[rudgeg]

Hi, a long shot I know, but I have lost a male feral about 10 months old (not ringed) in the Sutton Coldfield area of Birmingham (England not AL). He was rescued as a fledgling whilst being attacked by ravens and was successfully rehabbed after serious injury and has shown no sign of wanting to be re-wilded. He has lived with us for nearly 9 months and flies freely in the neighbourhood in the day time and roosts and feeds in our house. He is very tame and amenable to being handled. He is not ringed and anyone finding him may assume he is completely wild. He has been missing since Sunday (20th). Whilst he may have found a feral flock, given the cold snap and lack of food right now, I'm surprised he has not been back to eat. He is very timid on the ground and will stick to roofs, chimneys and window sills (if there are no people to land on). If anyone finds a bird lost or injured in the area, I would be grateful if you would let me know. We are very keen to get him back if possible.

 

[cwebster]

Could you pls post a ohoto? Hope he is home againsoon. There are some google sites where people post lost and found pigeons...hope he turns up soon.
https://www.nationalpetregister.org/found-birds/pigeon

 

[rudgeg]

photo of the little guy

This is him. Picture seems to come our large for some reason, so you may have to zoom out to see it.

 

[cwebster]

Beautiful bird! Hope he turns up very soon. Would contact the pigeon rescue people in UK and post his photo. Our male, Blue, disappeared for two days but finally came home. Hope your bird is home safe soon.
https://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/

Also would put up a poster at local feed stores and check craigslist and any local shelters.

 

[Ladygrey]

A 9 month old pigeon would be looking for a mate, that is hard to complete with. Perhaps he will bring her home to meet the “ folks” . I have seen a lot of x domestics living with ferals, and doing well.

 

[rudgeg]

lost pigeon

Yes, I agree. I have noticed how all the pigeons in the area suddenly got a bit 'hormonal'. There was a small group of ferals that met in trees on a hill about 1/2 a mile away. Whenever he saw them from the window he would head out there like a missile and fly around with them. I've not seen them since he went away, so he may have partnered up with one. The thing is I can't figure out where these other birds' normal territory is. Ferals' home patches are fairly small, but I've wandered around the area around these trees and not seen one. It was cool having him while we did though and he was such a character we really miss him. I have had a stock dove (also a rescue) that I sucessfully re-wilded, just before our feral turned up, but even though it was hand reared from a nestling it never imprinted and did not get very tame. My feral was older when we found him but was totally tame from the get go. As soon as I started getting him out of his cage and letting him fly, he was straight onto my shoulder and sat there like a parrot!

 

[Jay3]

By letting him fly loose, you are actually doing a soft release where he will eventually join a flock and not return when he is ready. I hope that is what happened. Letting them fly loose, you are also taking your chances with hawks and such. And him landing on people who may not like pigeons. By 9 months old, he would have been looking for a mate, so hopefully he has found one. He's a cutie.

 

[Ladygrey]

Yes, I agree. I have noticed how all the pigeons in the area suddenly got a bit 'hormonal'. There was a small group of ferals that met in trees on a hill about 1/2 a mile away. Whenever he saw them from the window he would head out there like a missile and fly around with them. I've not seen them since he went away, so he may have partnered up with one. The thing is I can't figure out where these other birds' normal territory is. Ferals' home patches are fairly small, but I've wandered around the area around these trees and not seen one. It was cool having him while we did though and he was such a character we really miss him. I have had a stock dove (also a rescue) that I sucessfully re-wilded, just before our feral turned up, but even though it was hand reared from a nestling it never imprinted and did not get very tame. My feral was older when we found him but was totally tame from the get go. As soon as I started getting him out of his cage and letting him fly, he was straight onto my shoulder and sat there like a parrot!

Pigeons are very adaptable, proof is look at our cities where pigeons live, they've adapted to human buildings. Domestic can turn wild/feral in a short period and they have amazing instincts to survive. . Feral or otherwise , if not given grains by humans they will fly distances to forage, just like nature intended. They also find nest sites . Hard to say where that is, hopefully somewhere welcoming . The wild rock doves nest/ed in cliff crevices. Some say there are no more true wild rock doves, as all come from escape domestics. I think pigeons are happiest flying and with a mate.