[bevvv]

We Have a beige pigeon that moved to our house over a month ago, it lives mostly on our roof walks the railings of our deck and comes very close to us, but not close enough to catch , We feed him properly and water him. If We are in the front of the house so is he, if we are in the back of the house so is he, he has flown and swooped over my head when I am getting out of my car, I think he is greeting me. Now I am worried about winter coming, we have made him a nice box and put it on the roof for shelter, but I am not sure that he even goes into it ( and I dont know why we refer to "pigie" as a male, as we really have no idea)we have also made him a good size cage and filled it with food in hopes he might just jump in, ha! I need to know how safe it is for pigie on my roof all winter, and if we should just trap him and cage him, and keep him indoors for the winter?
what kind of temperatures can they tolerate? I am thinking keeping him locked in the cage, but it seems so sad, but I do not want anything to happen to him. and I am affraid he is not going to use or be safe enough in the box we made. He will just sit in the rain now, he takes no shelter in a tree or anything, he just sits there. And last but least would anyone know what kind of pigeon this is, he does not look like any feral pigeons I have seen. We live in the country and actually I have never seen a pigeon near here in the 20 years I have lived here.
Thanks for any help you can give me!!

 

[spirit wings]

we can only tell if you post a pic of him..or guess what he may be. Do you know where he roosts at night, pigeons can be caught in the dark. if you can get him at night from his roost he will be alot safer in with you in a cage, does he have a band on his leg? where is your location?

 

[bevvv]

At Night he lives on the roof above our front door, I have made my profile pic, a pic of him, and I have also added a picture to my photo album. he has no bands on him and I live in central Ontario.

 

[spirit wings]

he looks like some kind of roller, you will have to get a ladder and get him at dark to be kept safe and out of the harsh winter to come, esp in your area.

 

[bevvv]

If I manage to catch him and put him in a cage and keep him in the house for the winter, can I let him back out in the spring to live outside for the summer and re-catch him for winter. Or just move his cage outside and let him go in and out. I am not really sure what to expect. Also if caged for the winter does he need anything special added to his diet? The cage we have made for him is about 4 ft tall and almost 2 ft sq I have added a couple more pics including a pic of the house we made for him.
Thanks so much for your responses!!

 

[Jaye]

Personally...if he is definitely hanging out and feels comfortable with being around you...don't rush trying to catch him. If he's a Roller, he is already used to human contact and within a short amount of time he may well just step into the cage or your house for that matter.

My concern, and I know I am being kinda cautious here...is that a botched attempt at catching him might make him flee and not return. At least if you are feeding and developing a safe relationship with him, he knows that your house is a good place to hang out.

As I said, I may be being overly cautious, and SW's advice is good, too...it's just that I have had too many missed catches, and the times I have been patient before catching have turned out much more successful.

He/she is a cutie.

Does he always stay high ? Does he ever come down to the porch or deck to eat ? If so, you could try getting him to eat from a place in front of a house door and over a few days try to lead him in, patiently, with food.

Where are you located ?

That's a nice little box you built there, BTW Maybe make the opening a bit larger.....

 

[spirit wings]

Personally...if he is definitely hanging out and feels comfortable with being around you...don't rush trying to catch him. If he's a Roller, he is already used to human contact and within a short amount of time he may well just step into the cage or your house for that matter.

My concern, and I know I am being kinda cautious here...is that a botched attempt at catching him might make him flee and not return. At least if you are feeding and developing a safe relationship with him, he knows that your house is a good place to hang out.

As I said, I may be being overly cautious, and SW's advice is good, too...it's just that I have had too many missed catches, and the times I have been patient before catching have turned out much more successful.

well in the mean time he may be a hawk's lunch, so IMO, he needs to be caught sooner than later, at night, you can pick him right up. and he needs to be kept in a hutch with a flypen or something like that, he is just going to get eaten by a hawk hanging outside 24/7 unprotected. he can live outside with protection but not fly free, he would need a partner to keep him company. If you do not want to give him a forever home you can list him on the adoptions section of this site.

 

[bevvv]

he does come down to eat, and often comes and walks around on our patio table to scrounge for food when we are sitting at it, he does come very close to us and has on occasion does take food from our hands, but he is very cautious and I think he hates hands, when I have tried to touch him he just walks away I have never tried to grab him, I didnt want to scare him. Its really strange he follows us from front to back and seems to want to be near us, He takes great flights on our property and gone so far I have lost site of him above the trees but he always comes back, he has even gone for swims in our pool when my teenage kids are in it. we are located in central ontario

 

[bevvv]

I would love to keep him forever!

 

[Ed]

You can try this good ole trick and see if you can catch him.

or try building one of these

http://www.racingbirds.com/ptrap.html

 

[altgirl35]

when i had to catch one of the young ferals i released i used a cat kennel, with a long clothesline tied to the door then i ran it thru one of the holes and had the end by my front door, i tested it a few times and if i yanked it good it closed quick.
i put it where i always put their food then left their food right by the open kennel door for a couple of days so he got use to it, after i saw him eating comfortably by it, i put the food in the kennel and bam i got him.
he defiantly not a feral piji he belonged to someone at some point and he views you as the provider of food

 

[bevvv]

ok My husband just climbed on the roof and put a box over him with no problem and now we have him in the cage he built...I hope he is going to be happy in there...

 

[altgirl35]

oh yay!! that was easy, lol can we see pics of him in his cage????
after he settles down, check him over for creepy crawlies, and feel his keel bone to see if he's skinny.
check his mouth and throat to see if it's nice and pink, no cheesy looking substances in it

 

[bevvv]

Hi I have added new pic of pigie in Cage, I havent checked him for bugs yet, and I know he is not a skinny as he was when he first started coming around.
So now to get this straight I just keep him in the cage? Do I ever let him out to fly again?
Another thing I have never heard him make a peep, ever...is this normal?
I have put him on a table near the back doors so there is lots of light, its in the far part of my kitchen away from food areas or eating area's is that ok?

 

[altgirl35]

he bev, let's wait to see what the other members have to say, i have never kept a piji's as a pet, i'm more experienced with saving the wild ones.
one thing i would do is make some kind of corner shelf for him so he doesn't hang out on the bottom, they like to be up as high as possible,they like flat surfaces more than perches like other birds do but you could put one in so he has the choice.
if you can't do it right away you can find a cardboard box and flip it over and put a hunk of fleece on it so it's soft and easy to clean.
if you let him fly free outside he may never come back in and is at risk of getting caught by a hawk.
once he's settled in and feeling comfortable you may be able to allow him to come out of the cage.

 

[spirit wings]

looks like he has made a mess out his feed already, he's right at home. you can put the seed in a empty round butter dish, upside down and cut a hole in the middle and fill with seed , that way he does not sling as much out and waste feed.
Also, you need to turn the cage on it's side so it is longer rather than taller, he will use more of the space that way. pigeons like to peck on the ground so all that space up top is going to waste.

 

[bevvv]

yes after about a half an hour he started slinging his food all over, he climbed up the cage a few times , and has let me touch him, was checking for bugs and so far cant see nothing, going slow I dont want to scare him. I will get my husband to make a new tray and turn him sideways, he was in the middle of making a shelf for the upper part of the cage! Is any regular bird gravel fine to use?

 

[spirit wings]

you can go to the pet store and get him high calcium grit for lovebirds/cockatiels would work fine. also a dove mix for feed may be better than wild bird seed.