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I found a banded pigeon—what now?

9/9/2018

9 Comments

 
It was a slooooow week, with few calls and no intakes. There was a call from a vet clinic in the Atlanta area about a common nighthawk with a wing fracture that was supposed to be headed this way, and they even very kindly emailed their x-rays; however, the bird never arrived and they never bothered to let me know if it had died, been transferred to another rehabber in the metro area, or what.  And with vet clinics being closed on weekends, it’ll be Monday before I can follow up and see what this poor bird’s fate was.

The great horned owls are still in the raptor flight; the goal is to get them out this week. They’re flying well enough to be released now.
​
The red tail I was convinced had mucked himself up last week caught a lucky break—which is probably a poor choice of words, all things considered. His original fracture of the ulna is healing adequately, but he has a minor fracture at the head of the radius. Since he’s come this far and seems to be healing well, we’re giving him time to see how this will impact his flight ability.
Picture
Picture
Original x-ray, Aug. 13
Picture
Last week's x-ray
One of the few calls last week was from a woman who’d found a banded pigeon and wondered what she should do. Since that question comes up at least every couple of months, let me address it here for your edification.

Banded pigeons are racing, or homing, pigeons. Breeders spend vast sums raising them, vaccinating them (they can’t race without a clean bill of health), banding them…and then they load them up, drive several hundred miles from home, release the birds, drive back home, and wait to see how many make it back. Yeah, when you find the logic in that, please let me know.

These birds have no idea how to find food on their own; they’ve been captive raised and had their food provided. They fly until they literally drop from exhaustion and/or hunger, and if they’re lucky, some kind soul sees them and makes sure they have food and water for the several days it takes them to rebuild their energy reserves to complete their journey. Frequently, they become raptor food. Hey, when the buffet is provided…

So what can YOU do if you find a banded pigeon? First, provide food and water; the bird needs both desperately at this point.  A regular wild bird seed mix will be fine; scratch feed is also good. DO NOT offer bread; bread is NOT a suitable food for ANY wildlife.

Once you’ve taken care of the pigeon’s immediate needs, you need to locate the owner. The band contains the info you need to do so. Details on how to do that can be found here: https://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm

Once you’ve located the owner, you can contact him/her to let them know you have their bird. Here’s where it can get downright infuriating. Some owners will flat-out tell you that since the bird didn’t finish the race, they don’t care what you do with it. Others will immediately get directions from you to come get their bird. It’s hit and miss; I’ve had both experiences.

If the owner falls into the “Oh God, I want to strangle you through the phone” category, congratulations, you have a pet pigeon.  He may or may not be socialized, but with time and patience you can have a very affectionate bird. But the homing instinct will always be there, so he can’t be allowed to fly freely, or he’ll be on his way to his “home” where he’s no longer welcome; you’ll need some sort of enclosure (like a flight pen) that will allow him to stretch his wings and fly. Plenty of pigeon breeding sites will provide info on appropriate enclosures, so have fun researching that for yourself.

What, did you think I was gonna do ALL the work for you? That’s what Google’s for!
9 Comments
sandz
9/9/2018 06:04:52 pm

Great info about the banded pigeons, Ive been wanting to know (but didnt google). One was brought to the NYU nest last season, bet he was tasty?

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
9/9/2018 06:15:39 pm

At the very least, healthy--no frounce to infect the hawks.

Reply
Joy
9/9/2018 08:29:34 pm

A few years ago I found an injured (not life threatening) pigeon that was banded. Everyone though I was crazy trying to find its owner. Once I did he was so happy and his friend picked it up for him. A week later I got a thank card and a gift card. I was shock. That bird made it luckly.
Thank you again for all you do. Wild birds would be at such a lose without you and so would I. :)

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
9/9/2018 08:41:36 pm

He was one of the lucky ones whose owner actually cared. Thanks!

Reply
Ann Feldman
9/9/2018 09:00:26 pm

What is "scratch" food? Once Lincoln Karim posted a video of a white pigeon with two bands that Pale Male was eating. Did you see my post from the NYtimes about the Gulls in Rome? Included in the article was the fact that the idiots at the Vatican are still releasing doves to celebrate whatever. The Gulls get every one. Stupidity has no borders.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
9/9/2018 09:20:56 pm

Scratch feed is corn, millet, oats, wheat, etc., some ground and some whole, sold primarily for chickens, who need to "scratch" the ground for their food--it's instinctive behavior. Wonder why a pigeon would be double-banded...maybe original owner sold to new owner? I was under the impression the Vatican had stopped the dove releases after several aerial massacres right after release. Yep, stupidity is universal...

Reply
Nick
9/12/2018 01:45:45 am

I love seeing your informative posts about topics like this. This one's close to home because over the summer, our clinic got an exhausted homing pigeon in; we built his strength back up and our managers made numerous attempts to contact the original owner, with me even contacting the pigeon racing union and talking with someone there to see if they could contact the owner. He never got back to anyone, not even the racing union, after nearly a month, and after some discussion with my partner, we chose to take him in. The alternative was the clinic surrendering him to a local animal shelter, and given his age[13, according to his bands!] and his stress levels, I worried too much about how he'd handle a shelter environment.

He settled in alright. He's incredibly skittish still, but he eats well and takes care of himself, feather quality and body condition are good and he'll tolerate me being close to the cage while he preens and forages. I do what I can to earn his trust, but as long as he's comfortable I'm satisfied even if he never does decide to trust me.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
9/12/2018 07:32:50 pm

Good for you for taking the pigeon in; a shelter environment would have likely been too stressful.

Reply
Gregg Miller
5/10/2021 07:20:39 pm

We had found a banded pigeon with a tag that says Japan 2020.This were the pigeon at Oahu Daniel K Inouye Elementary School

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