Two baby feral pigeons !!!!!

[BHenderson]

I agree with you. Unfortunately that means I will have to wait for Pigeonqueen to come up with a PMV pigeon. I promised to take one, so I dont want to let her down now. Unfortunately that means Squeaker will have to wait for his companion. Also I dont know if Squeaker will take to a pigeon that has PMV?

[Jay3]

Things change all the time, and I think Pigeonqueen would understand. You could be waiting a long time.

[BHenderson]

I am going to ask in the section here for people looking for pigeons. I am going to ask for a young female pigeon. Does anyone have any advice for me before I do this?

By the way I have the Aviator Harness now and I will make some videos right from the beginning. I do not have a good camera but at least it will allow others to see the harness being used. I am by no means certain that it will work, but it will all be in the videos providing I can get it in a good position to film.

[amyable]

Have just been catching up with your thread Brian as I'd been a bit tied up recently and had missed a bit.

Looking forward to see the harness in action, I hope it goes ok

Janet

[BHenderson]

Hi all,

I am delaying using the harness on Squeaker until I am confident about putting it on quick and without mistake. I am using a teddy bear to practice on. I will try and film the first time I try it for real.

I was wondering if anyone would like to offer some advice about Squeakers bathing habits? As far as I know he has never had a bath, but he seems to have some instinct telling him that he must wet his feathers. I know they have to wet their feathers to keep them in condition. I tend to adapt my behaviour on what he seems to like, although this may not always be a good thing. I have put a tall glass out, which he likes to drink from, and I have also put a enamel plate down which he also likes to drink from.
I have also put a bigger washing up bowl on the floor with water in but he seems to pretty much ignore that. He seems to know that he has to wet his feathers, but is unsure what to do. He sometimes sits in the plate of water, but is very cautious. Its like he does not want to get wet but knows that he must wash his feathers.

Can anyone suggest something I can try to make it easier for him to get into the habit of bathing his feathers. Like I say, he seems to ignore the bigger bowl I have put on the floor for him. I dont know what else I could put out that would be better for him to bath in?

Brian.

[Jay3]

Cat litter pans work good. Just fill with a couple inches of water. Maybe if you use your hand to splash in it a bit, it will get his attention. Birds seem to bath better when they see others doing it. At least that is the experience I have had with birds just learning.

[BHenderson]

Hi All,

Thanks for the suggestion Jay3, Ill keep a look out for a cat litter tray or something similar.

I finally got around to trying the harness today. Unfortunately I completely messed up the videoing of the event. The camera I have is a real battery guzzler, and by the time I had caught Squeaker, the camera had stopped filming. I did not know it had stopped filming because I had placed it on a table where I hoped it would have a good view of me handling the bird. Sorry about that.

On the other hand, I was quite impressed with the harness, it went on really easily. I was hesitant because if you watch the teaching video it looks more complicated than it is. It slipped on nice and easy. The only problem I had is the wing slots. The main part of the wing fitted through ok, but the longest feathers had to be push through and bent slightly. I was uneasy about doing this, but in the end it was not that big a problem. I will get better with time as well.
Once the harness was on Squeaker was very reluctant in it. He kept walking backwards to try to step out of the harness, but he settled a bit after a few minutes. I give him his first taste of the outside while he had it on. He walked about a bit, but was unsteady at first. It took less than 5 minutes for a cat to spot him and start trying to creep up on him. I had to frighten it away. I will always have to be close by as cats will take advantage of a bird with the harness on. It was later in the afternoon, so the other birds had gone home, but I will start letting him out with the other birds. I think I will keep trying to use it every day in the hope that he becomes accustomed to it. Once I took it off, he sat by himself for a bit and appeared to be sulking a little. I did have to make quite an effort to catch him as well, and it is the first time I have handled him for about a month so he had a lot to sulk about. I hope he will get used to it with repeated use. I will try to make a better video soon when he is outside and mixing with the others.

I wanted to ask about his coat. This is the first time I have had him in my hands for a while, and I noticed that his feathers feel rough. His small feathers are falling out, and he seems to have a bad case of dandruff? Is this normal? I realise that he is loosing his baby feathers for the adult ones, but I did not expect the dandruff. He seems to be constantly grooming as well and I wonder if he maybe needs another spray of the anti-flea treatment?

Brian.

[Quazar]

Brian, the "dandruff" is perfectly normal. as is him losing feathers, and the new ones feeling "rough". Hes in the process of moulting so the roughness is the new feathers coming in, and the "dandruff" is the flaking off of the protective sheath of the new feathers.
His preening will not only remove old feathers, but also de-sheath some of the new ones coming through.
If hes not had physical contact with other birds, then I doubt he would need another spray for any mites at the moment.
Try offering him a couple of treats once you get the harness on him & he may learn to "accept it" a bit more without as much sulking.
That may also make him less likely to avoid you when you want to put it on lol.

[BHenderson]

Thank you Quazar for the information about the 'dandruff', I am glad it is normal.
I cannot find a treat for my pigeon. Unfortunately Squeaker does not seem to like peanuts, which is the normal treat for pigeons. I have cut them up several times and mixed them with the red-dari which also used to be a treat, but he now ignores both lol. I give him a very rich mixture of seeds and he may be a little spoilt. Can you or anyone else suggest foods I might try as treats?

Brian.

[BHenderson]

Hi Again,

I just thought I would add to my last post. After a difficult time trying to catch Squeaker yesterday, he then did not appreciate having the harness on. Since then he has not come down from the curtain rail except briefly to feed. He was watching me all the time while he was on the ground as well to see if I was going to come after him.
Right from the beginning this pigeon has been very anti-human. He will let me walk right up to him and he will sometimes come and sit next to me, but the moment I bring my hand up or look like I am gong to try to catch him he is off. Maybe I should have got into the habit of handling him right from the beginning, but I was considering that I was going to release him then. He also had an difficult time when I first caught him because I was pushing bits of tablet down his beak, so right from the beginning he associated being caught with a bad experience.
The exciting part of the day for this pigeon is in the morning when the other pigeons start flying into the garden. He fly's back and forth between the two garden windows looking at the others. I think the best thing I could do is find a way to release this pigeon. I do not mind him staying with me, but I feel he does not have much enjoyment with me and all he wants to do is join the others. The problem is he does not like the cage, and he does not like the harness. I dont know how I am going to rehabilitate him without being able to allow him to mix with the other pigeons. The best I can do is try to get a second female pigeon and see if he either settles down or it becomes possible to release him.
I have a big cage that I can use to put the female pigeon in, that way they will have time to get used to each other before I let them mix. I am going to put a post in the section for people looking for pigeons to adopt.
I think it is the best I can do with this pigeon. I do not want to put him through another strenuous attempt at capture when he seems to hate being handled so much.

Any thoughts on the subject very welcome,
Thanks,
Brian.

[Quazar]

Brian, most pigeons, even some hand reared ones dont like being handled at any time. They dont see your hand as part of your body, more as a totally separate predator. Sadly, if he doesnt like the harness then he probably will try to avoid you, so its back to gaining his trust again.
As far as the cage goes, Try keeping all his food & water in the cage so he has to go there to eat. Eventually, he will realise he is safe there and hopefully accept it.
The two Ive got at the moment (Charlie & Tiny) are a bit like that. Neither like to be handled, but Charlie cant fly, and although he runs from my hands most of the time, he knows when he wants to go somewhere he cant that my hand is his "lift" so when it suits him hes ok with it (and kicks up a din if I dont help lol)
When Charlie does this, tiny follows. Both are happy to sit beside me or on my shoulder, and if I'm holding Charlie, Tiny will hapilly land on my arm/hand beside him, but wont do it if Charlie isnt there.
Bear in mind also that pigeons are like kids, and go through a "teenage cycle", being rebellious and awkward. It can be fun at times, and normally they do settle down again.

[BHenderson]

Your words are reassuring Quazar, thank you.

Its a pity that I cannot find someone local to me who has more experience with handling pigeons, I feel my technique could be improved on. The only other people I meet who like pigeons are the old ladies who feed the pigeons as well, but they do not take pigeons in.

Pigeonqueen happened to ring me tonight, and we discussed options for Squeaker. One option is to find a permanent place for him in an aviary, but I suspect these places are few and far between. The other option was the one I discussed earlier, that I find a female to introduce here. Pigeonqueen thinks she may know of a pigeon that may suit the bill. She also has a PMV pigeon which is not too bad that I may consider taking as well. Although I am new at this, I do like having pigeons around. I still go out and feed pigeons every day as well. I am actually a bit of a loner, I can only be in human company for a while and then I have to return home to my refuge, but I do not mind having pigeons around. In fact I think I may find it very rewarding to nurse a pigeon back to heath, even if she never makes a full recovery I think I will still enjoy giving this pigeon a home. Anyway, I need to have further chats with Pigeonqueen and we will see what develops.

Brian.

[BHenderson]

I finally realised that I have been giving the crows the wrong type of peanuts. Sometimes when I am feeding the pigeons the crows will come over and take a few of the peanuts, but generally they ignore them. Today I saw two crows raiding a public waste bin. They were pulling all kinds of unsightly stuff out of the bin and picking at bits of old sandwich. As I went by I remembered that I had a new pack of monkey nuts on me, so I threw a few towards the crows. They went straight over to then and gathered a few each in their beaks and flew off, leaving that horrible looking food they were eating. I was really pleased. I like crows, they look so wonderful and I like them almost as much as pigeons. Crows also have a special place in the mythology and lore of England. I know what to use to attract them over now!!!

[Jay3]

I like crows too. One day I had stopped by a fast food place, and was having a quick snack in the car. I saw a couple of crows near where I was parked. They were picking up and throwing a bag in the parking lot, trying to get the contents to spill out so they could see if there was anything good in it. I got out of the car and picked up the bag to look in. There was a half eaten sandwich inside, so I took it out, broke it up into bite sized pieces and placed it back on the ground for them. Immediately, they came over and picked it apart. I thought it strange that they were gobbling up the bread and lettuce, and not bothering to eat the meat. Then, when all but the meat was gone, I watched as they scooped it up, neatly lined up in their beak, till they could hold no more, and they flew away. Shortly afterwards, they returned for the rest, and carried that away. Then I realized that they were eating the lesser stuff, and saving the meat to bring back to feed their babies. How smart was that? They saved all the meat for the kids. I thought that was pretty cool. I have pics of them pulling the sandwich apart. Pretty smart. What are monkey nuts?

[BHenderson]

The Crows seems to be a new addition to our wildlife locally, but I have seen a pair in the church green and the pair I saw in the high street yesterday. I also think these birds are wonderful and I am watching them whenever I get the chance. I hope my offerings of monkey nuts will encourage them to come over when I feed the pigeons, I would like to add them to my rounds. That's a great story and shows just how intelligent these birds are.

Monkey nuts are simply an alternatively name for peanuts still in their shell. Crows (and squirrels) seem to love them, even more than loose peanuts.