# another pigeon



## mountainstorm (May 3, 2006)

I came along at just the right time. This fledgling has enough feathers to just catch himself as he fell. He still has a few downy yellow feather strands poking out. His wings look horrid, I guess because of sibling rivalry. There's a huge chunk of feathers missing from his right wing, and a smaller patch in the same location on the left wing. It looks like someone just yanked a large handful of feathers out. He's growing new ones, but they take time.

He's very smart. He knew to get away from me, he had to get through the chain link fence that separates the road from the overpass slope. He kept trying to squeeze through, but couldn't. When I finally scooped him up, I was relieved to feel his crop was cushiony full.

I've had him for five days now. He pecks at seeds but doesn't always swallow. I make sure he gets to watch Honeydew, my diamond dove (although he will attack her, so I make sure there's enough distance) eating.

The most amazing and charming thing he does is when he has to poop, he backs up to the edge of the couch cushion, and poops over the edge. Who would think poop would be so thrilling?! But I love it when he stops what he's doing, to back up, and DROP! Unfortunately, he hasn't quite got the hang of that when he's on a shoulder!

Last night he flew to me. I didn't expect that he could fly with his wing feathers all torn up, but he can fly about three feet. He flew to my lap, and later he flew up to my shoulder! Its the most amazing thing when a wild or feral animal trusts you enough to come to you. My Honeydew still won't come to me. My fiance reassures me that its not me, it's Honeydew's small size that makes her more fearful. 

I have named him Coal, because he's a regular gray barred pigeon, with almost-black tail tips. Once his feathers grow back (his head too, is growing feathers), he'll be quite handsome. 

Rach and Honeydew, Coalie, and the cats (Mika and Kamea)

PS. I watch the cats very carefully.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Coal sounds like a delightful bird.
Be sure he's eating enough. You may need to hand feed him for a while until he really gets the hang of it.
Of course, we'd love to see a picture.


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## Noisy_minor (Jun 20, 2008)

yes pictures would be great. are you going to keep him/her i think yes would be a good answer lol. poop is amazing i will agree. when i was hand raising my little minor bird i always felt a sigh of relief when she did a nice healthy looking poop (im not crazy). good work saving the little fella. sounds like hes got it good where heis now.


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