bugs in my pijjie!

[Emily]

My pigeon Ernie has been living outside all summer and interacts with other pigeons all the time (but still comes home every day to visit!). Yesterday when he was over, I noticed a bug wandering in and out of his feathers. It looked like a common fly but a bit flatter, and seemed to walk between his feathers in a sideways type of walk. Ernie didn't seem to be concerned about this though he was preening his feathers a bit more than usual, presumably because he was itchy!

Is there anything I can do to help the situation?

[Reti]

Hi,
pretty much all outdoor pigeons have those mites.I spray my birds with a bird spray for mites,most petstores have it.It works on my pigeons.There is also a powder,I never used it though.

[cyro51]

It sounds like a pigeon fly. I have never had to deal with one and tend to look on our maryco as the expert, so I will leave this one to her, but I do recall her recommending Sevins dust.

Cynthia

[Trees Gray]

I have had exactly one of those pigeon flies, sliding on one of my birds. Anti-Sect 2000 kills them. It is made by Travipharma and I got the product at Global Pigeon Supplies. It kills pigeon flies, lice, mosquitos, and mites. Treesa

[AZWhitefeather]

Hi Emily,
If you choose to use the 'Sevin' powder, it can be purchased at any store with a garden section, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc.
Cindy

[rollerboi]

i was wondering where would you spray it on the pigeon cause i wouldn't want someone to spray somewhere on the bird that would hurt the bird. like on the neck and down or something like that?

[maryco]

Hello Emily,

Yes, that is probably a "pigeon fly" or "flat fly" ..Whatevery you want to call it..

They are quite scary and I really can't stand them plus they are not very easy to get rid of and don't die quickly, the best way is to buy an anti-parasite spray for birds from a petshop or a pigeon supply store or use the sevin dust as suggested by other members.

Hold the pigeon (or let someone else hold him) then spray the whole body except the head and make sure you cover beak, eyes, ears and nose.) also don't forget to spray the tail area well (That is where it lives while sucking blood) and under the wings for any lice..etc

Hope that helps!

Mary

[AZWhitefeather]

Hello Rollerboi,
When I spray one of my pijjies I put a small towel around it's neck, holding the ends under it beak, (looking like a superman cape), then bring the towel over it's head. With the head covered the pij is quite still & I can spray without any danger of the spray going into his face. It works great for me.
Cindy

[Emily]

Thank you all for your help! Emily