Banding feral birds...

[MellissaG]

A couple of weeks ago, a pair of your average city pigeons showed up on my balcony in the middle of a canadian blizzard. A couple of days went by, and my sympathy went out to them. I had a cardboard box on the balcony waiting for me to take it to be recycled, but instead I decided to turn it over, put a towel inside and make life a little better for the newly weds.

They LOVED it, and within however long it might've been, I started to suspect a nest..maybe even eggs. Put some gloves on, pushed the bird to the side a bit (he was REALLY ticked off about that) and saw two little eggs. So exciting!

Well it's been almost two weeks (approx, dont know actual hatch date). Only saw them once while they were still yellow fuzz balls.. but today I looked again and they are getting BIG and FAT. Very squeeky, too!

The parents are starting to wean them, as they are leaving for most of the day now.. so I got to have a close encounter with one of them.

Very excited to see them growing up.
And my balcony is totally fine, I was at first worried about droppings making a mess but soon realized this only happened if I fed them on the balcony.. so I stopped that.

Okay.. so that's the story.. here's the question. Id like to band the babies, and maybe even hopefully the parents. Just to keep track of them, as I hope they will stick around for a while. How should I go about doing this? Are there special bands somewhere to get to do this? For the babies, what age should I band them? Maybe a smaller band now.. then replace it with an adult band as the weeks go by?

If not banding, are there other ways to sort of mark them to tell them apart? Without writing their name in marker on a wing, or painting them different colors

[Lovebirds]

Sweet baby picture there. The baby is to big to band with a permanent type band like we band our race birds with. However, you can buy snap bands in all colors of the rainbow and those can be snapped on the leg anytime. You can buy these at the pigeon supply companies. Just buy the size for racing homers.

http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/
http://www.globalpigeon.com/
http://www.siegelpigeons.com/

[warriec]

yes, there are lot of pretty snap bands and also metal bands with #'s used to id wild game birds

[MellissaG]

woohoo thanks guys

[feralpigeon]

Hey, Melissa, good going w/the pre-fab pigeon home and the new family.
I notice that you are in Canada, and even though you may have no problem
getting the bands to you there, I was wondering if there might be a feed store in your area that carry them so that you could get them sooner and not fret the delay in the mail? Another thought might be to try New England Pigeon Supply as they are much closer to you location wise. Here's a link to the Pigeon Supply Houses in our Resource Section,NEPS is listed there:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9455

Thanks for caring about these pigeons and looking out for them in the Canadian
blizzard, sure sounds very much appreciated by them. Oh, and yeah, they sure
are adorable... .

fp

[MellissaG]

I was thinking the same thing...

The closest pigeon-specific supplies I can find is almost an hour away from me. (Bolton. I live in toronto).. I'll keep looking though, and also check out local parrot breeders to see if i could buy just a handful (only want 4-8 anyway)... I wouldnt think bands are race-specific

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by MellissaG

I was thinking the same thing...

The closest pigeon-specific supplies I can find is almost an hour away from me. (Bolton. I live in toronto).. I'll keep looking though, and also check out local parrot breeders to see if i could buy just a handful (only want 4-8 anyway)... I wouldnt think bands are race-specific

The band sizes are breed specific. Too big and it will fall off or could possibly get caught on something. To small, it may fit a babies leg, but when the bird is grown, it might cut off circulation.

[Trees Gray]

Hi MelissaG,

Thank you for your kindness to these feral pigeons and their babies.

The bands have to be special size for the breed, or it could pose a hazard for the babies and parents if they are too big.

Alot of these plastic bands that are made for pigeons still allow too much room between the leg and band, so please be very careful and get the correct band size.

[docbjb]

Mellissa, did you band your babies?

Just wondering. I would like to band my ferals but I don't want them to come to any harm (band too loose or too tight). What did you decide to do?

Bonney

[WhiteWingsCa]

Hi Melissa

I haven't been on the forum for a while -- too bad, because I was just in Toronto this past weekend!

If you're still looking to band the babies and parents, email me through my profile, and give me your mailing address - I'll mail you some plastic snap on bands. I can send you all different colours, so you'll be able to tell the birds apart!

btw --- expect to have at least one more, maybe even two or three, sets of babies on your balcony this summer! The parents will come back to the same nest - in fact, you might already have another set of eggs by now!

[Lady Tarheel]

My recent experience with snap-on bands was less than desirable.

I ordered snap-ons from Global for Jimmy Jack (and some others) to make sure we could identify him when he moves into the aviary because we have so many look-a-likes.

I ordered the large and when we put it on it fit fine - just loose enough to not bind the leg. He didn't like it a bit. Was high stepping all over everywhere and trying to get it off. After a couple of days I noticed a raw place was coming on his leg where the band's edge rubbed against the leg. I finally took it off.

Melissa, personally, if you have no plans to keep these pigeons as pets, I wouldn't band them. Maybe I'm too much of a worrywart but I would always worry they may get caught on something and get hurt or die. JMO.

[ohiogsp]

I have never had a problem with snap bands and I got some from globals also. I have never put one on a YB though. Maybe this is why or maybe the ring has some plastic flash (rough edge caused from the molding process) on it. The racing bands have a very nice rolled edge around them so this would never happen with them but the snap style can be sharp sometimes.

[Lady Tarheel]

Thanks Ohio

Wonder if I could file it down?

[mr squeaks]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

Thanks Ohio

Wonder if I could file it down?

wonder...why not???

[alvin]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

Thanks Ohio

Wonder if I could file it down?

You know what works best for us? When we are releasing a feral after rehab, and just to keep an eye on it for the first month or so try this;

Take a small amount of nail polish, and dab it directly onto the top of the pijies head. It's non-toxic, dosn't effect the pijies flight, can't be preened out, and last till the next moult.
We tracked Tutter, Pip and Pop, Luna, Milo, and Doodles all like that in a 100 bird flock for about a month to make sure they settled in and were holding their own at the feeding circle.