Teaching a pigeon to fly and fend for itself?

[Knnn]

Hello,

Thank goodness for Goggle which led us to this great site.

My wife and kids found a young pigeon hiding head first in a hole in a wall near the kids’ school. It had not moved, position or orientation from the previous day and there was no obvious nest or other pigeons around. Although the bird appears to be unhurt it cannot fly because I suspect it is too young. So rather than leave it as pray it was brought home to a warm blanket in a box.

Following advice on this web site regarding the food pecking, warm water beak stroking etc, my wife managed to get the pigeon to take water and eat bird seed after a day of trying. The pigeon seems very calm and can be handled gently and does not try to flap his/her wings when handled and will perch on a hand. When released will glide to the floor, but not flap it's wings.

Based on this link, http://www.speedpigeon.com/baby_racing_pigeon.htm and the presence of a few residual downy feathers, I guess the bird is approximately 25 to 30 days old. He now takes bird seed unprompted although needs encouragement to drink water. His droppings look normal as far as we can tell. As you can see in this photo he looks pretty healthy.

We have a dog, two cats and three goldfish. Unfortunately I think the cats preclude our keeping the pigeon as a pet, which I'm not sure is the right thing to do anyway, but we are open to advice.

So we are now wondering, what to do next?

How can we teach our pigeon to learn to fly safely and also, how can we safely re-introduce it back into the wild?

We live in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and we have a number of wild pigeons who perch and nest on our roof. I never see them on the ground, which is probably very sensible considering the cat population here. So, how do we make the introduction? I do not want to leave the pigeon out in our garden because of our cats and all the other neighbourhood cats, certainly not until I'm sure he/she can fly well enough. I'm also concerned that the bird seams almost too placid and will not recognize and/or react properly to danger.

Thanks for any advice and I would like to say it is very heartening to see so much good advice and so many kind and caring people on this forum.

Regards,

Ian, Mary, David and Lulu.

[Pidgey]

When we got our first pigeon, it thought of us as its loved parents within a few days. It also bonded to its box. What we did for teaching it to fly good was hold it further and further away from its box and it'd fly to it. We finally had to open the front door and take it 10 feet away, then 20 and so on. Lin would even stand outside the door and cheer the bird to come that way when the distance got to be that great.

In time, we'd take walks through the neighborhood to a place where there was a gathering of the feral pigeons. Our bird would fly up to them and sit on the line with them for awhile and then eventually fly back down to us when it was time to go home for the evening. We usually did this in the evenings about 30 minutes to an hour before that particular pigeon flock would go to roost.

Eventually, our bird ended up staying the night with them for one night at a time, then two and so on. That's something of a "soft release" kind of deal.

Pidgey

[AZWhitefeather]

Originally Posted by Knnn

Hello,

Thank goodness for Goggle which led us to this great site.

My wife and kids found a young pigeon hiding head first in a hole in a wall near the kids’ school. It had not moved, position or orientation from the previous day and there was no obvious nest or other pigeons around. Although the bird appears to be unhurt it cannot fly because I suspect it is too young. So rather than leave it as pray it was brought home to a warm blanket in a box.

Following advice on this web site regarding the food pecking, warm water beak stroking etc, my wife managed to get the pigeon to take water and eat bird seed after a day of trying. The pigeon seems very calm and can be handled gently and does not try to flap his/her wings when handled and will perch on a hand.
* When released will glide to the floor, but not flap it's wings.

Based on this link, http://www.speedpigeon.com/baby_racing_pigeon.htm and the presence of a few residual downy feathers, I guess the bird is approximately 25 to 30 days old. He now takes bird seed unprompted although needs encouragement to drink water. His droppings look normal as far as we can tell. As you can see in this photo he looks pretty healthy.

We have a dog, two cats and three goldfish.
** Unfortunately I think the cats preclude our keeping the pigeon as a pet, which I'm not sure is the right thing to do anyway, but we are open to advice.

So we are now wondering, what to do next?

*** How can we teach our pigeon to learn to fly safely and also, how can we safely re-introduce it back into the wild?

We live in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and we have a number of wild pigeons who perch and nest on our roof. I never see them on the ground, which is probably very sensible considering the cat population here. So, how do we make the introduction? I do not want to leave the pigeon out in our garden because of our cats and all the other neighbourhood cats, certainly not until I'm sure he/she can fly well enough.

**** I'm also concerned that the bird seams almost too placid and will not recognize and/or react properly to danger.

Thanks for any advice and I would like to say it is very heartening to see so much good advice and so many kind and caring people on this forum.

Regards,

Ian, Mary, David and Lulu.

Welcome to Pigeon Talk Ian & family.

Thank you for taking in this little one.

* I'm thinking at 25-30 days old he should be flying some, or at least trying to use his wings.

** My suggestion, if you are planning on releasing him once he's ready, is to make sure he has fresh seed, grit, water & clean living quarters daily. Other than that, don't dote over him.

*** He will learn to fly on his own.
I would reintroduce him to an established flock.

**** Feral pigeons learn to be fearful of humans early on, which makes me wonder if there isn't some underlying problem going on.

Could you gently open his beak & check the inside of his mouth? It should be nice & pink & free of any obstructions.

Others will be along to offer there suggestions as well.

Please keep us posted.

Cindy

[Pidgey]

I was thinking his primary flights looked a little short and that he was a bit on the plump side overall. That usually slows 'em down a bit with respect to flyin'.

Pidgey

[Knnn]

Hi folks, thanks for the info so far. I opened the pigeons beak and everything inside looks pink, with no obvious obstructions. The pigeon appears to drink and eat OK, and poops like a trooper, which must be a good sign.

My wife was appalled to hear that "her" pigeon my be a little plump! LOL.

I think the photo may have been misleading as she was roosting and had plumped her feathers out. Here is a Photo of her standing. Hopefully this will give a better idea of the bird's proportions and feather length.

I'm not sure if it is normal for a young pigeon to be so quite and apparently unconcerned at being handled. Although quite, the pigeon seams to be quite alert and follows all movement and sounds around him/her. He/she has a very cute chirp.

We tried holding her up in the air and with some prompting (dropping her support suddenly) she will now flap her wings rather than glide to the floor.

Should we encourage him/her to fly in the back garden, or should he be left to discover how to fly on his/her own?

[Pidgey]

Well, there are still a few of the little yellow hairs left (on the chest in the second picture) and given the variances in temperament, this bird's not showing anything out of the normal range yet. There are some that are vary mild and others that are rotten little hellions.

Even in the side view, this bird looks well filled out, though. It's actually a good thing but the smaller birds fly a lot easier and sooner.

Pidgey

[Charis]

What a sweet looking bird.

[Lovebirds]

You've actually got a very pretty, healthy looking baby bird there. He looks to be a little older than my babies when I wean them. My babies are always "chubby" when weaned cause Dad and Mom have food 24/7. In about two days after moving to the loft, they are perching on the highest perches (about 6 1/2 feet up). So, you're going to release this little guy? You've done such a wonderful job with him......I've got two here now that I'm hand feeding? You want them to raise???? LOL
If you're going to let him practise flying, I'd do it in the confines of the house, not outside personally. I'm willing to bet that he could take off right now and get far enough up that you couldn't reach him.
On the other hand...........I don't rehab and release the ferals. I have racers, so better get some more advice.

[Maggie-NC]

Ian, welcome to you and your family and thank you for rescuing this baby.

You are very lucky in that you picked up a very well fed and apparently healthy fledgling. So often, those we get in are in poor physical condition. This baby's parents took very good care of it.

Their temperament can vary from being ornery to very sweet at this age but after a little care most of the ornery ones become pretty gentle.

He will fly very soon. He may start by "helicoptering" or "dancing" on a counter, all in preparation to take off. They will also "fly in place" meaning that he will stand in one spot and hop up and down and flap his wings - all practice for building up his wings for lift off.

Be sure to keep seed available for him at all times so he can learn to eat. At first, small seed are easier for them to pick up. If you have a gram scale, it will help to make sure he stays at a good weight.

[pdpbison]

Hi Ian,


Normaly, they fly for the first time when leaving a high and limited Nest site...so they must make their decision to do so with some sense of sureness, but even still, sometimes they can not get back, but things work out one way or another.

Those who come from Nests which are not high and isolated have more options, and these tend to climb, walk, goof around, explore on foot an dby climbing, and gradually assume their flying in a more liesured and progressive way.


No one need do anything to teach them to fly, but instead, it is a matter of their growth and devleopement and individual propensitys...and as Maggie mentions, they will do various 'Helicoptering' excercises and 'Wing Dances' and the likes as they build and develop their Wings and flight muscles...in prepairation to flying.


So, as long as yours is free to walk around, climb things, and have an easy ambience, he should progress about as any other.

Possibly, he had been bruised or sprained before you found him, and this has influenced his interests for the time being as these things heal and return to normal.


If you intend to release him, you would do well to start now before he is flying...to bring him to be with some feral Flock, which you will put Seeds out for, so he can peck and graze with them and acquire their modes of awareness and social mores and comforts.

Just stay with him and keep an eye on him and do not be discouraged if he seems shy or intimidated and trembley, as most of them will...whether wild or people raised.


Do this as often as you can now, before he can fly...and do it for like fifteen or twenty minutes or more, each time.

After a few times of it he will be comfortable shoulder to shoulder with his feral kin, pecking and grazing and so on...defending himself even from crowing others or as may be...and he will be comfortable with them and be learning their adult modes of being and society.


He must have this in order to enjoy an easy transition from your care, to then hold his own and be at ease in their social context...

Once is is starting to fly well enough for it to be a problem if he did try and elude you...then leave off these forays for a month. Then, release him to these others...and he will do well.

Good luck..!


Best wishes!


Phil
Las Vegas

[Knnn]

Hi everyone,

We just wanted to let you know that a couple of days ago our pigeon flew to the top of our roof where he met a couple of other pigions and flew off with them. This was after a few days of exercise flying in the basement and back yard.

He came back the following day for a brief visit and again headed off with other pigeons, so hopefully he will learn to find food with the others. We have been keeping seed out for him just in case he comes back, but so far it has not been disturbed.

So with a little luck he will learn to take care of himself. The kids miss him, but we wish him good fortune wherever he may travel.

Mary and I also wanted to say thanks to everyone on 'Pigeon Talk' for all the excellent, kind and supportive advice.

Cheers

Ian, Mary, David, Lulu, Scout (Labrador), Sooty (black cat), Juliet (tabby cat) and the goldfish.

[Victor]

Hi Knnn ~

Thanks to your family for the appreciation of pigeons.

It is reasurring to see that should one find you in the future, it will be taken care of.

They know.

[pdpbison]

Well done knnn...!


Outstanding..!


Phil
Las Vegas

[Trees Gray]

What a wonderful ending!

Thank you for all your supportive care and for updating us!