower), he looks healthy again. This makes me think I'm actually his only source of food.

Maybe he does have a loft, I don't know for sure. He must have had one last winter because I didn't see him at all. But if for some reason it's gone I'm wondering how he will cope when it gets really cold.


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## Libis

Oaznxe said:


> The bands on his legs have changed but not for at least 6 months.
> 
> The main reason I think he has no loft to go to is because I ran out of seed and I didn't get round to buying any more, assuming he would get fed somewhere else. Pretty soon he started looking unhealthy, he lost weight and feathers. I'm glad to see that after a month of making sure there was always plenty of food (esp. lots of his favourite seed: sunflower), he looks healthy again. This makes me think I'm actually his only source of food.
> 
> Maybe he does have a loft, I don't know for sure. He must have had one last winter because I didn't see him at all. But if for some reason it's gone I'm wondering how he will cope when it gets really cold.


I guess you've been selected as his new owner then. Little guy must like you but just not want picked up. I wonder if you should maybe catch him before winter so he's safe from hawks inside. (The predators get very hungry in the winter and will be trying harder to catch him.)


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## Oaznxe

Libis said:


> I guess you've been selected as his new owner then. Little guy must like you but just not want picked up. I wonder if you should maybe catch him before winter so he's safe from hawks inside. (The predators get very hungry in the winter and will be trying harder to catch him.)


I'd love to but I honestly don't think I could ever catch him. The closest he will come to me is about 2 feet and then if I so much as move my head a couple of inches he will dart away. Even if I could catch him, I don't have anywhere suitable I could keep him.


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## Libis

Oaznxe said:


> I'd love to but I honestly don't think I could ever catch him. The closest he will come to me is about 2 feet and then if I so much as move my head a couple of inches he will dart away. Even if I could catch him, I don't have anywhere suitable I could keep him.


Well, if you ever do need to catch him, either get him really distracted with food and grab him, or get him really distracted with food and throw a light blanket over him (which is what I do with my birds even in the house.)


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## Oaznxe

Oh dear, we've had a cold snap in Staffordshire this morning and I came home to see him sitting on the floor not looking his best. He never sits on the floor. I approached him and he flew onto the fence and I can see his wing doesn't look right.

He doesn't look well at all. I would take him inside as I think I could catch him now but it's not my house. Any ideas on what I can do?


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## amyable

Hi,

I don't suppose you're anywhere near to Amerton Farm, the British Wildlife Centre. If so you could take it there as they care for injured birds and have 'hospital' facilities and aviaries.

Although it's not your house, would you be allowed to at least contain the bird indoors to at least get a good look to try and establish what might be wrong?

Whereabouts in Staffordshire are you in case there's any other options?

Janet


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## November-X-Scourge

AWWW! CUTIE!!! (don't I say this every time someone posts a pic of a pigeon? -_-)


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## pigiesNdovies

OMG he looks like 1 that used 2 court a hen that was nestin on top of my dad's house roof while I came out side to practice my cheerleadin routines


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