Injured pigeon-birmingham, UK

[Ryo_the_Rat]

Hi all!

I was given the link to this forum on another forum i use so hoping someone can help. yesterday whilst walking home my partner and I came across a pigeon sitting in the road. a car actually nearly ran over the poor thing over and thats how we spotted it. it managed to get onto the grass area in the middle of the road(it was a busy main road) and we got to the closest shop and got a cardboard box and managed to get the pigeon into it. when we got it home i put it into a cat carrier on some newspaper, put a bowl of water and a little food in and covered the carrier with a blanket to keep it warm and dark and then left it in the kitchen for the night hoping it would make it through the night. well it did and is still with us now looking livelier. i dont know whats wrong with it, except that it cant fly. its spreading its wings but cant flap them properly and seems to have a bit of trouble folding them back in. i dont know much at all about birds(keep lots of other animals but not birds lol) here is a piccie i managed to get today if anyone knows what sort of pigeon it is? there is no blood or anything like that, no exposed bones or cuts on him. he does look scruffy though lol not sure if thats normal or because hes stressed and injured?



And if anyone can offer any advice or help on what might be wrong, if there is anything else we can do for it or even if there are any wildlife rescues that people know of in our area that we could contact? i was going to ring around a few tomorrow but would much prefer recommendations so i know im dealing with a good rescue and not one that will just put the poor thing to sleep for being "vermin" We are happy to keep caring for it here but because we dont know anything about birds it would probably be better if someone who did could care for it. as i said though, happy to keep it with us until he recovers if people can give advice of food etc and anything to check for with him.

Appreciate any help and advice people have to offer!

[Jaye]

First of all...thanks for saving him/her ! We have a lot of members in UK, so hopefully someone can direct you to one closeby, to either suggest wildcare facilities or even help you with recovery.

You should put some seed into the carrier along with a shallow dish of water.

He/she looks young...may not have learned how to survive as a wild/feral needs to. Hard to tell the wing situation form your pic...a few more pics can help determine if the wing looks injured or not. Just be 100% sure that she hasn't sustained an injury, abrasion, lesion, etc. because then infection becomes an issue. It's also possible she might not have fledged yet and simply fell out of her nest. Again, brighter pics can help determine age.

If she doesn't seem to be eating anything, after 24 hrs. she will really need some nourishment...so you may have to go to handfeeding some thawed frozen veggies or something of that sort...which isn't hard to do even for a novice...but let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

Does he seem alert and bright-eyed ? Or does he fluff up his feathers a lot and seem lethargic, staying on one place, seated ?

So far you are doing everything right...

[Trees Gray]

Thank you for caring for this bird.

Is this a wood pigeon?

Hopefully, our wood pigeon experts will be on soon and can direct you to rehab place or offer advice.

[plamenh]

Looks like young woodie to me.

[Ryo_the_Rat]

Originally Posted by Jaye

First of all...thanks for saving him/her ! We have a lot of members in UK, so hopefully someone can direct you to one closeby, to either suggest wildcare facilities or even help you with recovery.

You should put some seed into the carrier along with a shallow dish of water.

He/she looks young...may not have learned how to survive as a wild/feral needs to. Hard to tell the wing situation form your pic...a few more pics can help determine if the wing looks injured or not. Just be 100% sure that she hasn't sustained an injury, abrasion, lesion, etc. because then infection becomes an issue. It's also possible she might not have fledged yet and simply fell out of her nest. Again, brighter pics can help determine age.

If she doesn't seem to be eating anything, after 24 hrs. she will really need some nourishment...so you may have to go to handfeeding some thawed frozen veggies or something of that sort...which isn't hard to do even for a novice...but let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

Does he seem alert and bright-eyed ? Or does he fluff up his feathers a lot and seem lethargic, staying on one place, seated ?

So far you are doing everything right...

Thankyou all, and yes a couple of people on the other forum said that it looks like a young wood pigeon.

Last night we put in a bit of rattie food with it as its all we had though we mostly picked the seeds out to put in, but will get some proper bird seed tomorrow for it and anything else people recommend? we do have a shallow dish of water in there too. i did get a few more piccies earlier so will check and see if any of them were any better and put any on that i think could help.

To be honest im not too sure what im doing with the pidgy, having not owned a bird since i was younger and then it being a little budgie, this is quite a bit different lol but definately couldnt have left it there in the road to be ran over or worse. do definately think it would be better off with someone more experienced, but like i said il do my best by it. any tips for checking it over for cuts etc? im going by what i have seen of it in the carrier, and when we caught it and transferred it and earlier this afternoon i held it in a blanket while my OH put in fresh newspaper. havent seen any cuts though. it seems that when we are not about or when we are quiet it is staying still, but when i lift the blanket to check on it it flaps its wings and goes to the other end of the carrier. does that mean anything? other then it not wanting big humans disturbing it of course lol

[Feefo]

It's a juvenile woodie. Can have a look at his legs and see if they are strong and warm? Pigeons will often use their wings for balance when their legs are weak. Wood pigeons can be prone to calcium deficiency, which causes weakness in their legs. That can be corrected with calcium supplements.

If you defrost some peas and corn, pop a couple of pieces in his mouth while they are still warm then place the remainder near him he may start eating on his own. Or you could scatter wild bird seed round him.

There is a sanctuary near Birmingham that isn't ideal for a sick or injured bird, unfortunately I don't know its name to ensure that you can avoid it! However, although our member in Birmingham is on holiday she left details of this place which she takes her own rescues to (the comments are hers):

Wythall Animal Sanctuary
Middle Lane
Headley Heath
Birmingham.
B38 0DY

Tel: 01564 823288

This is actually South Birmingham location.
They are very pigeon friendly. Take in any injured pigeons.
Don't have a vet on site but will take any bird in need of treatment to their vet.
They will keep and treat any bird that has a chance of recovery.
Have an open aviary where birds can choose to leave or stay once recovered.
Will take other birds and some wildlife.
It is open for the public to view between 2.00 & 4.00 pm every day except Tuesday.

Any donations gladly accepted to help pay for vet treatment.

[Ryo_the_Rat]

Originally Posted by Feefo

It's a juvenile woodie. Can have a look at his legs and see if they are strong and warm? Pigeons will often use their wings for balance when their legs are weak. Wood pigeons can be prone to calcium deficiency, which causes weakness in their legs. That can be corrected with calcium supplements.

If you defrost some peas and corn, pop a couple of pieces in his mouth while they are still warm then place the remainder near him he may start eating on his own. Or you could scatter wild bird seed round him.

There is a sanctuary near Birmingham that isn't ideal for a sick or injured bird, unfortunately I don't know its name to ensure that you can avoid it! However, although our member in Birmingham is on holiday she left details of this place which she takes her own rescues to (the comments are hers):

Wythall Animal Sanctuary
Middle Lane
Headley Heath
Birmingham.
B38 0DY

Tel: 01564 823288

This is actually South Birmingham location.
They are very pigeon friendly. Take in any injured pigeons.
Don't have a vet on site but will take any bird in need of treatment to their vet.
They will keep and treat any bird that has a chance of recovery.
Have an open aviary where birds can choose to leave or stay once recovered.
Will take other birds and some wildlife.
It is open for the public to view between 2.00 & 4.00 pm every day except Tuesday.

Any donations gladly accepted to help pay for vet treatment.

Thankyou for that, i have actually tried ringing them twice this evening now but im not getting an answer so i will try again first thing in the morning as it sounds like the perfect place for this pidgy to be right now. if i cant find a rescue to take him in by tomorrow then i shall go out and get some bird seed and frozen veg(will check now if we have any but dont think we do) im off to try and check him over now so shall report back later if i find anything unsual or wrong. my OH did spend a while picking out the seeds and a few bits of corn from the rat food this evening lol so hopefully it will have a go at those if we have nothing else. Thanks again everyone, really appreciate this!

[PigeonQueen]

You can also give wholemeal bread soaked in water. Place right at the back of the throat. Also woodies like peanuts (unsalted) I split them in half. You can also use tinned corn and peas. Keep us updated. Thank you for helping this poor piggie.

[Ryo_the_Rat]

Just to update that the pigeon is now with Wythall Animal Sanctuary we got through to them this morning and i was told they would be happy to take it in but that they couldnt collect it, which was a bit of a pain il admit because neither me or my OH drive so we had to make a 45 minute train journey to Wythall and then walk for an hour there and then another hour back(yes, an hour each way! lol) to reach the sanctuary, getting lost along the way and almost being run over a few times as there was no path all along the road the sanctuary was on(wish they had told us that when i told them we would be coming by train!) it was also raining, ALOT so we got soaked through lol was a bit annoyed when we got there and saw two vans belonging to the charity and several cars, since we had been told that they didnt have enough volunteers etc to come out and get them so i wonder why they have the vans, but the main thing is that the pigeon will be looked after there and is in experienced hands now. they couldnt tell me what they thought was wrong with it though, but i shall be ringing tomorrow to find out more. they do have a lovely big open avairy at the sanctuary that they said the pigeon would be able to use once he has recovered so thats nice. i did mean to take a photo of it but we were wet and tierd and pretty miserable about having to do that walk back again lol so i completely forgot.

Before we left with him we decided to try him in the back garden first. i had rang the sanctuary a second time to ask their opinion as i told them that today he had been trying to fly in the carrier and that he was lifting himself upto the top of it and that we hadnt seen that before, so they said it would be safe for me to try him and see if he had just needed the rest. unfortunately the poor thing still couldnt fly, he was just spreading his wings out again and you could tell they were still lame bless him.

ah well, as i said he is in good hands now and hopefully he will be recovered in no time. i did tell him before we left the house that he better come back and visit us when he's feeling better got to admit, gonna miss having a pigeon in my kitchen.

Thanks again for the advice etc i shall let everyone know when i have spoken with the sanctuary again.

[Feefo]

You are both stars!!!!

I hope that you will receive good news from the sanctuary, I think that you did the right thing by taking him there,

Cynthia