[wildthingssanctuary]

Hi all!
I have a wildlife rehabilitation center in Ithaca NY. A lovely pigeon was brought to me the other day and it is clearly NOT wild!
It has no band. See attached picture.
Apparently it is a Homing Pigeon, but the original finders kept trying to send it off and it kept returning to them. They have a lot of hawks and were worried about him. I feel a bit weird just tossing this guy out into the big wide world if he is a bit confused about where he goes.
Any ideas/advice/person out there looking for this handsome fellow??
I look forward to hearing from you!
Victoria Campbell
Wild Things Sanctuary
Ithaca, NY

 

[Reti]

He is a handsome guy. Thank you for caring for this little guy till a home is found. He is lost most likely.
Hope some people from up north will see your post soon and respond.

Reti

 

[Jaye]

You could always try to find him a home with another flying loft. He would be a breeder there, not a racer (because he'd likely keep returning to his original loft).

Do NOT toss him out again....he was fortunate enough to find you...his chances of survival out there are not good. Predators, traffic, illness, mean people, starvation (Homers generally don't forage on their own - nor recognize the sorta food which Ferals eat).

I cannot fathom what sorta idiot would think that they could toss one of their Homers and NOT expect him/her to return ! Some folks have no business having birds....

Or, you can keep him/her at your sanctuary..he/she looks like a fine friend....

 

[Jaysen]

You could always try to find him a home with another flying loft. He would be a breeder there, not a racer (because he'd likely keep returning to his original loft).

http://cnypigeonracing.com is the combine site in your area. Click the contact link to see if there is anyone able to take him into a stock loft or into a pet home.

 

[spirit wings]

He may be a feral homer mix.. not too sure he is a 100% homer..and he is not banded so he could be a street pigeon or feral... someone may want him though anyway.

 

[Jaysen]

SW makes a great point. We have a local feral that looks exactly like one of our homers. Kid spent about 20 minutes trying to get it to trap only to walk inside and see the "real bird" sitting on it's nest.

 

[PigeonVilla]

That is no street pigeons I can tell you that !!

 

[Jaye]

http://cnypigeonracing.com is the combine site in your area. Click the contact link to see if there is anyone able to take him into a stock loft or into a pet home.

That's a nice link/site....good idea to hook up local orgs.

That is no street pigeons I can tell you that !!

Pretty simple...is Mr. Good Lookin' scared like heck of you, trying at every opportunity to evade and get away ?...or does he seem quite happy being taken care of at the moment ?

There's your answer, right there. I agree, doesn't look 100% Homer, but it's the behaviour which tells all.

 

[Luffy]

He has got something in him. Look at his pose , with his head held high. If you really want to release in the wild, then you have to do a soft release. Search this forum for soft release. Its basically mixing him up in a feral flock.

 

[Jaysen]

We had a feral trap on ... Wednesday I think it was. We could not distinguish it from one of our bird except for two things: no band, wouldn't eat out of our feeder (that was what struck us as odd until we noticed the "real" bird on his nest).

So a feral my not be afraid of humans. And it may look just like a homer. At least they do up here.

For those interested we just shooed him out the window. Haven't seen him since.

 

[spirit wings]

how much homer blood do you think street pigeons have... ummm..Im going to guess ALOT!..lol..

 

[djenner]

ALL pigeons are "homers"

This is inherent in the species. The birds used for racing &c. are never a different breed, and not a different var most of the time. The inherent behavior can be enhanced — encouraging a pair-bond, other such things — but that is merely reinforcement.