Rescued a pigeon

[chadmel]

here is a picture. He is not banded. Do you think he is feral?

 

[jak2002003]

here is a picture. He is not banded. Do you think he is feral?

I personally don't think that bird looks like a feral pigeon... simply because of its unusual colouring and pattern. It could be a cross breed or some kind of performing (flying) breed like a tumbler pigeon. It also looks really clean (feral birds that have white feathers often look a bit dirty). Its eyes also look like they are black... not the normal orange colour of feral birds. Often white domestic pigeon breeds have these black eyes (something I have never seen in a feral pigeon).

I can spot its claws look very long and sharp.. which might be a clue to say its been a domestic bird kept in a cage or coop with a wire mesh floor... the claws of a feral bird would be shorter and more blunt from all the walking about on concrete they have to do.

This is only my guess lol.

I don't think its a homer or racing pigeon for sure... as its kind of the wrong shape body, has no rings or leg bands, and the colouring is very unusual for these kinds of pigeons.

So I guess its a lost or escaped pet pigeon. It probably comes from somewhere very near your home. I used to get tumbler pigeons turning up at my racing pigeon coop when they strayed to far from their home.. or got blow off course by strong winds... sometimes these breeds will actually crash land as they are poor flyers and hurt themselves and need time to recover.

I would feed him up.. let him rest and recover his strength and then release him from your property and see what he does (that is if you don't fancy keeping him as a pet and starting your own pigeon hobby). Or if you know anyone who keeps pigeons they might re home him for you.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Do you think he is feral?

I must admit she (at least in that shot it looks ♀) is a beauty and I notice it is missing one claw on it's left foot. Odds are it is NOT a feral where you found her in a weakened state. Really there is no true way to know. There are some gorgeous feral out there (in my area anyway).

Just most fanciers I know band their birds.