Look who I found at the pound today!

[Kimberly_CA]

Thank you again to Mary Jane for the offer of one of your red birds. I just replied to your last message but your pms are full, hopefully you will see this.

So I have been wanting a my first red bird for a while now and finally one showed up at a shelter. I checked online this morning and 100 miles away in Contra Costa Animal control was the most perfect bird just waiting for me. He had been there a while but just went online. I zipped on over there (fastest 100 miles ever) and grabbed this beauty.

So from my limited colors knowledge this is a red grizzle with "bars" in it's genes.......he also has grey patches (lilac?). Am I close?

Also, is this a homer? (I heard homers have long beaks like him, plus he is quite large compared to my smallest which is a "feral") He has a band but I don't know how one would cross reference a band......he was taken in as a stray and held for a period plus a while. So I know he did belong to someone....should I feel guilty for adopting him though? I don't know how far the pound would go to identify a bird by it's band....

I have not checked the numbers yet but the band is lime green, does that mean anything?

(sorry my cam sucks, he is more robust in real life too)

[MaryOfExeter]

Looks like it could be a young homer to me If the band is bright green, it could be an AU band, which would mean it's a racing pigeon, maybe lost in training.

[Kimberly_CA]

Yep. It says AU 2008 1888 HAY

So what does that mean? Is AU a big company that sells to other people or is it one individual group of people he belongs to? I know virtually nothing about racing.


Thanks!

Is it wrong to keep him? I mean I paid for him, drove 200 miles....he was there since the begginning of september too. I will give him a great home. I only have 5 birds now he will be well loved......

Crap, now I feel all bad.

Oh and I have all his shelter paperwork too so he is legally mine....now i'm extremely torn.

[MaryOfExeter]

Well I don't know what to say about whether you should keep it or not. I would probably try to contact the previous owner and at least tell them the bird is alive, and the situation. But I dunno.
AU is short for American Racing Pigeon Union. Clubs who are affiliated with the AU have AU bands with the club's letters on them.

Looked at the band listings:
15. Club Name : HAYWARD HPC
Club Code : HAY
Club Secretary : ROBERT WRIGHT
City : CASTRO VALLEY
State : CA
Phone No. : 510-582-7208
Email Address : W6BEL@SBCGLOBAL.NET

http://www.pigeon.org/bandlist.php?year=2008&f=H

[Kimberly_CA]

I'll call tomorrow. I would want to know the bird is alive. I'm gonna ask to keep him. I'll even give him some money if he wants.....hopefully he wont want him back. If he absolutely adamantly wants the bird back I will give it to him but i'm gonna have to ask for the adoption fee plus the gas money. I can't afford to pay over $50 for a bird i'm not keeping. But if the bird is really important to him he will be able to get him back....does that sound ok? If I was rich and he just loved the bird i'd just give it to him.....but this was almost a full tank of gas and i'm a poor college student.

Does secretary mean it was his bird or that he is just the person to contact to find the owner?

Thanks so much for the info!

[MaryOfExeter]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I'm sure he'd understand about the gas money and such. It's giving everyone a hard time
That person is the secretary of the club, so if you contact him and tell him the band number, he'll be able to find out which member of the club owned the bird for you to talk to

[Gurbir]

hey mate, well most of the time, owners tend to forget about the birds that didn't make it back, especially if they are striving for the best, it doesn't mean this bird isn't any good, sometimes a bird is too tired in training for some reason and sometimes weather play's a role. Just ask the owner, tell him you found him, tell him/her all the troubles you went through to get him. And i'm sure the owner will let you keep it And by the way that pigeon is beautiful

[Lovebirds]

Very pretty bird. It's called a Red Check Splash. I doubt the owner will want it back if he has to spend money AND drive to pick it up. I wouldn't worry too much about that. It's possible that he might be upset if the shelter didn't contact him. Who knows whether they did or not? Guess you'll find out.

[John_D]

Kimberly, why not call the shelter and ask them if they try to trace owners of banded pigeons before putting them up for adoption?

If they say they do, then as it is obviously not difficult to get the club details from the band, then I personally would take it that the owner was traced and does not want the bird. I doubt it's the first lost racer they've had in.

If they do not, well, you took this pigeon in good faith, knowing nothing about racing and clubs, and paid a fee, and it is the shelter which is at fault.

I presume you won't be allowing him to fly free.

John

[Kimberly_CA]

Thanks Mary and thanks Gurbir, the pic doesn't do him justice, i'll get another soon


Lovebirds, thanks too!

lovebirds and John, I doubt the shelter checked, everyone was surprised they even had a pigeon. There was no "pigeon protocol" and half the staff didn't know where to direct me (he was in a back room not open to public unless they were specific). Two ladies asked me what the band was even for. I told them I guessed it was to keep track of which birds win, neither of us knew an owner could be tracked down. Oh also I live 2 hours from the birds home if the band is right...that would be a pretty long drive for the owner plus $60. Like a $150 buy back. I feel like i'm holding someones bird for ransom...but I wouldn't profit and i'm poor.

John, I'm keeping him enclosed for the winter. I choose to let my birds out after that (If they are fully flighted and healthy). They don't really go anywhere, spend 90% of their day on my patio which is covered. I have not lost one yet, fingers crossed. Since I only had 4 I wanted to add another couple for strength in numbers while still keeping it small for the sake of neighbors. I don't race them or take them anywhere to test them. They just spend lazy days on my patio.

Oh also the bird was seen by a vet and was deemed healthy. It looks like a couple flight feathers are missing...I presume because it's molting time but who knows. i'm guessing thats why he never made it home. Hopefully he will be in tip top shape in a few months.

[John_D]

Well, your lovely pigeon has had an eventful life so far

Glad he won't be going out anytime soon - he'd probably take off once his flights grow in again. I think Renee will be able to offer the best advice for letting him fly, or not, when the time comes.

John

[MaryOfExeter]

I'm thinking that since it's a young bird, after a month or two being a prisoner at your house he should be safe to release. The owner should know how old the bird is so you can base how long to keep it in on that. If he was hatched out at the first of the year, he's getting a little too old to be safe, IMO. But I've never tried to settle a bird to the loft that was older than 6 months, so I wouldn't know really.

[maryjane]

What a cutie! I'm so glad you found one. And it sounds like he really needed out of that back room. What a lucky guy.