Wild city pigeon question??

[4life]

Hi everyone.

I am new to this forum. First I will start off by saying I am a huge animal lover. I love wildlife. I live in Chicago IL. We are definitely backyard feeders. We feed our birds and squirrels. We get lots of birds ( sparrows, Starlings, Blus Jays, Cardinals, and yes, pigeons). I know lots of people do not like pigeons or doves because they say they are messy. Well, that are messy, but they are beautiful birds just the same. We also have 2 heated bird baths so the birds Love to hang out here .

Today around 8 am we noticed a pigeon sitting on our back porch. She ( I think it is a she) was just sitting on the back porch puffed up. We live in a 2 story house and there are two stories to our back porch. I thought it was very odd that she was just sitting there alone and for 2 hours straight. I called a rehab place thinking maybe she was sick or hurt. She did not look like she was hurt when looking at her, but I though she was maybe sick. The place I called was Chicago Bird Collison Monitors. The lady there sent someone out but by the time the guy got here well my husband went out to check on the back porch and the bird flew onto the bird bath and got a drink and flew off. We figured maybe she was okay and was just resting there. Anyhow, about a half hour later she came back. She stayed all day sittinig on our back porch and would fly to the Garage roof and back to the back porch. She was very still and sitting puffed up. This had me so worried. Well at around 4 pm she was sitting on the second level of our back porch kind of hidden under the bannister. I went out there and tried to coax her to maybe come to me. I got close to her to where I could almost touch her, but she was leery. I went out and bought a little cat carrier thinking I may have to try and capture her if it got dark out and she stayed here. Long story short, at around 5:45pm she flew off and I watched her to see where she went. We live down the block from an Elementary school and she flew on top of the school it looked like near the chimney there. I am guessing this is where she roosts at night.

Anyhow, with how she was acting, I was sure she was not well. She did eat and drink though during the day and she can fly obviously. I did notice at one point a male pigeon was kind of bothering her a couple times earlier in the morning. My question is, what do you think is wrong with her? Is this a sign or illness? Also, how do you determine how old a pigeon is? Could she be very young? When she finally flew off in the evening, she looked like she knew where she was going when she went to the top of the School building. I am just trying to figure out why she was acting the way she was. I am just worried about her. We were very torn on what to do in terms of trying to capture her. I did not want to frighten her. I am relieved she flew up to the roof of the School building as it is high and probably safer. Sorry if I sound all over the place, I am just trying to learn more about pigeons and how they act. everything I read said a pigeon that kind of sits alone and puffs up indicates they are not well or maybe injured. She did not look outwardly injured from looking at her. She did eat and drink too so I know that was a good sign. But her sitting alone and all puffed up all day worries me. Any ideas what could be wrong with this little pigeon?

 

[Hokum Coco]

Hi everyone.

Any ideas what could be wrong with this little pigeon?

The bird may be just run down from not receiving an adequate food source and proper diet. Or possibly going through a rough patch after drinking bad water.

Just a bit of trivia:
Technically there are no wild pigeons in North America (the ones on sidewalks building and parks) these pigeons are Feral.
Pigeons were introduced to North America much the same as rabbits were introduced to Australia. The ancestors of pigeons were at one time domesticated.

 

[Majd]

Agree with Hokum Coco, and it might be a juvenile learning how to live independently and going through that rough phase.... You seen like an amazing person! Thanks for thinking about the little one! Keep us updated on "her"
Cheers

 

[4life]

Thank you both so much for the responses. I am so worried about this pigeon. She has adequate food and water, we feed them daily so I do not think it is that. She is back today and early. She is sitting by the bird bath we have sitting on our back porch ledge. She tried to hop onto the bird bath but couldn't for some reason. I mean she must be able to fly because she flew here from wherever she stayed last night. She just sits out there all puffed up. She does seem to move slower than normal. I just wish I knew what was wrong. Could she be getting picked on by the others because she is possibly ill? I have heard that birds can be mean to one another if they sense a weakness.

How do you tell between a youth and a full grown pigeon? I went out there to put a bowl of water on the porch so maybe she can get the water easier and laid some crushed unsalted peanuts/and sunflower seed mixture next to the bowl on the floor of the porch. I am worried about her so much. I read about a disease pigeons can get that make them lose balance, I cannot remember the name off hand. I wonder if she has this. I also read about a disease called Canker throat they can get. I have no way to know if she is suffering either of those things though. I am going to try and attached a picture so you could maybe see how old she is maybe by looking at the picture. Oh, she just got up on the Bird bath now, so that is good. Now that I look at her, she does look smaller than the rest of the birds. If she is young, where is mother?? Is she too young to be on her own? Oh also, I live in Chicago and am wondering, if it comes to a point where I ever have to rescue a pigeon that is hurt or sick, does anyone know of a safe rescue place in Chicago that is a NO-KILL rescue. I am very leery of contacting these places only because I am afraid they just wont care and Euthanize. I am hoping this one is just young and trying to figure stuff out. It is just odd how she is acting. I mean she sat here all day yesterday and did not fly off until it was practically dark. She flies to our garage roof and to our back porch. I seen her eat yesterday but so far not today, though it is early still. Any ideas or thoughts?

 

[Majd]

What you have done so far is great.... However sometimes we have to let nature take it's course.... The picture doesn't show if it's young or not, but I'm more keen that it's more of an adult? Thank you sooo much for caring for the little creature! Hope he gets better soon... Sometimes all we can do is hope for the best...

 

[4life]

Thanks Majd for the reply.

Yeah, I am keeping an eye on her. What is odd is that she stays alone by herself. The rest of the flock of pigeons will fly in eat and fly away. She just sits by herself away from all the other birds. She is moving slowly though, not like an normal bird. I am wondering if she got hurt during the severe wind storm we had a couple days ago. It was really bad. Maybe she got blown into something and got hurt. This morning, I seen her drink water and it looked like she pooped. She has not eaten any food that I put out that I see so far today. Here is another picture of her sitting on the neighbors Garage. Do pigeons usually flock together? It seems the ones over here always stay together, yet she is excluded. Today when she was getting a drink out of the bird bath, another pigeon came and made her fly off. She flew to the garage roof at that point. This same pigeon yesterday was kind of following her when she was on our back porch puffing his neck out. She wanted nothing to do with this other pigeon and flew away from him( I am guessing it was a male by the way he was puffing his neck up and stuff). I think she is hurt somehow by the way she is moving slowly. She does fly though. Hoping if she is hurt that she will recover. Here is a better picture of her, a more close up. Right now she just flew back to our back porch. She is just sitting there facing the wall. It is so sad, it breaks my heart. I will attach another picture in a minute as well.

 

[4life]

Here is another picture of her. She just flew to our back porch and she is just sitting there facing the wall. It is sad. I wonder what is wrong, I am so worried about her.

 

[Majd]

Yep you're right she might be a female and that male was courting her but she was too sick for it... All i can say at this point is that you do not blame yourself about anything because you've already done more than anybody would have! I just hope this fella gets better soon... She definitely seems hurt, probably as you said from the wind storm, or she might be sick for another reason.... However I wouldn't advise you to try to catch her and treat her yourself... She might be carrying mites... You do NOT want an infestation in your home.... Our best bet for now is to hope she gets better on her own... And let nature take it's course...
I will be always waiting to hear from you You sure are one of the few that still make us have hope in this world!
Cheers!

 

[4life]

Yep you're right she might be a female and that male was courting her but she was too sick for it... All i can say at this point is that you do not blame yourself about anything because you've already done more than anybody would have! I just hope this fella gets better soon... She definitely seems hurt, probably as you said from the wind storm, or she might be sick for another reason.... However I wouldn't advise you to try to catch her and treat her yourself... She might be carrying mites... You do NOT want an infestation in your home.... Our best bet for now is to hope she gets better on her own... And let nature take it's course...
I will be always waiting to hear from you

You sure are one of the few that still make us have hope in this world!
Cheers!

Majd, I have her here in a cat carrier now. I am not sure what to do with her now. How do I know if she has mites?? Yikes!!!! I am unsure what to do now. I could leave her out there, the male was jumping on her and actually hurting her. I went up to her and petted her( I had gloves on of course) and she did not fly off. This is another inclination something is wrong. I got an old t-shirt and picked her up and put her in the cage. I have no clue what to do now. I did not even think about mites and disease she may have. I have no clue what to do....

 

[Majd]

She definitely is sick and is dying, sorry to tell you that, the best thing to do is take her to an animal shelter or rehab so they can assess her condition... She might be so sick the best thing to do is euthanise her and let her rest from her pain... That might sound cruel but it's more human than letting her die slowly and suffer... If she wasn't that bad she wouldn't have let you catch her.... Maybe after all they would tell you she's treatable ang might eventually survive... I think that's the best thing anyone could do at this point.... Oh and mites are little arachnids(8 legged) that feed on the bird's blood bu sucking... They are very small but can be seen with the naked eye, almost like moving dots, they can cause severe infestation in homes after infected birds die near a home or nest in it then go away.... The little bugs will try to bite humans for food... You do not want that!!! I have a mild problem of mites in my little chickens coop that I'm freaked out about and trying to eradicate! You do NOT want an infestation!!! Especially in your home!!! My aunts family was once living in a house where a pair of doves mested in the flower pot, soon after they started itching severely and then realized the birds infested the house with mites, they quickly told the owner and moved ASAP.....
Yes these are nightmare problems! This is why it is not recommended to put bird feeders and waterers around homes...