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Injured Pigeon! Tail feathers awkwardly spread out! What to do?

4.8K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  melt.1.music  
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everyone, I've attached an image that is composed of three images together of a pigeon around my building (I don't know if it is male or female, but it's really pretty, has different markings, not like the ones I usually see). I first saw it out front of my building on Thursday standing atop a railing continuously, and its flight seemed to only take it to the second floor. Its tail is very awkwardly spread out, and when I came near it, I saw tons of feathers laying below on the grass... Not sure how it lost all those feathers, but it certainly impeded its flight. Also, its wings seem to droop a little, but it may be because of the tail. I saw it trying to fly, and I think the root of its problem with flight is the tail, not the wings.

I saw it again in the back of my building on Friday, and went and gave it some bread to eat. In the back of the building, it was just hanging around the railing of a fence around an area that was used as the tanning area of the indoor pool. Its tail was again extremely fanned out or spread out, so I took some pictures to post over here to ask what was wrong with the poor pigeon (I took them with my cell phone and zoomed in as I wasn't standing too close since I didn't want to scare it, then enlarged them, so they're not the greatest quality, but you can clearly see what's going on with the tail).

Worried about the pigeon, I went downstairs at night to see where it was, and there is was standing on that railing. It looks like either it has no home (nest), or it can't get to where its nest is because it can't fly high enough!

I live in Canada, in Toronto, Ontario. Can anyone help tell me what is wrong with the pigeon, and how I can help? Please and thank you! I feel really bad for the poor guy, it's really hurt and I feel terrible, it's not safe at night for it to be so accessible to predators! I'd also like to know if there is anything I can do to help it. Thank you very much!
 

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#5 ·
Yes, as Waynette said, they aren't good flyers, and will get caught fairly quickly be a predator. Must have gotten out of someones loft or something. He doesn't even know where to find food, so if a predator doesn't get him first, he'll starve out there on his own.
 
#7 ·
I tried giving her some food (crushed peanuts, will go with bread afterwards), and she came close but not enough... And it's very weary of people, I can't get close enough to it! Another problem is if I catch it, where would I hold it?? I don't have a cage, and if I put it in a box, the poor bird will have a heart attack! This is REALLY difficult, I don't know what to do, the poor thing is REALLY scared obviously!
 
#10 ·
Thank you for all your responses. Last night I went to look for the bird, and saw that it got to the second floor balcony just above the fence it was sitting on earlier. That's a good thing as it rained last night and today. I also saw it there today. I printed and posted notices at the bottom of my building about the bird, just saying that if someone has lost a fantail pigeon to call me. I don't want to make the tenants at that apartment aware of the pigeon sitting there as they may throw it out and right now, it's the safest place for it. I'll continue feeding it and hope someone responds quickly to my notice. I also don't see it as being a good idea to ask them if I can try capturing the bird, because if I try and fail, two things will happen: One, the bird will leave. Two, if the bird tries to return, the tenants will likely not allow it to stay there. I will keep you all posted on this. If it comes down, I'll try capturing it. Thanks.
 
#12 ·
I also don't see it as being a good idea to ask them if I can try capturing the bird, because if I try and fail, two things will happen: One, the bird will leave. Two, if the bird tries to return, the tenants will likely not allow it to stay there. I will keep you all posted on this. If it comes down, I'll try capturing it. Thanks.
That is why you have to catch him the first time you try.
 
#13 ·
Hello everyone, I've attached an image that is composed of three images together of a pigeon around my building (I don't know if it is male or female, but it's really pretty, has different markings, not like the ones I usually see). I first saw it out front of my building on Thursday standing atop a railing continuously, and its flight seemed to only take it to the second floor. Its tail is very awkwardly spread out, and when I came near it, I saw tons of feathers laying below on the grass... Not sure how it lost all those feathers, but it certainly impeded its flight. Also, its wings seem to droop a little, but it may be because of the tail. I saw it trying to fly, and I think the root of its problem with flight is the tail, not the wings. I saw it again in the back of my building on Friday, and went and gave it some bread to eat. In the back of the building, it was just hanging around the railing of a fence around an area that was used as the tanning area of the indoor pool. Its tail was again extremely fanned out or spread out, so I took some pictures to post over here to ask what was wrong with the poor pigeon (I took them with my cell phone and zoomed in as I wasn't standing too close since I didn't want to scare it, then enlarged them, so they're not the greatest quality, but you can clearly see what's going on with the tail). Worried about the pigeon, I went downstairs at night to see where it was, and there is was standing on that railing. It looks like either it has no home (nest), or it can't get to where its nest is because it can't fly high enough! I live in Canada, in Toronto, Ontario. Can anyone help tell me what is wrong with the pigeon, and how I can help? Please and thank you! I feel really bad for the poor guy, it's really hurt and I feel terrible, it's not safe at night for it to be so accessible to predators! I'd also like to know if there is anything I can do to help it. Thank you very much!
You shouldn't feed birds bread it is not good for them, they do like unshelled sunflower seed, or any unshelled seed.