The proper way to hold a pigeon:Wrap thumb and fingers around
the feet and the wing tips.
Born Free USA / Barry Kent MacKay
Hey, Barry,” called my neighbor as I walked past his house on my way home from the community mail box. “What should I do with this?”
He was clutching a prettily patterned black and white pigeon, holding the bird around the body.
“It’s a homing pigeon who got lost,” laughed my neighbor, “and we were able to pick him up.”[teaserbreak]
I knew the bird was what we call a “fancy” pigeon: a breed of the rock pigeon (Columba livia) that we see in most cities of the world, all derived from a species native to Eurasia and North Africa, usually just referred to as pigeons. They have been domesticated for millennia and now display a wide range of colors and patterns, all much the same shape and size.
However, centuries of selective breeding by hobbyists—”pigeon fanciers”—have produced bewildering assortments of hundreds of strains and breeds, some with grotesquely distorted shapes or extreme plumage. Racing pigeons are famous for their ability to find their way back to home coops in competitions, taking awards for which birds arrive back at the coop in the shortest amount of time. Carrier pigeons have served even in war to carry important messages in capsules attached to their feet.
This bird was a breed trained to return to his coop, but also bred to be small and have sharply defined black and white markings.
The pigeon had a green band with a number: FTCNA 0795 – 2016. I showed my neighbor the right way to temporarily hold a pigeon in one hand, by wrapping thumb and fingers around the feet and the wing tips, so as not to squeeze the body (as he had been doing). The band’s date, 2016, indicated hatching year. The number was to identify the individual bird. By Googling “FTCNA Pigeon,” I found the website of the FTCNA (Flying Tippler Club of North America). I sent an email to the club, but have received no reply.
I took the young bird and put him in a cage with bird seed and water. Oats and seeds, plus corn, dried or fresh, are good temporary foods. He was dopey and seemed dazed, but not too thin.
When walking a wooded path about a kilometer from home, I pass the back of a dovecote that houses similar fancy pigeons. I’ve see them flying in formation above my residential neighborhood… a lovely sight.
The next day, the pigeon looked a lot better, more alert. I walked the path that passed behind the dovecote, but vegetation had grown up since my last visit, blocking views. It took awhile to relocate it. I left a message, and that night, the owner called, and later came and picked up the bird: a new one who didn’t know his way back “home.”
I hope he learns and that, someday, he’s with the group… flying over my garden.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry