Pigeon/ dove

[Wolf]

Hey guys, I have a new addition and am not sure how to proceed but Ideas and suggestions might help me out.
Tuesday, Pam called me from her work and asked for a cage. It seems that they had found a white pigeon in the parking lot trying to find a safe place to be under the cars. So they caught it and brought it inside and put it in a box to keep it safe, so I drove the 38 miles and took them a cage to use. They tried for a few days to find the owner but were unsuccessful. Her boss said , when he saw it that it was a homing pigeon and to let it loose, that it would go home. They let it loose and it stated in the parking lot trying to hide under cars, so pam took another cage, as she had brought the other one back, and brought the bird home.
The idea it to let it go here as we have lots of doves that live nearby and come here daily for the wild bird seed and the waste parrot food that we put out for the birds. I don't want it to fly back to Pam's work place so I am building it a safe cage outside where we can put it and be able to let it out in the mornings and close it up in if it returns to it at night.
I did some research that said to keep it contained for two weeks so that it will stay around. This is where I am and all I know other than that all the different pigeons/ doves here are decendants of the Rock Dove.
Does anyone have more/ better information on how to proceed from this point?

[Tman007]

Wolf make sure you give it some grit in the cage. also look to see if it's young. it mite just be were it's flight wings are not all the way in, and doesn't know how to fly. If thats not the case it could be sick. I had a few that way that just needed to get their dflight wings and away they went. hope this helped a little. Good luck

[Tman007]

If you look down this thread I talk about it. LOL

[Wolf]

Thanks. I already have food and such as that covered. The bird flies perfectly, I am unconcerned with its age or sex although it appears to be an adult female, and appears to be healthy. I suspect that she is new to this area, perhaps the owner is a fancier, who recently got in a shipment or just moved here and when the last storms passed through this one was blown away and doesn't yet know how to get to its new home and here we are.
The info that I have says that it will take 2 weeks before she will be able to fly free and return to here, I don't know and really would like to get her some flight in as soon as possible other than in the house with my parrots. I intend to set her loose and am building her a cage/ house combo as we speak towards that end.

[Pajarita]

If the bird is what we call a dove (which is, in reality, a white ringneck dove aka Barbary dove or Ring dove), they usually cannot survive on their own because they were bred in captivity and kept in small cages until they are sold as pets or to be used for wedding and such (terrible, terrible practice!). I had five of them and they do very well in captivity as long as they have a large space where they can fly around (some of them might survive out there for a while but they have no sense of preservation so they are easy targets for predators). They are very, very tame (like I said, this is a domesticated species that has been bred by humans for around 500 years) and actually prefer staying around them.

I don't know how Pat's boss could determine it was a homing pigeon because they look just like regular pigeons (they were bred out of the rock pigeons), the only visible difference between the two is that a racing or homing pigeon (different name for the same animal) would have an identifying leg band while a rock pigeon or a Barbary would not.

[Wolf]

Well I hope to finish her cage today, just working on the shelter part of it now and then putting on the roof. If all goes well pigeon will be in it beginning tomorrow morning.
Although I will open the cage and let it out an 2 weeks, I figure that it will return to it in the evenings or perhaps even just remain close, I don't know. I fully expect that I will continue to supply a major portion if not all of its diet and this is fine with us. It would be great if it could find a wild companion and raise its own family and I will protect it as well as I can, but since it can survive outside in this climate, I really want it to be as free as possible. So it will hopefully be as successful as having free range chickens.

[Pajarita]

Be careful with the letting her out to fly on her own because, if it's a Barbary, they don't know enough to keep under the tree canopy (they fly above it or in open areas where there are no trees) and are easy prey for hawks. They have been domesticated as long as pet canaries have and, although they look the same as wild doves, they have actually lost most of their survival skills.

[Wolf]

Well, I got a good rifle and am a very good shot and although, I hate wasting ammo, I think that as long as she remains in range I can protect her, hopefully without actually hitting the hawk.
Actually, I will check to see if one of the larger aviator harnesses that I have will fit her and at least make the effort to train her to stay close enough that my presence and that of the dogs and cats will act as a deterrent for hawks. There are also several Bantam chickens that range down around our place without being bothered by the hawks. I will watch over her as best as I can, and see what happens. If it appears to be too dangerous for her and she makes it back to her cage then I will look into other possibilities at that time. I do not intend to have her eaten by anyone, if I were going to do that I would eat her myself, and that is not part of the plan.

[Wolf]

An acquaintance of mine was by the house this afternoon and saw the pigeon and before leaving remarked that it was a pretty bird and then called me a few hours later asking about the pigeon.
It seems that he is wanting a bird that he can turn loose inside his house as a pet. So after talking it over with my Lady, we have decided to give him a chance with the pigeon, as long as he abides with the following conditions: 1) that the bird will not be clipped 2)If they decide that it isn't working out the bird will be returned to us and 3) If for any reason that he doesn't take good care of the bird that she will be returned to us.
I see them often enough that I can both help them if they have any difficulties and that I can keep an eye on the bird and its wellbeing. I think that this is a better situation for the pigeon than trying to rehabilitate it to a semi wild state.
YAY !!!

[shiraartain]

This thread made me happy, i'm glad the dove is getting a happy ending.
Speaking of hawks though, they usually keep to the local community college's nature reservation, but the other day I looked out our patio door and saw a hawk fly past the second floor of the house next door . The only other time i've seen one fly that low was one that circled the flagpole around 10? feet away from me for a few minutes on the college's campus.

I'm happy the dove managed to avoid any predators and is going to a home where it will, hopefully, be safe.