Nebraska Pigeon: is he tame?

[maryjane]

Just getting in on this post....sounds like he may be a former-feral that someone raised. Often they will get out of their owner's house by accident, or be released and not willing to leave the area. You might post a few notices around the neighborhood you found him in; when one of my first pigeons got out, he landed on a neighbor's coop several streets over. She posted about him and we were thrilled to have him back, let me tell you!! You could just put up that you found a pigeon, and to have someone call with details to describe the bird so you don't get any weirdos. Then if nothing happens, at least you know you tried and can feel easy about keeping him as your pet.

[Pidgey]

A homing pigeon is by definition a variant of the typical Rock Dove species that has been bred over a very long period to be a superior athletic bird with an incredible instinct for being able to point towards home and fly somewhat straight there. Homing pigeons are often used for races of 600 miles and they usually only take one day's daylight to do it in.

Generally, but not always, the bridge of the nose (the white part) is more massive than the bird you've got there so he may or may not have homer blood in him. If he did and somebody else, somewhere else was waiting anxiously for his return, there's virtually no way on earth that you could find them--only the bird could if he were able to get there and you released him.

Make no mistake, though, this bird isn't as tame as you might have thought. His actions now show that he's a little bit scared of you, just nowhere near as much as he'd be scared of a hawk or a cat. I've got an entire loft full (mostly rescues) and only really have one bird that I can bring in the house that will truly laze around in my hand. We use her for all the Christmas pictures because she's so friendly. All of the others would rather not be held, thank you very much, even though they know who brings the food and water.

Pidgey

[Pigeonpal2002]

Originally Posted by Pidgey

Generally, but not always, the bridge of the nose (the white part) is more massive than the bird you've got there so he may or may not have homer blood in him.
Pidgey

Not all homers are made the same There are different reasons for varying size of ceres in these birds. Sex, age, and different strains/families of homers in themselves dictate the size of their ceres

[Love2everyone]

Originally Posted by Pigeonpal2002

his shape and colouring is a little "suspect". Ferals come in all colours too but there is something about the head of this bird and he looks a little more muscular in a way

What is wierd about the colouring of his head? I'll post a better video of him.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Originally Posted by Love2everyone

What is wierd about the colouring of his head? I'll post a better video of him.

It's not the colouring of his head, it's the colouring/pattern of his entire body. The head looks bigger, broader and more prominent. The body looks more bulky and muscular, even if he's thin underneath. You said yourself he's quite a big bird Homing pigeons tend to be a little larger and for lack of a better word, "robust" than ferals.

[Love2everyone]

thats really interesting thank you for your help.
What should I do now? I have the heat lamp on all the time and water and wild bird food.
I guess I need to stop by the pet store for Pigeon seed and Red Pigeon grit.
What else should I do?

[Pigeonpal2002]

Originally Posted by Love2everyone

What should I do now? I have the heat lamp on all the time and water and wild bird food.
I guess I need to stop by the pet store for Pigeon seed and Red Pigeon grit.
What else should I do?

Hello,

Not sure if you were talking to me or not but I think these ideas sound very good Keep him warm, provide good clean seed and water for now and keep an eye on him. Excellent that you will provide a real pigeon mix and grit for him as I'm sure he'd appreciate both

If you are so inclined and as Pidgey suggested, it also wouldn't hurt to take him to an avian vet for a once over. If you are willing, able and want to do this, get them to do a fecal float and general phsyical of the pigeon. You need to find a vet that deals with exotics/birds and will accept a pigeon patient however. Tell them it's your pet bird

[Love2everyone]

Here is a better video of Horace, better quality and better angles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJkaFTb_-lU

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Love2everyone,

Nice video and you managed to put music to it SO QUICKLY Well, in actuality, this video is not as good as the first one. Speaking in terms of what we can actually see by the behaviour of the bird, the first one showed a very vibrant, active and energetic pigeon trying to get away from you. This video shows a more docile bird and that can be taken negatively from our point of view.

Still, he does seem to be mostly ok and healthy. I really do think it's prudent to get the bird to a vet just to be safe and to have an experts' opinion on what might be going on. Whether or not this is a lost homer or not is mostly irrelevant and even though it could explain some things most definitely.

If it were me, I would do these things: provide the heat, fresh seed and clean water, let him be and adjust to his environment and this means giving him some space, keeping a comfortable distance from him, and then try to get him to a vet for an inspection and to run a few tests.

If you decide to and think it's worth while to put up a flyer in your neighbourhood regarding a lost pigeon, that is up to you and fine but just be careful as Maryjane has mentioned. There are lots of mean and nasty people out there who DO NOT like pigeons.

If nobody claims him or calls, then you're free to go ahead and adopt him for yourself and then take on all the responsibilities of housing, food, medical needs etc

Check out our "Resource" section of the forum and you will find lots of information about care, housing, diseases, nutrition, pigeon supply stores etc.

[Victor]

You did a great job posting the two items on You Tube. Horace looks like he was just down on his luck, perhaps tired, hungry, disoriented perhaps, but you did a great job rescuing this pigeon in need. It would probably been a good candidate for prey.

I was looking at the pictures of the droppings, the second one...to blurry, but from what I can tell from the 1st one, it looks pretty normal.

I believe Brad is right. Looks like you have a homer there. They are more muscular...athletic looking. I have one male (Paris) former racing pigeon that is about 8 years old that I adopted last Summer from a couple in Davenport Iowa. He is a homer...large in stature...good build.

Now, looking at Horace a bit closer, it would not surprise me that he may be a she. The colors around the neck appear in the picture to be "duller" which usually the female pigeons have. I have a female blue bar that we rescued last Summer(Barbie) that has less coloration around her neck compared to the "boys" we have, which are deeper blue, purple or green iridescent coloration around their necks.

[Pidgey]

Well, to my mind the music seems a bit on the dramatic side...

However, what I think I see is a feral hen. You never know until you get an egg out the back end, of course, but I think it's a hen. It's definitely old enough to have lived under its own recognizance for enough time to know the street. I think the bulk of the guessing of whether it's a homer or feral is due to the question of tameness. On the one hand, they can get pretty docile when they're sick with something and you could easily assume they're tame. And on the other hand, if they're used to humans they can be quite tame, regardless of whether they're of royal blood (homer) or just feral (commie).

Going with the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) principle, the most likely scenario is that the bird has been sick with something and is a feral. That said, it becomes necessary to discover if there is a medical condition that's going downhill and that's what the vet tests would be for. I've seen a bunch of birds that were strong enough to evade me but were going to die within hours at the rate they were going. There are a few things that they can get that will knock the stuffing out of them and you can just pick 'em up, though. You just hope that time and diagnostics will tell. They are probably the toughest bird on the planet, though, and can recover from an awful lot as long as they've got safety, warmth, good food and clean water. There are few diseases and parasites that they need help with and that's really the first order of business here.

Pidgey

[Victor]

Oh, one ,more thing, If you go to Pet co, you can get Katytee Paloma-Dove mix, which has a good blend of needed pigeon seeds, plus has nutrients and vitamins in it. Safflower seeds are available also, but give it to him/her in smaller quantities. It is like candy to them, but most pigeons love it. We can discuss other low cost food options later that are readily available at most super marts, like raw unsalted peanuts,raw shelled unsalted sunflower seeds, lentil seeds, dried split green peas, and on and on!

You seem like a very caring person. Good job on your rescue!

[Victor]

Love2everyone~ If you are going to running around the next day or so, if I may steer you to the local health store in Lincoln (GNC?) Get Bragg's Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). It costs less than 3 bucks, and goes a long way. It is a very good healthy supplement to to Horace's water. I give mine a dose of it a couple of times a week on staggered days as a good preventative measure. I add a teaspoon and a half to a half gal. of water. Shake the bottle well before adding, and when you mix it up, shake it again. I would increase the dosage to 2 teaspoons for Horace as a start. I firmly believe it saved my Barbie's life last summer when I found her on the curb after a terrible thunderstorm that we had here in Omaha.It certainly boosted her immune system.

[Love2everyone]

I understand about the bird being less lively, I just meant a better video in terms of being able to see the bird better. If you want I can go out and see how much I can get the bird work up. Just joking.

I have some Eden Organic Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar. I'm sure that would do (I love that stuff), who woud have guessed; good for birds great for humans. I always have apple cider vinegar around. I have a petco very close by and will get that stuff soon.

The music was really the only music clip that I had on my computer. Other then my wife's Dixie Chics songs. I know it was extra dramatic but it made more interesting then me and Mrs. Horace(I don't know what I'll call her, now) restling around.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Originally Posted by Pidgey

There won't be any meat over the actual keel--there's muscles to either side of it.

Pidgey

Hey Pidgey....I just caught this, you are such a nit picker! LOL You KNEW what I was getting at

Someone needs a good beating I see and now that I'm in "costume", I'm ready to do battle, lol

Victor, great mention on the ACV , paloma mix and possible hen attributes of love2everyone's pigeon, due to the less vibrant neck colours