a young pigeon has fallen from nest....I think!!

[gordita86]

Hi all,
Hope you can help me. I found this morning in my garden a young pigeon wondering around. It seems the young of a common street pigeon. It drinks water by himself and tries to fly a little but with no luck. Everytime it sees other pigeons coming to feed, it goes close to them and asks for food or help (I suppose). I have put a bucket on its side with some newspaper in it to see if perhaps spends the night there. If I go close, it walks away and hides under bushes. What can I do? I don't know where his nest is and don't want to handle him because it makes him nervous. I have also left some bread near the dish with water. It doesn't eat but it does drink. Please help!!.

[Pidgey]

Gordita,

Welcome to Pigeons.com. You're probably going to have to "rescue" the little guy, if possible. A pigeon usually can't live on the ground very long before a cat will get it. It's nest is unreachable in this case.

He probably doesn't know how to eat on his own and you will probably need to teach him. You can keep him in a simple box with a bowl of wild bird seed or some other things until his wings get strong enough to fly--shouldn't take but a few days. Most birds do not recognize bread as a food.

Pidgey

[Reti]

Please take the baby inside. Leaving him out most likely will make him some predator's meal.
You can place him in a cage, carrier or box.
If he is drinking than he should also be eating in the next few days.
Bread is not too nutritious for pigeons. Wild bird seed or better a pigeon mix is what he should be fed.
If you have nothing on hand now, you can give him dried peas, corn (unsalted), lentils, millet, flaxseeds, whaet, barley. You can make a mix of those and see if will eat.
He might like smaller seeds first.
Please let us know if he is eating.

Thank you for caring for this little one.

Reti

[Birdmom4ever]

Welcome to Pigeons.com and thank you for your concern for this youngster. It sounds as though he recently left the nest and doesn't quite know what to do yet. Is he fully feathered? Does he still have tufts of yellow down on his head? Since you aren't comfortable handling him or trying to catch him, why don't you try tossing a little seed at the edge of the bushes where he is hiding and see if he picks at it. Young birds just out of the nest sometimes take awhile to catch on, but they do have the instinct to pick at small, round objects and he will probably figure it out. A small pan of water placed within easy reach would also be helpful. If he's recently left the nest but is not injured, he should do fine. They sometimes leave the nest before they are proficient flyers.

[Pidgey]

Gordita,

Don't worry about making the pigeon nervous by catching it--a cat eating it will make it feel much worse. When you get him in a box, you can "peck" with your finger or a pencil point in a bowl of bird seed and he will eventually figure it out. He might pick seeds up for awhile and drop them, but if he starves enough he'll "get" it.

In the worst case, he might need you to manually open his beak and pop a few seeds in but that's just not that hard. If he struggles too much, you can always wrap him up in a towel to make a "pigeon burrito" so that just his head is sticking out. It's real simple after that. Dried peas and plain, unsalted, unbuttered popcorn kernels are best. Thawed frozen whole corn and peas work, too.

You're obviously a kind soul and this actually gets fun once you get into it. It takes about three days before the youngster starts bouncing up and down with joy at the sight of you. Does he have any yellow hairs sticking up from his feathers?

Pidgey

[gordita86]

Hi all,

thanks for your help.
I have managed to catch him and I've put them in the shed in my garden. He has a bed with newspaper and kitchen paper; although he prefered standing on a bottle!!! I have put water and peas (not dried....) I will try and find some tomorrow (all closed now as I'm in london). I have also put some kornflakes mixed with water........ (all I have). I shall go and find some proper food tomorrow first thing..... Is what I have done right for the moment? any other things I can do? he is warm. He is fully feathered and no yellow bits on his head so I suppose he was trying to fly but he is ot an expert yet. do I still need to hand feed him? thanks!

[Reti]

I guess it is too late now and he is sleeping.
See if he eats in the morning, he should be hungry enough and at least try to get some food. If he is not eating, you will have to feed him.

Reti

[Pidgey]

Well,

Since you're in London, we ought to get you with John and Cynthia as they are in the UK and will be on the same time. Here at Pigeons.com they are:

"cyro51" and "John_D"

They will also have the benefit of speaking proper English (I'm from the Suthun' States)!

I will email them both with this post and they'll pick you up if they haven't already.

Thanks again for your kindness!

Pidgey

[gordita86]

That's excellent news!! hope they get in touch. Little "Julio Cesar" ( I have already named the little lost fella or...could be a a female........ not sure). He's probably slepping now and hopefully he is comfortable or at least warm. I still have some concerns on feeding and bedding in hot days (my shed can get very warm when it's sunny. Would love to have more comments and advice so that Julio hopefully learns to fly and can be healthy and free.

[Feefo]

Hi Gordita, how is Julio Cesar today?

I have found street pigeons that looked fully grown up but hadn't got the eating and flying thing right. I don't know why that happens. However, just check him for cat bites "just in case", specially under the wings.

Offer him some wild bird food but if he doesn't take to that then you will have to "force feed" by soaking some dog biscuits in water, opening the pigeon's beak and gently pushing the food to the back of the mouth. The pigeon will usually swallow the food.

One of our former London members contacted Carla Lane about rehab and Carla was able to put her in in touch with a local person with a release aviary. http://www.carlalane.com/animaline/news.html , someone else was favourably impressed with the provision at the FOAL farm in Kent http://www.foalfarm.org.uk/

My garden shed gets a bit too hot for keeping pigeons in even with the door open. If the weather gets hot again perhaps you could borrow a rabbit hutch and keep him outside in that, taking him indoors to test his wings.

BTW, what is your Spanish connection?

Cynthia

[gordita86]

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply. Julio Cesar seems fine. I went to the pet shop this morning and got some seeds for him. He seems lively and even saw him trying to fly and jump on to things. He seems to also like standing in a corner and relax. Because I have him in the shed and no cage, I can see that the seeds have been disturbed but I am not sure if he is eating. I think I saw him picking some up but not sure if he ate them... What's the best thing to do? the only way of knowing if he is eating or not is wait a few days to see what happens to the seeds and in that time he might be very hungry..not sure.

The spanish connection is that I am from Colombia (south america)....
the name just kind of suited him .

My plan is to keep him until he is strong enough to fly and fend for himself; but the first thing is his benefit and as I am not an expert, do you think that the best thing to do is to take him to a rescue center?

[John_D]

Hi,

i think it would be best to clear up the seeds at the end of the day. If you put them in a little pot of some kind, and jut scatter a few around it, he may then be tempted to dive in - if he is not already eating them. That he is picking them up is good, anyway, as it sounds like he at least is interested and should soon understand that they are food.

I would try to establish, still, if he is taking any - it won't be good for him to not eat for more than a day if he doesn't yet understand fully.

Obviously, a pot of water is very important, too, fresh t least each morning - maybe even a shallow bath (something the size of a seed tray or small catlitter tray) could be helpful in this warm weather.

Best way to tell if he is eating at all is check his crop - we have a pic which shows Cynthia checking a fledglings crop to give an idea of where it is, if you are not sure. I shall find it and post it, unless Cynthia has it handy and sees this.

John

[Feefo]

Hi Gordita,

The best way of telling whether a pigeon is eating is by his poops. If he doesn't eat then he will pass very small dark green poops. Plenty of larger poops means that he is eating well.

I am also from South America...born in Uruguay and brought up in Chile.

Cynthia

[John_D]

Duh! Silly me - andme normally so keen on checking poop

John

[gordita86]

Hi cynthia and John...the poo experts...
Well, hi is resting on a shelf this morning...I still don't see if he has eaten any grains or not. His poo varies... I saw yesterday a few little paddles of water some of them with a tiny center of some colour...(brown it seems..maybe). This morning there are a few little white things (on the outside) and with a brownish center...does that sound like good news?
Sounds more like describing a cadburys cream egg..