Found a pigeon, can he/she feed himself

[jimothy]

Hi

My wife and I found a pigeon in our driveway this morning. From looking at Sara's pics I would say he is about 4 weeks old, maybe a little less. Most of his wing feathers are grown but he still has traces of down on top of all his feathers.

We think he must have been out on the ground all night last night without being eaten which is a bit of a miracle. So far today we have dripped water onto his head which caused him to raise his neck and try to catch some of the drips. This has seemed to perk him up a lot already. An adult pigeon has been roosting in a branch over him most of the day. Is this likely to be a parent? Unfortunately dusk is now approaching and I'm worried predators will take him. We are near the mountains north of LA and so get coyotes, racoons, possums etc.

I have now put him in a box with tirn up newspaper, some water and some crushed cereal in water in there with him. At the moment the box is on the ground outside as I was nervous about removing him from the place the mother knows he is at. Should I move the box or leave it? I have two large dogs in the house and secured back yard so I can't really bring him in there.

Assuming he makes it through the night I was planning on taking him back out of the box tomorrow so I can try to reunite the family again. However, should I be hand feeding him or will he eat from a bowl? Also, should I be feeding him anything in particular.

Thanks for the help

Jim

[KIPPY]

I would bring the bird in, leaving him outside is not a good idea.

[bklowe]

I would not leave this bird outside. From your description it sounds as if s/he is likely still being fed by the parents ( I did not see Sara's pictures ). But I would make sure s/he is kept warm and out of draft's. Monitor his food and water containers to determine if s/he is trying to eat/drink. If you have any bird seed you could put that in the container also.
Thanks for helping this youngster. I am sure others will be along to help also.

[Rockie]

To repeat...definitely bring the box with the baby pigeon inside. He would be very lucky to make it through the night outside on the ground.

Don't be afraid to keep him in your house tonight, in the box, where no other pets can get to him. Someplace quiet and warm is good, even if it is a closet for the night.

Good luck. I'm sure someone else will respond with baby pigeon feeding etc. info. Thanks for helping the little baby.

[KIPPY]

The bird is too low to the ground the parent will not go near it (especially at night.) I've tried that with baby pigeons and they died. I have never had any luck reuniting baby pigeons with parents that fell out of the tree. Sparrows and some other birds, I have had luck but for me it never worked with pigeons.
I would bring the little guy inside and put him on a heating pad set on low in a confined area. The birds I find end up in my laundry room. I would put a small bowl of water and a bowl of wild bird seed. You can introduce him to the water by dipping the Tip of his beak to it or maybe splashing it to get his curiosity going. Same with the food put some on the towel and see what he does. I think he should be able to eat bird seed.

Someone should be on soon to help you out.

[Reti]

Please, listen to the advice the other members gave you.
Bring him inside and give him food and water.
If you don't have any seeds, you can give him thawed peas, corn, lentils, anything small enough he can eat, the crushed cereal is ok too.
Make sure he eats and drinks.

If you take him in for the night and then put him back out in the morning, please make sure he can fly. If he cannot fly, I would not leave him out there by himself, even if the parents are around.
From what you describe it should be only a matter of days until he can fly.

Please, keep us updated on this baby.
Thank you so much for caring for him. Good luck.

Reti

[TAWhatley]

Hi Jim,

Yes, the baby definitely needs to be brought in for the night and cared for. If you are anywhere near the Ojai Raptor Center (Oakview, CA), please contact me ASAP by e-mail at TAWhatley@earthlink.net or by phone at (949) 584-6696, and I will put you in touch with a pigeon rehabber from there. Her name is Beth Garcia, and she can help you with the bird.

You can also check our resources list at http://www.pigeons.com/prd.htm to see if there is anyone closer who can help you out. Don't hesitate to call any of these people .. they volunteered to be there for situations exactly like this.

Terry

[jimothy]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

I have brought the box inside now. Unfortunately I can't bring him into the house as the dogs have a very keen sense of smell and will be after him. They have some terrier in them so they are very persistent. As a compromise I have put it into our garage which is the same temperature as the house.

I was going to take a photo but the battery is dead in my digital camera. I will try to get one in the morning. He seems to have some sort of lid over his eye which is almost always closed. I have only seen an eyeball a couple of times briefly and when I opened the box to the light he just staggers aimlessly around the box banging into the edges. Does their vision not develop right away because its almost as if he was blind at the moment? He also seems to vary between tucking his head very low and then throwing it right back onto his back so his beak is vertically upwards. Does this suggest he was still being fed by his mother? When do they move from soft food to solids? He had already pooped in teh box, is this a relatively good sign. I'm assuming its encouraging as it means he ate relatively recently.

I'm guessing his age from the pictures on the homepage and also that he was already bigger than the adult who was watching him but is it possible he is a younger bird. The throwing his head back behaviour made me think twice.

Thanks again for your help. I'm in Altadena CA so about 80 miles from the nearest person on the list. Hopefully I will be able to keep him going myself for now at least. If I can protect him from predators I already feel much better.

Jim

[KIPPY]

when I opened the box to the light he just staggers aimlessly around the box banging into the edges.
Has the pij just recently started doing this?
He seems to have some sort of lid over his eye which is almost always closed.
If you can get a picture of the eye that would be helpful.
I would put him on a heating pad set at low. As soon as you are able to get a picture posted it would be easier for someone to help you. Kinda a curious on what the droppings look like.

Have you noticed the pij trying to eat and drink? I would definately use a heating pad if you have one on hand.

[jimothy]

I just managed to snap a couple of pictures. Sorry to be a bit of a luddite but can I post them here, and if so how?

I also just went to get some seed mix at the pet store and have put some of that in the box. The poop has dried now but was all white and fairly fluid. When we found him he was stationary and with his feathers puffed up. Since getting some water he has been more active but still seems to have very little spatial awareness.

[jimothy]

ok, lets see if I managed to attach the images. Sorry for my probably atrocious bird handling.

[cats6birds4]

Hi Jim,

Im the rehabber that Terry mentioned in her earlier post. I'm in Ventura. From your pictures, that looks like a Bandtail Pigeon. Bandtails are a "native species" and are different from our domestic pigeons that we are used to seeing. You should be able to find a rehabber a little closer to you that would be willing to take him. Go to www.iwrc-online.org then click on "emergency" at the top of the screen, then click on "find a wildlife rehabber", then fill out the info, but leave the "city" blank. That will give you a list of rehabbers in Calif. When you call someone, be sure to tell them that you have a Bandtail. Unfortunately, some rehab facilites won't take non-native domestic pigeons. So you want to make sure they know you have a protected species. From your description, it sounds like the bird has some other problems going on so the sooner you can get him some help, the better. Bandtails are usually very wild and afraid of people, and they have different care requirements than the domestic pigeons. Good luck, and thank you for taking him in! In the meanwhile, warmth and quiet and although he looks pretty young, he may be able to pick up seed on his own.

Beth

[jimothy]

Thanks Beth, Terry also gave me some numbers in the 818 to call so I should be OK. I suspected that it wasn't a domestic pigeon, the adult that was roosting nearby this morning was smaller than a lot of the ones I see in town and had a more colourful plumage.

Jim

[AZWhitefeather]

Thank you so much for helping this little one.

I would suggest placing him on some type of heat source as Kim suggested. IF there is something going on the heat will help to maintain a normal body temperature.

I'm not familiar with 'Band tailed' pigeons, but from his size it would appear he is old enough to be eating seeds on his own. I also noticed in the second picture it appears that his beak is slightly ajar.

If he isn't eating, I would suggest you check the inside of his mouth for any obstruction. His mouth should be nice & pink.
He could possibly have canker which is common among pigeons. This will look like 'yellowish cottage cheese'. It may be in his mouth and/or throat & will hinder his eating ability.

The staggering & apparent 'uncontrolled' head movements could possibly be a neurological issue, e.g., head trauma, PMV.

I hope you are able to get in touch with a rehabber who can assist you.
Please keep us posted.

Cindy

[Pigeonpal2002]

There definitely seems to be something wrong healthwise with that bird. I don't like the way it's head is down in the box and then there is the eye....something there as well. Hopefully this bird will get the help it needs. We don't have band tailed pigeons here in Canada unfortunately. Cindy and everyone here is a link to the band tailed pigeon:

http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/sh...&recnum=BD0176