# Woodpigeon Woes in Manchester/Cheshire UK



## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

Hey all,
I'm new to this site and have no experience of keeping pigeons or anything really. I've rescued a couple of buzzards in the past but that's all. 
I was driving home last night at about 7 (after dark) and there was a juvenille woodpigeon just sat on the edge of the road. I got out and he didn't move until i was within 3 feet. I tried the old jumper toss that works with birds of prey and the woodpigeon scampered awayfrom under it. He's evidently mobile and fairly alert. After a minute or two i managed to capture him and wrapped him up in the jumper. From what i've seen he has no tail feathers left and although he can flap his wings a bit i'm not convinced they're working. 
I put him in a box in the greenhouse overnight with some sunflower hearts and water and this morning he seemed fairly perky and alert again. I'm worried about letting him go in case he's badly injured and also because of the number of resident cats in the area. 
Can anyone help me? 
Many Thanks,
Jonny


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Hi Jonny

Good of you to take him in.

Quite agree, he would be at risk just wandering about, and would probably not find sufficient food anyway.

If he has no obvious injuries (including under wings), puncture wounds, etc. he may be just not strong enough to fly, or have an illness. If you can check inside his beak, is it pink and clear?

Here is a link to list of rescue facilities who are - as far as is known - pigeon friendly. Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire have entries. There's also info about baby and not so baby pigeon care, and on woodies.

Do keep us updated and ask any questions you wish.

John


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

good point 

http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/rescuecentres.htm


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## PigeonQueen (Aug 13, 2006)

Hi Jonny, If the Woodie has lost his tail feathers and you found him at the side of the road , he may have been hit by a car. It takes about five weeks for the tail feathers to grow again.

If you are looking for somewhere to take the Woodpigeon where it can be checked out and looked after until ready for release, there is South Manchester Wildlife Centre, Alderley Edge, not far from Wilmslow. I have spoken to Martin who says you could phone him tomorrow (Wednesday) on 07950 867353 to discuss bringing in the Woodpigeon.

Alternatively, there is also the RSPCA Wildlife Hospital in Nantwich in Cheshire.
I am told they are sympathetic towards pigeons and you could give them a call to find out what they can offer. Their phone number is 0870 442 7102 
They are in stapeley grange london road, stapeley, nantwich, cheshire cw5 7jw.

Please let us know how you get on best wishes Jayne


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

Thanks Jayne,
Just to let you know i've taken him/her to Lower Moss Wildlife Hospital and they think he was attacked by a hawk. I guess he was halfway through being plucked and managed to escape. Apparently he's in decent condition and should be ok for release once the tail feathers regrow. Yesterday was pretty amusing because apparently a family member went to check on him whilst i was at work and he managed to escape. He was seen at the bottom of the garden under the feeders getting bullied by some adult woodies and by the time i got home for lunch to take him to the hospital he'd gone awol. I was livid!! When i got home that evening though, there he was again, sitting at the end of the garden under the feeder very forlorn as he had been when i'd picked him up on Monday night. Was a bit of an effort to recapture him too and involved wading through shrubs on the fenceline. Seems to have ended well though!


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## PigeonQueen (Aug 13, 2006)

Hi Jonny, So glad you were able to catch the Woodie. They do not fly very well without tail feathers.Thanks very much for updating us. I am sure the Woodie will be fine now. Thanks for caring- much appreciated. Best wishes Jayne


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm a birder so naturally i love birds but unlike most i actually really like woodpigeons. They're great characters. It's so funny when they take a shower when it rains by lifting their wings and i've seen them go into ponds to take a swim in the past too. I also have a resident woodie that i've nicknamed 'clunk' as she has a problem with her foot that means she basically waks with her toes curled into a fist. She's so comical when she's on the bird bath as her balance isn't amazing and she's constantly falling in. My dad who's also a birder said she'd be a gonner but she's been coming back to feed for months now and i noticed that she also has a mate. Both are doing really well.


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## amyable (Jul 7, 2007)

Hi Jonny,

Well done for getting the Woodie the help he needed, and thanks Jayne for steeping in with such good info for rescue centres.

I too have loads of Woodies and youngsters around at the mo, but like you I have a particular one that sounds as if she has the same problem Clunk has.
I call mine Limpy, not very original I know.
SHe's been around for most of this year and although she has this curled up foot, seems to be in great health.
I can always spot her though amongst the crowd as she walks with a stiff leg stretched out as a result of the deformed foot and sits with it in the bath quite often, I assume this must help with the pain as it does look very painful when she walks.

Glad to meet another Woodie fan, do hope your latest rescue has a great new life when he's released.

Well done,

Janet


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

Does Limpy fly with the leg always hanging down too? You can always tell Clunk from this. During the spring she was displaying with her leg hanging down, she was quite a sight!


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## amyable (Jul 7, 2007)

jonnybravo said:


> Does Limpy fly with the leg always hanging down too? You can always tell Clunk from this. During the spring she was displaying with her leg hanging down, she was quite a sight!


Not sure about that but she doesn't have much control over the leg. If she's trying to perch on the fence or a tree branch, it just hangs down so I'd guess it does hang while she flies aswell.

I tried to catch her a while ago as I wanted to make sure it wasn't a string injury holding the foot in a ball. Unfortunately the trap didn't fall quick enough so I never caught her, but I have been able to look at her really close through a one way glass door we have and I can't see anything wrapped round the foot.
Such a shame as it does look painful when she walks.

Janet


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

It looks the same when Clunk walks, she really does hobble about but she seems happy and energetic enough. I'll have to upload a few videos that i shot of her in the garden. I think Woodies are such characters and it's such a shame they're so widely misunderstood by the general public. It's always a comfort for me to see one perched on a lamppost or flying across the sky when i'm driving.


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## amyable (Jul 7, 2007)

jonnybravo said:


> It's always a comfort for me to see one perched on a lamppost or flying across the sky when i'm driving.


LOL. I know exactly what you mean. I'm quite a liability on the road as I'm always looking out for the birds.
I have to admit to saying 'Hi' to the Woodies on the lamp posts as I go along.

I die a million deaths when one takes off at low level and narrowly misses being hit by a car.. I find myself shouting at them ' Woodie don't do that',  and have even stopped the traffic if I see one in the road and it's a bit slow at getting out of the way!!! 

Just love 'em.

Would be very interested to see Clunk's walk if you get time.

Janet


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm exactly the same when i drive and embarrassingly enough i also say hi woodie to every woodie i see - oh the shame!


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

I've just been told the woodie i rescued last week was well enough to be released. Great news although i'm a bit puzzled as it hd no tail feathers when i took him in. Will he be able to fly well enough to avoid predation?


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

also Yesssssssss! I'm no longer a squab


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## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

jonnybravo said:


> also Yesssssssss! I'm no longer a squab


congratulations 
you should be eating seeds on your own & learning to fly soon


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## amyable (Jul 7, 2007)

Quazar said:


> congratulations
> you should be eating seeds on your own & learning to fly soon


LOL  

Jonny, As far as I can recall they can fly without full tail feathers but steering might be an issue. Shame they couldn't hang onto it a bit longer but I'm sure they know what's ok. Good luck to it anyway.

Janet


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

I'd have loved to release it just to see it one more time. I felt so bad at the time for capturing it (twice!). Would've closed things off nicely to be able to see it go but i understand the great pressure wildlife centres are under. My record isn't so great at the moment though. Rescued 1 buzzard, 1 wp. put to sleep 1, never saw again 1.


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

Unbelievably another juvenille woodie was sat on the drive on Saturday according to my family. Apparently he didn't even move when they tried to get onto the drive. All fethers were intact, however a local cat was threatening so they chased the woodie into cover and by the time they went to check later he'd gone. The number of bird strikes on our windows could account for this. It's unbelievable how many we've had. The juv's are obviously having a hard time of it where i am!


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

*Re: tail feathers*

Hello Jonnybravo,

On September 4, 2007 I was on the way home from attending the preliminary hearings in judicial proceedings in Cologne, Germany, for a guy from Bonn who was caught by police with a bag of 19 dead and injured pigeons which he had trapped on the Kölner Dom (cathedral of Cologne), I rescued a young feral male pigeon squeaker, *Luxie-311* (found under the train bridge on Luxemburgerstrasse in Cologne, his initial weight was 311 grams) who was hanging around on the ledge too close to passersby, without moving out of their way. He had no use of his tail. I would hold him in my cupped hands, my hands under his wings, and lift him up and down a couple of times rapidly to test his reflexes. He would flap his wings. When I tipped him forwards and backwards, he did not try to compensate for being tipped off-balance by moving his tail up and down.

I had rescued another pigeon (*Wieteke*, a diminutive name meaning little "wee-er" or little squeaker," named by my Belgian wife), probably an older brother of Luxie-311, in almost the exact same spot one year earlier, on August 23, 2005. Wieteke couldn't use his legs. I suspected paratyphoid/salmonellosis, gave him some cotrim/bactrim antibiotic treatment, and he grew up to be a normal male pigeon raising several sets of youngsters at our place, a pet with a feral female mate.

To get back to Luxie-311: I took him to a vet, who opined that Luxie-311 would regain use of his tail in a week or two. Luxie-311 was sprouting feathers all over, and the vet said that this was an energy-intensive (nutritionally demanding) process for a young bird. I didn't use antibiotics. Luxie-311 never gained (or re-gained) the use of his tail.

I took some video clips of Luxie-311 flying and negotiating landings with his paralyzed tail. He lacked the maneuverability of the other normal pigeons. He courted another one of my rescues, a female named *Bronzi* (bronze-colored feathering). Couldn't swish the ground with his tail the way a normal male rock dove pigeon would. Figured he wouldn't be able to normally impregnate a female.

Because of our living situation, all of our rescues who could fly free lived on the street with the local flock, although some came to visit. I last saw Luxie-311 around April 6, 2008, when he was less than a year old. Also noticed a bunch of small feathers on the street close to our apartment. I think a falcon or other raptor caught him. 

On April 13th or so I noticed that the female Bronzi had a large swelling below her left eye, adjoining the beak. Made video clips of her, freeze-framed them and studied enlarged views of the swelling, and figured she had pox. Couldn't catch her. Watched her live an apparently normal life. On April 24th, the last day I saw her, I noted in my log:


> Bronzi is a bit clumsy; when startled between two cars where she is feeding she bumps into the cars. The swelling under her left eye looks a bit blackish; maybe drying out. Doesn’t seem larger, maybe a bit smaller. Hard to tell.


I enjoyed watching and interacting with them, during their seemingly all-too-brief lives. 

I've seen a few pigeons without tail feathers flying. They seem to manage.

Larry


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

Just to let everyone know it does seem that the woodpigeon was released ok and that he's out in the wild somewhere. i've now started volunteering at Lower Moss Wood and it's been excellent. my first job was to clear out hedgehogs who are unfeasibly mucky considering their size. after that however i got onto the juv woodies and i was in my element. hand fed at least half a dozen and cleared out a couple of ferals. one thing that i think would really help at the centre is knowledge of what bad poops look like so that i can identify any potential problems before they become major. it'd be awesome if someone could help me out so that i can make sure the release rate is as high as possible.


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

by the way, if anyone does need a woodie or whatever rescuing in south manchester i'm now in a position to help. i'm happy to pass my number on to an admin just in case.


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## amyable (Jul 7, 2007)

That's a great update on the Woodie. So good when you see them strong enough to go back to their life in the wild. I hope your Woodie is ok.

Also so good that you've found a way of helping the rescue centre out. You'll get some really useful first hand experience to offer other folks too.
Do hope you'll keep your eye on things here now you have some hands on knowledge.

I know when I did some work at a local centre I also had the job of cleaning out the hedgehogs. Boy did they stink !! 

Thanks for the offer of help for Woodies too.
Would you have any objection to sending me a PM with your contact details in case I come across anyone needing help there.

Out of interest, what is the policy at Lower Moss Wood if a Woodie turns out to be unreleasable. Are they given a home there?
It's always a worry as to where any such rescues can go if they sustain an injury that renders them unable to fly but are healthy otherwise.

Thanks

Janet


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## jonnybravo (Oct 19, 2010)

I'll definitely keep an eye out on here and offer help when needed. I can't get enough of my new little juv. friends at the centre. I really wish i could go back and help every day instead of being office bound! 
Not sure what the policy is on non fliers although i'll find out. Can anyone confirm if green poops are definitely starvation as i've read inconsistent reports and ideally it'd be useful to know if some of them still need hand feeding. Also, do pigeons always need grit to aid digestion? If so, i think the centre may need to get a supply.


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## amyable (Jul 7, 2007)

Hi Jonny,

As far as green poops go, it depends on what type of green really as my resident pigeons eat a lot of greens and so their poops does tend to be green on occasions.
The bad starvation green poops are generally quite dark and tarry with little or no white urates due to dehydration also.
A thin under nourished bird passing dark green poops is a sign to watch for.

Very yellowy poops can be connected to things like canker and also liver problems.

There is a Sticky in one of the Sections, that covers the subject of poops which you might find interesting. The trouble with identifying poops is that they can be influenced very much by their diet aswell.
Another thing my birds eat is red grit and their poops are a very deep rusty red with that, so poops are a good indication of problems but is by no means a black and white way of diagnosing illnesses.

Also you asked about them needing grit.
Pigeons do benefit from eating grit but one thing I have noticed is that the Woodies in my garden don't bother with it.
I always throw out any leftover seeds my resident pigeons leave each day and that always has some grit amongst it. The Woodies come down and enjoy finishing the seeds off for me but the grit is always left on the ground.
So it's not a bad thing for the aviary pigeons to have it in a separate dish so they can choose to eat it if they wish, but I think you'll find it's more the ferals who will take it.

Look forward to hearing how things are going with your new 'juv' friends.

Janet


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