Need advice-shelter for pigeon

[miffy]

hi there,

found a pigeon in my driveway over a week ago now. it has a wee band on it's leg but it is very timid and won't allow me to get too close.

it doesn't go far from my house, just 4 doors up and back. i have fed and watered the pigeon every day, leaving the food on a ground feeding tray and a bowl of water. initially we were feeding it nuts and then i bought some expensive wild mixed bird seed and a bag of rice, but it doesn't seem to like anything except for the nuts. it's quite fat looking so has obviously been well-fed.

should i continue giving it nuts every day or just put out the rice and bird seed?

i've also read that they like to bathe themselves, so should i put out a separate bowl of water or will it sort itself out?

also there's been a few magpies knocking about and she is scared of them and flies away when they come near.

it looks so lonely because it just sits on the roof or in my driveway. at night it has been sleeping on the roof top, but we've had some very wet and windy weather. i bought a large bird box and some bedding and placed it high up on the wall at the side of our house. but she won't sleep in it. i tried putting some of the nuts in it to tempt her but she won't go n i'm afraid she must be freezing.

i'm presuming she's female btw lol

any suggestions?
thanks
miffy

[Pidgey]

Well, you might try catching her with an old-fashioned box trap. That's where you place a box over some bait (the nuts) that's propped up on a stick with a string tied to it. You have to keep watch and pull the stick out when the bird goes underneath to eat.

Pidgey

[Trees Gray]

Here is a link to the trap:

http://www.racingbirds.com/ptrap.html

[Birdmom4ever]

Please do try to catch her. As a domestic bird she will have a hard time of it in the wild by herself and is vulnerable to predators. Where abouts do you live that it's so cold at night?

[miffy]

hi, thanks for your replies.

i live in ireland. so do you think i should keep her indoors in a cage? doesn't seem fair to lock her up. surely she'd be happy enough flying about doing her own thing.

i'm afraid if i capture her to take her wee band off she might be scared and fly off afterwards.

[John_D]

She won't freeze, for sure, even in a British or Irish summer

If you can catch her, we can then try to figure where she came from, assuming she's a racer. If she was out in a race or exercising and just got caught in stormy weather, she may have just been trying to get her strength back and decided "That's it - I'm retiring". It is possible, of course, that she strayed a while back.

You are right - keeping a pigeon in a cage, unless ill or injured, is not good. As a temporary measure, in a cage large enough to stretch the wings fully, just while tracking the owner, it would be OK. That shouldn't be for more than a day or two.

But, luring her to a position where you can catch her is the first thing .....

John

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by miffy

hi, thanks for your replies.

i live in ireland. so do you think i should keep her indoors in a cage? doesn't seem fair to lock her up. surely she'd be happy enough flying about doing her own thing.

i'm afraid if i capture her to take her wee band off she might be scared and fly off afterwards.

If it's the kind of band we are thinking it is, you can't take it off. It would be best to catch the bird if you can, get the info off of the band and then put the bird in a cage and keep it safe until we figure out where it came from. Then decide what to do with it. If it's banded, it's not meant to STAY in the wild. It's meant to fly and then go back home to it's loft where it would be safe.

[miffy]

but she's been with us for a week so god knows how long she has been lost for. and i read a load of articles on the net that said if they're lost, the owner won't want them back cos they're no good and it'll be one less mouth to feed. someone else said that the other pigeons would kill her if she went back cos she wouldn't be able to fight for food.

there's a man round the corner n he races pigeons n he said he'd prob "neck it" if it was his. so i don't want to contact the owner.

what should i do???

[Pidgey]

Well, her behaviour suggests that she's not going to survive in the world for very much longer--something's going to get her. That said, her best chance of survival would seem to be with you.

Pidgey

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by miffy

but she's been with us for a week so god knows how long she has been lost for. and i read a load of articles on the net that said if they're lost, the owner won't want them back cos they're no good and it'll be one less mouth to feed. someone else said that the other pigeons would kill her if she went back cos she wouldn't be able to fight for food.

there's a man round the corner n he races pigeons n he said he'd prob "neck it" if it was his. so i don't want to contact the owner.

what should i do???

First thing is catch the bird. Give us the band info if you don't know how to trace the band and we go from there. Some of these pigeons racers get my blood boiling, that's for sure. SOME of them are like you describe, but not ALL of them. Regardless, the birds days are numbered if left to it's own defenses. Where in Ireland are you? We do have one member that I know of in Ireland. With my luck, he's hundreds of miles away, but you don't know till you ask. Once the bird is captured, we can go from there. Are you in a position to hang on to it for a little while if you catch it?

[miffy]

yeah i'l have to buy it a cage first but don't like the idea of keeping it locked up for any amount of time.

it's being well fed but i'm just worried it's lonely cos it doesn't fly far and the fact that it sleeps on the rooftop with no shelter from the elements. right now it is absolutely lashing down but it won't go into the bird box i put up for it. we've had thunder and lightening this last week.

i'm in belfast.

[miffy]

oh no i just went out with my wellies on to check on her and she's sitting on the roof getting absolutely drenched thru. my heart is breaking seeing her sitting up there. there's a tree right beside her n she hasn't even the sense to take shelter there.

poor wee bird, it's making me so sad.

[Lovebirds]

That's why we're saying that she doesn't belong in the wild. It's a novel idea for them to "fly free", but when they don't go home, it's not a novel idea any more. I've sent a message to our member in Ireland asking him where he is, because all I know is "northern Ireland".............he appears to be on line, so we'll see if I hear back.

[miffy]

so is it best for her to be a racing pigeon again if someone will take her?
i'm so attached to her now tho lol she knows my whistle when i call her
but if it is best for her then i'll be happy
pigeons can't get pneumonia can they?! she is drenched and i can't even get near her

[miffy]

thank you for helping lovebirds