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New here and have pigeon following me

17K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  TastyDinosaur  
#1 ·
I have a feral pigeon who for some unknown reason has decided I belong to him. It has no leg band and seems to be healthy and all. It was across the street from my work, and I stopped there to unload some stuff from my truck. It was looking at me and I spoke to it. Then I went across the street to work and it flew over there. I thought it was funny. But then it wanted in to my office, and when the door was opened for a moment it flew inside. I had to turn off the lights and catch it and put it out, then keep the door closed. When I went out when it was time to leave, it flew over and landed on my truck, but got off the truck when I started it. I went home which is a few miles away, and when I went outside about 20 minutes later to feed the horses, there it was! I know it is the same one as it is missing a few tail feathers and does not have the same bands of grey in its wings as others around here. Also it is determined to follow me around and keeps trying to get in the house. It tore up my bedroom window screen until I finally let it in so it would not damage my house or itself! Now I have a cage for it and I put it out after I come home for work for a while until just before dusk and I call it and it flies in the house and I catch it and put it in the cage. I cannot let it outside until after I get home from work or it goes there looking for me! I work in a school kitchen so I cannot have a bird in there. It is not tame, it does not want to be handled, but is upset if I leave the room, or if I leave it outside for long. It will come tap on the door if it is left out for too long. It does not sit on my hand or shoulder, but did one time land on my head when I was trying to catch it after it followed me to work and several people were trying to help me catch it. I had left him outside and drove 13 miles to town and when I came out of the grocery store, there he was on my truck. I actually let him in the truck for the ride home as I was worried he would be hurt trying to find me again. Have any of you heard of this?
 
#2 ·
Can you post a picture of him. In all likelihood, he was owned or raised by someone. He was probably either released or got lost. He may not know how to survive well in the wild, and therefore wants to stay with you.
 
#3 ·
I do not know how to add a picture here. I talked to a guy who raises pigeons around here, he said it is not a pigeon that would be raised or bred by anyone, it is a feral pigeon, and he is the only one around who raises pigeons and doves. I live out a very long way from anywhere. The closest gas station is nearly 20 miles away. There is a very small community here. Only 30 homes. There are only 9 children in the K-8 school I work at. This is not a tame bird. It will peck anyone who tries to handle him, and does not want to be handled. He just wants to be where he can see me. It has no leg band, and the guy that checked him out says he has no scarring that would show he ever wore one.
 
#7 ·
People do take in and hand raise baby pigeons they find injured, or fallen from nests. Others would not know that if they did. And they wouldn't normally be banded. This bird is used to being kept inside a home or a loft or something, whether friendly or not, or he wouldn't be acting that way. Birds can travel a long way in a short time. You nor your friend would not know if someone else had birds, or raised one and released it.
 
#8 ·
Since the guy that checked it out and told me that it was not used to being handled, also that its stool reflected a wild diet. He is a vet and raises pigeons, and has actually seen the bird, I am more inclined to believe his evaluation that the bird is more than likely feral. He also said that sometimes feral pigeons or doves will bond to humans or other animals for no apparent reason. My question was not if the bird was feral, what you thought about how it was raised but if anyone here had ever had this happen to them. The bird will attack other people, dive bombing them and driving them away from me. It will not be handled, and will peck at even me when I try to put food in the cage. I have to dump the bird out, outside, then clean the cage and replace the food and water. Then I have to entice it back in the house and wait until it gets dark and roosts somewhere to catch it and cage it so it does not follow me to work. I leave it outside all weekend.
 
#9 ·
Don't see how his droppings can reflect a wild or not wild diet, but of course he would have been eating a wild diet if he had been released or lost for a while. Not wanting to be handled is not all that strange for a hand raised bird, or one that has lived in a loft of some kind. And even many pet pigeons are very aggressive if you reach into their cage, as they view it as their territory. A wild bird doesn't act like this, but a bird who has been kept does. Your friend may be a vet who raises pigeons, but he can't possibly know any more than you do about this bird or his background. You are just assuming he is feral and has always been. I was trying to help to explain his behavior, but you seem to want to believe what you want to believe, so enjoy him.
 
#10 ·
Never mind. Obviously this is a site for people who like to argue their own agenda, not share information. You simply want to try to assert you know it all. My question will obviously never be answered. I guess this site is not for information at all, just for strutting. You have ignored the question asked completely. I found another site where information is shared and people are not belittled. Also a man in Germany told me that sometimes feral birds, especially males will bond with random people when their mate dies. That is more information in one sentence than you offered in all your replies. Have fun here, I will not return
 
#11 · (Edited)
Sounds like quite a character. Yes, I have had a feral pigeon like that, it was hand raised by someone and was bonded to them, but they gave him up. He actually followed me around everywhere but would fight and peck at us when we tried to pick it up. He is a male and a bossy one.

He loved being indoors and could watch me for hours doing chores, but from a distance. He was quite content with us-as long as you didn't grab him or try to pick him up, not so much content in coop living with our other pigeons.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Such a stalker. I think he has fallen in love with you Biker chickk. They do recognise voices since you talked to him maybe he thought you want him.
Recently one of my birds started to follow me around after he was attacked by a hawk. It is very clear to me he believes I can protect him and he feels safe staying with me. But that might not be the case with this pigeon.
 
#13 ·
Feral or not who cares, that bird decided he likes you and if I were you I would put that bird is a nice safe cage or flight and keep it. They just decide what they want. If you keep releasing it, sooner or later with that obsessive behavior to be with you it will get plucked by a hawk as it is not acting like it wants to be free. I would keep that bird, one in a million :) Poor little thing, it looks to be a mature male. For whatever reason, you made eye contact and it was love at first sight lol. I hope you get this post and keep it.
 
#14 ·
I don't know, but here in my home town we have a pigeon park were people buy little bags of pigeon feed and feed the pigeons, if you are one of the first ones to the park in the morning a lot of pigeons will fly straight at you even on your hands, shoulder, head where ever and basically it's because there very hungry. They won't even give you time to put your hand in the bag and throw food because they are All on your hands pecking the bag. So it might just be that the bird Is very hungry and she looks like someone it knows.
 
#16 ·
Yes the same thing a pigeon shows up waits at the door when I walk outside it follows me it has a fiend or companies by another pigeon but that pigeon waits on the electricity line
I’m not sure why it waits for me she doesn’t drink the water but yesterday had done bread, today just kept following me making a pigeon sound but did not eat tge bread it has tried to fly on my shoulder off-coarse I panic and she flys back down to my feet
What are they trying to say as pigeon are wild here they definitely are not pets
 
#17 ·
Yes the same thing a pigeon shows up waits at the door when I walk outside it follows me it has a fiend or companies by another pigeon but that pigeon waits on the electricity line
I’m not sure why it waits for me she doesn’t drink the water but yesterday had done bread, today just kept following me making a pigeon sound but did not eat tge bread it has tried to fly on my shoulder off-coarse I panic and she flys back down to my feet
What are they trying to say as pigeon are wild here they definitely are not pets
Might be a pigeon that was handraised by someone and then released. Probably hungry as well. Don't give bread, rather seeds as in list below.
Image
 
#18 ·
One of my pigeons followed me around for awhile. Not to a different location, but he would watch me go from one room to the next and then peek into the window of the next room. This bird appeared on my balcony as a squab one day and I took him in because he managed to eat our of the same dish as another pigeon that hatched here. Since that bird didn't share with any other bird except his mate, I assumed it is one of his offspring.

He would also come inside my apartment, but I caught him a little while ago so I could give him some pesticide, and since I did that he isn't so attached. He does come around every evening for food, though. He has been looking for a mate for a long time and today a hen seemed to be accepting his advances, but he either didn't understand the hen's behavior or he didn't understand how to take the next step. I wonder whether the attachment to me and the fact that he hasn't found a mate are related.

Anyway, this kind of blurs the line between being feral and hand raised because he is a free range bird that I adopted when he was young. I consider him wild and don't have a place to put him, but he comes around every day to eat and socialize with the other birds thar come to my balcony.

I suspect your bird was probably rescued or taken in by someone. Perhaps he was just being regularly fed and the person that was feeding him moved away. You then became the bird's surrogate caretaker when he lost access to his regular eating site.