Young pigeon found

[zyuray]

Hello,

I recently found a young pigeon walking helplessly in the middle of traffic, so I took it in. I kept her a while to make sure she was healthy, and she does seem to be. When I first found her, she was still tweeting, but now she is cooing. I took her outside to let her loose, but she would not fly. When I throw her up in the air, she flaps her wings and just kind of hovers to the ground and stays their. She just kind of mills around. Being afraid she would not be able to fend for herself, or get eaten by a cat, I took her back in. Why does this pigeon not fly? Is she just too young and hasn't learned yet? What can I do to "teach" her? If it's relevant at all, this is a NYC pigeon. Any help would be appreciated.

--Ray

[Reti]

Hi Ray,
thank you so much for helping this little pij.
First I want to ask you if you kept this baby in a cage? Did he have enough room to exersise his wings? If he did not exercise enough that might be a reason the pigeon cannot fly. He needs to build up his wing muscles.
You can let him try to fly first in a room untill he is confident enough.
Also it is good to release him in a flock. By himself he might not know where to go and where to find food. A flock will help him learn those things.
Please keep us updated on your sweet little pigeon.

Reti

[zyuray]

I don't keep her in a cage, she is loose. She pretty much stays in the living room, on the floor. She walks around, and knows how to walk to her food, but she just doesn't really take off and fly. It's like she just doesn't want to. Should I encourage her by maybe placing her on high furniture, or placing her food high up and making her fly to it?

[cyro51]

Hi Ray,

It could have been a wing injury that led to her wandering in traffic in the first place, so I wouldn't push her to fly just yet.

How long have you had her?

Cynthia

[zyuray]

Originally Posted by cyro51

Hi Ray,

It could have been a wing injury that led to her wandering in traffic in the first place, so I wouldn't push her to fly just yet.

How long have you had her?

Cynthia

About two weeks now.

[cyro51]

Give her a bit longer! I have had several pigeons and doves with bruised wings, it took over 3 weeks for them to recover the ability to use the wing, sometimes longer.

Does she lift both wings up to the same level when she flaps?

Cynthia

[zyuray]

I've had the pigeon for about a month now. I took it to park and placed it on the ground. Then I threw some food around and several other pigeons appeared. This poor pigeon was bewildered. The other pigeons were literally pushing her around. She was so scared she flew back to me! I threw her up in the air as the other pigeons flew off, but again, she only flapped her way back down to the ground. I walked around the park with the pigeon. She just stands on my hand and makes no effort to fly away. I'm afraid this pigeon has become too domesticated! I want this pigeon to have a normal life out in the wild, not in my apartment. Any advice?

[cyro51]

Well, she can't fly, is afraid of the flock and as far as she is concerned a normal life is a life with you! If you release her she will starve because she can't compete for food.

If you can't keep her then the best thing would be to find her a home with someone that has an aviary and can help her integrate with other pigeons so that she has as normal a life as possible despite the inability to fly. I am in the UK so I can't help you there, but the pigeons in my aviary are very contented because they have so much to keep them busy.

Cynthia