Meet my rescued pigeons!

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I’ve ended up with a lot of pigeons over the past few months, mostly by accident. Though I have a thread about them (https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pigeon-adventures.1500316/), I thought I’d re-introduce them here!

This is Phantom, a fantail mix pigeon (fantails are a fancy domestic breed with huge tails) who was wandering about with a wild flock of feral pigeons. He either got lost during free flight (the pigeon equivalent of free ranging) or was dumped. Now he has a mate who he loves to show off his shiny colors to— pigeons mate for life!

This is Skipper! He’s a feral pigeon who I found with a hole in his crop— he probably got away from a hawk. I could see the seeds inside of him! Fortunately, after a week of treatment, the hole in his crop is closed and the outside flesh wound is almost completely healed.
Skipper’s thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pigeon-with-hole-in-its-crop.1520912/

Oliver is another feral pigeon. Something happened to him in the wild and he lost sight in one of his eyes. I knew the blindness was recent due to his odd behavior, so I caught him (which was very easy due his disability) because he wouldn’t have had much of a chance on his own.

Quin is a racing pigeon (you can tell by her leg bands) who got lost during a race. Unfortunately, this isn’t that uncommon, and racing pigeons, once lost, can’t survive in the wild. I caught her and now she has a mate! (She’s sitting on fake eggs in the first picture, I decided not to let my pigeons breed since I rescue them.) She’s very calm and docile, and will even tolerate sitting on my lap and being pet for a short while.

This is Wraith, Quin’s mate, a very dramatic pigeon! He was “released” on 9/11 as part of a dove release. Seeing as he’s neither a dove nor a wild bird, I knew he wasn’t going to be able to survive for long in the wild, so I caught him! Sometimes domestic doves are used in dove releases, but they aren’t able to survive in the wild, either. There’s a certain breed of pigeon, homing pigeons, who can actually return to their home once released. However, they can still get lost, especially if they’re released too far away from their home.

This is Kasper, another white pigeon who was released on 9/11. However, she was in even more danger than Wraith, since she was only around 6 weeks old! She didn’t even know how to find food or how to stay with the feral pigeon flock. Luckily, I was able to catch her, and now her and Phantom are mates.

Rubber Band is another disabled feral pigeon. I found her in the wild with a rubber band wrapped around her leg, cutting off circulation. Her foot eventually turned black and fell off, so now she lives in my aviary since she is unreleasable. She has that feral pigeon glare!
Rubber Band’s thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rubber-band-wrapped-around-leg-of-pigeon.1494608/

This is Tofu, who is a feral I found with a broken leg. I knew her chances of healing on her own were slim, especially since she was young, so I caught her. Unfortunately her leg healed a bit wrong, which made me decide to keep her. She is very confident, and coos at and fights with anyone who tries to mess with her, including me!

Finally, meet Neet Neet! He is my first pigeon, a breed called a roller. Though he wasn’t rescued, he was the one who ignited my love for pigeons. Since I’ve had him the longest, he’s extremely friendly and loves perching on people, being pet, play fighting, and performing courting dances for various objects. (Including my shoes, like pictured above.) He even goes on car rides! He would make a great inside pigeon, though he lives outside because I don’t have enough time for an house bird right now.

(Note: though I’ve upgraded my pigeons to a bigger pen, they still need more space, because I don’t free fly them due to the danger of predators. I’m currently making them an even bigger aviary, since I keep ending up with more pigeons!)

 

[N F C]

Very pretty birds, thanks for sharing the pictures!

 

[Everose]

I’ve ended up with a lot of pigeons over the past few months, mostly by accident. Though I have a thread about them (https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pigeon-adventures.1500316/), I thought I’d re-introduce them here!

View attachment 3077241View attachment 3077242View attachment 3077243
This is Phantom, a fantail mix pigeon (fantails are a fancy domestic breed with huge tails) who was wandering about with a wild flock of feral pigeons. He either got lost during free flight (the pigeon equivalent of free ranging) or was dumped. Now he has a mate who he loves to show off his shiny colors to— pigeons mate for life!

View attachment 3077193View attachment 3077194This is Skipper! He’s a feral pigeon who I found with a hole in his crop— he probably got away from a hawk. I could see the seeds inside of him! Fortunately, after a week of treatment, the hole in his crop is closed and the outside flesh wound is almost completely healed.
Skipper’s thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pigeon-with-hole-in-its-crop.1520912/

View attachment 3077210View attachment 3077208View attachment 3077209View attachment 3077211Oliver is another feral pigeon. Something happened to him in the wild and he lost sight in one of his eyes. I knew the blindness was recent due to his odd behavior, so I caught him (which was very easy due his disability) because he wouldn’t have had much of a chance on his own.

View attachment 3077258View attachment 3077259Quin is a racing pigeon (you can tell by her leg bands) who got lost during a race. Unfortunately, this isn’t that uncommon, and racing pigeons, once lost, can’t survive in the wild. I caught her and now she has a mate! (She’s sitting on fake eggs in the first picture, I decided not to let my pigeons breed since I rescue them.) She’s very calm and docile, and will even tolerate sitting on my lap and being pet for a short while.

View attachment 3077280View attachment 3077281View attachment 3077282This is Wraith, Quin’s mate, a very dramatic pigeon! He was “released” on 9/11 as part of a dove release. Seeing as he’s neither a dove nor a wild bird, I knew he wasn’t going to be able to survive for long in the wild, so I caught him! Sometimes domestic doves are used in dove releases, but they aren’t able to survive in the wild, either. There’s a certain breed of pigeon, homing pigeons, who can actually return to their home once released. However, they can still get lost, especially if they’re released too far away from their home.

View attachment 3077293View attachment 3077294View attachment 3077295View attachment 3077296View attachment 3077297This is Kasper, another white pigeon who was released on 9/11. However, she was in even more danger than Wraith, since she was only around 6 weeks old! She didn’t even know how to find food or how to stay with the feral pigeon flock. Luckily, I was able to catch her, and now her and Phantom are mates.

View attachment 3077309View attachment 3077308View attachment 3077312Rubber Band is another disabled feral pigeon. I found her in the wild with a rubber band wrapped around her leg, cutting off circulation. Her foot eventually turned black and fell off, so now she lives in my aviary since she is unreleasable. She has that feral pigeon glare!
Rubber Band’s thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rubber-band-wrapped-around-leg-of-pigeon.1494608/

View attachment 3077322View attachment 3077323View attachment 3077324This is Tofu, who is a feral I found with a broken leg. I knew her chances of healing on her own were slim, especially since she was young, so I caught her. Unfortunately her leg healed a bit wrong, which made me decide to keep her. She is very confident, and coos at and fights with anyone who tries to mess with her, including me!

View attachment 3077334View attachment 3077335View attachment 3077336View attachment 3077337View attachment 3077338View attachment 3077339Finally, meet Neet Neet! He is my first pigeon, a breed called a roller. Though he wasn’t rescued, he was the one who ignited my love for pigeons. Since I’ve had him the longest, he’s extremely friendly and loves perching on people, being pet, play fighting, and performing courting dances for various objects. (Including my shoes, like pictured above.) He even goes on car rides! He would make a great inside pigeon, though he lives outside because I don’t have enough time for an house bird right now.

(Note: though I’ve upgraded my pigeons to a bigger pen, they still need more space, because I don’t free fly them due to the danger of predators. I’m currently making them an even bigger aviary, since I keep ending up with more pigeons!)

They're so beautiful
So glad to see that lil' RB is doing well.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you for sharing their pictures and stories with us. This was so interesting! How did you find out the back story on Wraith and Kasper? These birds are gorgeous and very lucky

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Thank you for sharing their pictures and stories with us. This was so interesting! How did you find out the back story on Wraith and Kasper? These birds are gorgeous and very lucky

On 9/11, there was some sort of event where the wild flock of pigeons are, and when I came back a day later, I found Kasper. A little while later I found Wraith (and he looks almost identical to Kasper, so I knew they came from the same source). There’s no other reason I can think of for two white pigeons to end up in the wild on 9/11.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

On 9/11, there was some sort of event at the pier, and when I came back a day later, I found Kasper. A little while later I found Wraith (and he looks almost identical to Kasper, so I knew they came from the same source). There’s no other reason I can think of for two white pigeons to end up in the wild on 9/11.

That's so cool! Is Neet Neet your favorite? They're all such beautiful birds

 

[Lor]

Lovely birds. Thanks for sharing their stories.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

That's so cool! Is Neet Neet your favorite? They're all such beautiful birds

I shouldn’t have favorites, but he is. I know all my pigeons have the potential to be tame, but I haven’t been able to work with them individually for long enough to get them to that point.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Pigeon fight! Tofu vs Neet Neet (aka Neet Neet was trying to flirt and Tofu wasn’t interested).

Pigeons fight by pecking and wing-slapping their enemies.

 

[Dinoroar]

Thanks for sharing! Such beautiful birds. Their eyes are so expressive and I love all the iridescent feathers.

I didn’t put it together from your skipper thread that you’d found him that way!!! Wow he is a luck bird that you came along when you did.


My daughter is really pigeon crazy. I took her downtown to see if we could watch some but it seems their aren’t any around. I know their used to be plenty of them but it had been years since I’d been down there I wonder what became of them.