[sunrise1908]

Hello,

A pigeon laid her eggs on my window. They were 2. They hatched and grew up, the mother and only 1 of the babies flew away. The other one has been on my window, when i try to approach it it doesn't fly, it just moves away or tries to peck me. It looks like a fully grown adult pigeon by now almost 1 month old. I give it water and bird seeds everyday and she seems to eat and drink but it just doesn't seem to be able to fly.

Does anyone know what's going on? Is she born disabled? Is there anything i can do?

 

[pigeonroger154]

most likely not although most pigeons can fly at this age she still will be feed by the parents even if she can eat on her own, i have had a case where a pigeon did not fledge the nest until 41 days old, give her some time. even at a month old, they may look grown but are still babies until day 50-55, so give her some time.

 

[Marina B]

Is she flapping her wings? Is the one wing hanging lower than the other one?

 

[sunrise1908]

Is she flapping her wings? Is the one wing hanging lower than the other one?

No. She just sits in her place or walks to drink or eat what i put for her.

 

[Marina B]

Can you post a photo?

 

[sunrise1908]

most likely not although most pigeons can fly at this age she still will be feed by the parents even if she can eat on her own, i have had a case where a pigeon did not fledge the nest until 41 days old, give her some time. even at a month old, they may look grown but are still babies until day 50-55, so give her some time.

Okay that's reassuring i really hope she will fly some day. I do notice some pigeons come and it seems like they are attacking her because she makes sounds like she's distressed. If i ever witness that i just open the window to scare them away.

 

[sunrise1908]

Can you post a photo?

 

[Doves Witness]

If she is making a squeaking sound and shrugging her shoulders / or flapping her wings when the other birds are near, then she is hungry and wants to be fed. She may not know how to feed herself. Flying requires strong muscles and a lot of energy. A bird that is not getting sufficient nutrition from food may be too weak and underdeveloped to fly. Feed the bird nutritious foods like raw, out-of-the-shell sunflower seed kernels, dried peas or split peas, dried lentils, dried oats. If she can be safe and get plenty of food and water, she will be able to fly and to find food for herself.

 

[sunrise1908]

If she is making a squeaking sound and shrugging her shoulders / or flapping her wings when the other birds are near, then she is hungry and wants to be fed. She may not know how to feed herself. Flying requires strong muscles and a lot of energy. A bird that is not getting sufficient nutrition from food may be too weak and underdeveloped to fly. Feed the bird nutritious foods like raw, out-of-the-shell sunflower seed kernels, dried peas or split peas, dried lentils, dried oats. If she can be safe and get plenty of food and water, she will be able to fly and to find food for herself.

I can't see how she's hungry when i make sure to feed her everyday. I usually leave her bird seeds, the same food our small pet birds eat. I'll try to also find anything from what you mentioned.

 

[Doves Witness]

When she pecks at food, can you tell whether she is actually swallowing it rather than dropping it? Very young pigeons peck at food but don't often actually manage to get any into their beaks. Even when they do, they sometimes drop it rather than swallow it. They have to develop the recognition of what is and isn't food, the coordination of vision and movement to actually pick-up seeds at which they peck, and then also to swallow the seeds rather than dropping them. A deep dish of seeds helps them to feed themselves because they can't miss getting some seeds in their beaks.

Even if the bird is successfully eating something, if the food isn't satisfying all the nutritional needs, then the bird may still act hungry and want to be fed by its parents. Pigeon-milk is almost entirely protein and fat without any carbohydrates, whereas most seeds are relatively low in protein and fat, and have a lot of carbohydrates. Very young birds don't have much of the friendly "probiotic" intestinal bacteria which help to digest carbohydrates, so they don't get as much out of a diet that is mostly carbs. Giving the bird a small amount of yogurt with "live cultures" will supply more probiotics.

 

[Marina B]

Okay that's reassuring i really hope she will fly some day. I do notice some pigeons come and it seems like they are attacking her because she makes sounds like she's distressed. If i ever witness that i just open the window to scare them away.

Just be carefull not too chase the parents away coming to feed her. Do you see her getting fed? She will stick her beak into the beak of the parent when getting fed.

 

[sunrise1908]

When she pecks at food, can you tell whether she is actually swallowing it rather than dropping it? Very young pigeons peck at food but don't often actually manage to get any into their beaks. Even when they do, they sometimes drop it rather than swallow it. They have to develop the recognition of what is and isn't food, the coordination of vision and movement to actually pick-up seeds at which they peck, and then also to swallow the seeds rather than dropping them. A deep dish of seeds helps them to feed themselves because they can't miss getting some seeds in their beaks.

Even if the bird is successfully eating something, if the food isn't satisfying all the nutritional needs, then the bird may still act hungry and want to be fed by its parents. Pigeon-milk is almost entirely protein and fat without any carbohydrates, whereas most seeds are relatively low in protein and fat, and have a lot of carbohydrates. Very young birds don't have much of the friendly "probiotic" intestinal bacteria which help to digest carbohydrates, so they don't get as much out of a diet that is mostly carbs. Giving the bird a small amount of yogurt with "live cultures" will supply more probiotics.

She doesn't peck at the food, she tries to peck me whenever i come near her to refill her plate or water bowl.

She does eat the bird seeds i give her. It's the same food that's fed to our canary birds. She also sits on the water bowl to cool down.

The most amazing thing happened today she didn't feel threatened when i came near her and let me pet her!! It's an amazing feeling when a wild animal begins to trust you 😍

I try to make her place comfortable by making her a nest and leaving her a large enough water bowl to sit in to cool down from the heat.

I'm thinking of making her my pet however i don't know if i can keep her indoors or how to make her a good home or if it's better to just leave her outside but i feel bad for her because the window sill is small and ksn't spacious.

 

[sunrise1908]

Just be carefull not too chase the parents away coming to feed her. Do you see her getting fed? She will stick her beak into the beak of the parent when getting fed.

Maybe that was what was going on then. Since they were 2 of them the other one must be it's other sibling.

She eats the plate of bird seeds i leave her and refill everyday. It's the same bird seeds that are fed to our pet canaries.

 

[Marina B]

Can the window open? If so, try to lure her inside your home with food. Also get a doveseedmixture for her. If she starts flying later on, you can always do a soft release. Also get some liquid calcium with added Vit D3 to add to her drinking water.

 

[sunrise1908]

Good news guys it finally flew away!

I'm going to miss her i'll have to admit. I still left the nest, water and seeds either for her or any other pigeon that needs a safe place 💙

Thank you all for your help 💙