Floyd and Zelda

[ZeldaCA]

Hi everyone!

My name is Zelda and I have recently become the foster-mom to Floyd, a baby pigeon. We live in Central CA. I found Floyd just after Thanksgiving, huddled at the curb of the drive-thru lane of our dry cleaners. I asked the cashier there how long he had been there and he said at least two days. He said he had not seen any parents and that people had been trying to feed him crackers and french fries, with no success. He was only about half feathered, and looked like he was not well (I do a lot of unofficial avain rehab in the small town where I live, but have no experience with pigeons). But I figured this was a bad place for him, and there was no other place to put him which would be safe and which would allow the parents to reconnect with him, so I picked him up (he was so weak and tired he didn't even react) and brought him home.

Over the next couple of days we worked out a feeding system, and I got him rehydrated and nourished. He's now weaned, has beautiful feathers, and is learning to fly.

The problem of course is now whether he can be safely released or not. I would not do it now, as its too cold at night here and he's been indoors for five weeks, living in our master bathroom. But eventually I would like him to have as much of a normal life as he could. But I'm afraid to release him here. I have a hawk who pops in to the yard occasionally, and all my neighbors have swimming pools. And he is SO tame, he will approach any human with no fear at all! He's very bonded to everyone. I'm very afraid he's going to try and land on someone in or out of their pool, or just on the street! There are a flock of pigeons who are in the neighborhood though.....is it possible for him to hook up with this flock and learn appropriate predator fear? Or should I be heading over to your wonderful "adoptions" page and looking for a kind soul with an aviary where he could live out his life safely. He's SO loving and intelligent, I just can't stand the thought of releasing him and then having something bad happen.

You all have much more experience with pigeons than I do, so I'm hoping you can offer some sage advice. Anyone?

[maryjane]

Hi, and welcome to the site. You're in the right place. Thanks for picking up this pigeon, it sounds as if he definitely needed help. I would say with any animal that is that human-friendly, his best bet would be adoption to an aviary somewhere. It wouldn't be safe for him to be in the wild and to approach people, some of whom would undoubtedly not be kind to him. Some pigeons can be raised by humans and be released with no problems adapting to a wild flock. Then, there are those who seem to prefer humans to other pigeons. . .as well as prefer the seed and water put out, a warm/dry house, and human attention. Of course, you may fall in love and opt to keep him yourself, in which case you should check in to PG Wear (pigeon diapers made by a member of our site here). Many indoor pigeons use them. We also have a lot of people in California; I am an hour North of San Francisco and have many such pigeons in my aviaries. Someone is probably closer to you than me, we shall find out as people read. Whatever you decide, please keep us updated and feel free to ask any questions or share any thoughts you may have.

[Trees Gray]

Hello and Welcome to Pigeon Talk,

Thank you for rescuing this youngster. Sounds like you did a wonderful job with him. Your concerns are shared and I understand.

You can try the adoption forum, and we may have someone in your area that will take this sweety. Can you give us a more exact location of where you live?

[mr squeaks]

Hi Zelda and Floyd and welcome to Pigeon Talk!

I agree with my fellow members that Floyd should not be released. I think your fears are justified.

I live in an apartment with ONE pigeon and 3 cats. I found Mr. Squeaks in 2003 with a badly broken wing so he cannot be released.

If he cannot be your pet, then a good home, I'm sure, can be found through our site.

Sounds like you did one marvelous job rehabbing Floyd and I'm sure that he's quite the character now...

Looking forward to postive updates about Floyd!

Shi & Squeaks

P.S. Can you post pictures of Floyd?

[ZeldaCA]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies and encouragement! I'm glad you confirmed my intuition, namely that Floyd would not be a good candidate for general release. Treesa, I live in Hanford, CA, right near the center of the state!

I am going to try and post a couple of pics of Floyd. One is when I first got him, he squeaked and flapped his wings CONSTANTLY when he'd see me, so it's a bit out of focus.

The second is a calmer, more mature Floyd (about four weeks later!) hanging around and looking handsome on our shower door. And the third is him looking extremely dapper and posing for me!

Photo Number 1:


Photo Number 2 (he's a little damp from his shower!)


Photo Number 3 (looking SO handsome!)

[mr squeaks]

Are you SURE you can't keep him???

Sure looks GREAT!!

Squeaks gets his choice of bath or shower...unless I'm in a hurry, then, it's the litter box bath!!

Many thanks for the pictures...Talk about a HAPPY HANDSOME PIJ!! WELL DONE!!

Shi & Squeaks

[TAWhatley]

Floyd is a great looking youngster! Thank you so much for rescuing and raising him! If you truly do need to find a home for him, we have a couple of members in your area that could probably take Floyd either permanently or until a permanent home can be found. Those folks are in Tulare, Visalia, and Exeter.

Terry

[Reti]

Oh my, he is such a sweet bird.
Great pics.

Reti

[ZeldaCA]

Wow! Terry, all those places are VERY close by! DH and I are discussing it at this point, but it is great to know there are places around here where he could potentially be fostered or adopted. Floyd is VERY attached to DH and I, and of course it's mutual, so that may work in my favor! He's just such a loving boy it's hard to not return the love. He loves to get into DH's hair and groom him snuggle with him.

I would love to build an aviary outside, and then bring him indoors at night to be with us. (Do pigeon diapers really work?) Do you think this would be a good life for him? He'd probably be by himself during the day, but we do get lots of birds around to the bird feeder so there would be lots of pigeons, doves, finches and sparrows in the vicinity. I do worry that he won't get the chance to get a mate, reproduce and be a "normal" bird if we do that, though, and I want him to have the best quality of life possible.

How long do pigeons generally live? And do you have to do "maintenance" on them (I've noticed his little nails are getting a little bit sharp).

Sorry to have so many questions, but we're new to this!! We really just want to ensure he has the safest and happiest life possible.

[TAWhatley]

It sounds as if Floyd is very bonded to you and your husband and vice versa. Thus, it would be best if Floyd could stay with you. The bird diapers do work. You will find many a testimonial to the diapers that our member Boni Birds makes here on the discussion board.

An outside aviary would be great .. just read a lot here about how to make it safe and predator proof for Floyd.

You can put a piece of brick or concrete paver in Floyd's cage, and he will stand on it and wear down his nails on his own. If they are seriously overgrown, it's no big deal to clip them a bit with regular human nail clippers.

There's really no reason why Floyd can't have a mate or companion, though it would be best to wait until you know for sure what sex Floyd is .. Floyd might turn out to be a Flora It is also not a big deal to simply remove any eggs that might be fertile (assuming you ended up with a pair of pigeons) and replace them with fake eggs. The birds will be happy, and you won't be overrun with baby pigeons.

I have a retired racing pigeon named Traveler that will be 21 years old on January 1. You can find a somewhat silly thread here that I have started in preparation for his 21st birthday and other threads where Traveler is mentioned by searching on Traveler. I have many other pigeons that are in the 8-18 age range, but I would say that a good average is probably 8-12 years for a well cared for pigeon.

I think you will easily find all the answers to your questions by just participating here on Pigeon-Talk, reading some of the old posts, and feeling free to ask whatever you may be wondering about.

Terry

[pigeonnewb]

Once you know the sex of floyd, let me know if you want a mate for floyd, and have built and aviary, I can give you a mate.. I am new to pigeons too, but I can give you one of my baby pigeons that just hatched recently, after they are weaned. I don't really have a big loft yet because I'm new to it, and I don't want them to be overcrowded. So if you want a mate just hollar at me. I only live in Fresno.

[ZeldaCA]

Thank you! I will make a note of it. I've felt in the back for that bone -- the one that supposedly feels divided in females, and like one solid bone in a male -- and he definitely feels "male." Plus when he's indignant about something he puffs out his chest and makes the funniest hooting sounds, like I've seen show-off male ferals do.

We'll probably wait until the daytime temps warm into the 70s before attempting to place him in an aviary, but we're not sure about a mate yet. If he's going to be inside with us a lot and only be outdoors a few hours a day, we may want him to remain bonded to us. Right now, I'm the mate I guess. He's definitely favoring me more than my DH these days.

But oh, he is SO spoiled!!! This afternoon I ran about an inch of water in the tub for him to bathe in and he lifted his wings, one at a time, and expected ME to splash water underneath them for him!! It was the funniest thing. Of course I say that about every other day -- he helps me brush me teeth, fix my hair, put on mascara, and likes being involved in every single activity I do!

We're all just totally in love with him.

BTW, do you use Dr. Hill in Fresno for your bird vet stuff? She treats my rehabs and my pet starling and she's an awesome avian vet. Love her to pieces.

Anyway, glad to hear there are other pigeon people in the area! And thank you for the offer of a mate, if we go in that direction I would love to get in touch and see who we could fix Floyd up with!

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by ZeldaCA

But oh, he is SO spoiled!!! This afternoon I ran about an inch of water in the tub for him to bathe in and he lifted his wings, one at a time, and expected ME to splash water underneath them for him!! It was the funniest thing.

ROFL! Your comment about the extra service you provided to Floyd for wing pit washing just about reduced me to hysterical laughter .. so very funny and so typical of how our little feathered beings get us trained in no time at all!

Terry

[Feather]

Zelda,

Floyd may choose you for his mate. Mr. Squeaks has chosen Shi for his mate. Shi calls it "Daddy Mode", but the little guy will sit on his fake egg, and it is really serious buisness.

It is really a miracle that little fellow sat for two days out in the open and is still alive. Some of us believe that these little critters are placed in our paths for a reason. Why were you 2 days late to pick up your dry cleaning?

Well anyways many happy days are ahead. I am so glad that Floyd rescued you, and welcome to the forum.

[mr squeaks]

Thanks for the comments about Squeaks, Feather.

Yes, indeed...either mate or daddy mode for Mr. Squeaks!!

I hear you about the "wing pits," Zelda! When Squeaks is in the shower, he will lift up a wing to have me pour a more solid stream under that wing!!

Never a dull moment...especially with Squeaks in mate mode!

Hugs and Scritche to Floyd!

Shi & Squeaks