# What to do with young lost wood pigeon?



## herper147

So I heard the dogs going crazy in the garden, went out to see a fairly young wood pigeon just sitting on a bucket looking terrified. Luckily the dogs didn't touch it they were too scared and just barked:blush:

I know very little about birds but it looks quite young as when it lifts its wings up its all fuzzy ish underneath and in between some of the feathers on its back it looks a little fluffy like you see on some young birds. But it is quite large not far off the size of a regular wood pigeon, although its beak looks different, almost elongated almost like a magpies beak rather than a standard wood pigeon which made me think its a little deformed in some way.

I moved it off the bucket onto the trampoline so its a little higher just so the dogs couldn't get to it (I have brought them in for the time being).

But basically I have no clue what to do, it cannot fly its just puffs up and flaps its wings a little when you pick it up. 

I am not sure if its a case of leave it be and hope something comes back for it?

Call some sort of rescue, although we tried to RSPCA in the past when a whole nest of baby birds came down the chimney and they showed no interest.
Or if I need to actually care for it and nurse it back to full health, which I dont mind doing as it seems quite responsive and relatively friendly considering its situation.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

EDIT: After looking on other forums the bird is definitely a juvenile


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## corvid2e1

Couple of days late but, if you are able to handle the bird then there is something wrong. Either it is too young to be out of the nest (this sounds like the case from your description), pigeons and doves "branch" before they fledge, meaning they leave the nest but stay in the surrounding branches until fully able to fly. At no point should they be on the ground flightless. The parents may continue to feed it there but it will be very vulnerable to predators and is unlikely to survive the week or two more it needs until it flies. It may also be sick or injured. There are a wide range of problems that could affect the bird, but one of the most common to rule out is canker (Trichomoniasis). This usually shows as a white/yellow cheesy growth inside the mouth and throat. Assuming it is healthy and the parents are still present you can attempt to get it back into the trees as close as possible to the original nest. Otherwise it will need hand rearing. Pigeon squabs do not gape like most young birds so need tube feeding with a hand rearing formula designed for rearing parrots. If sick or injured it will also need treatment. Your best bet would be to get it to a local wildlife rehabber. If you have any in your area you local vets should have their details.


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## herper147

corvid2e1 said:


> Couple of days late but, if you are able to handle the bird then there is something wrong. Either it is too young to be out of the nest (this sounds like the case from your description), pigeons and doves "branch" before they fledge, meaning they leave the nest but stay in the surrounding branches until fully able to fly. At no point should they be on the ground flightless. The parents may continue to feed it there but it will be very vulnerable to predators and is unlikely to survive the week or two more it needs until it flies. It may also be sick or injured. There are a wide range of problems that could affect the bird, but one of the most common to rule out is canker (Trichomoniasis). This usually shows as a white/yellow cheesy growth inside the mouth and throat. Assuming it is healthy and the parents are still present you can attempt to get it back into the trees as close as possible to the original nest. Otherwise it will need hand rearing. Pigeon squabs do not gape like most young birds so need tube feeding with a hand rearing formula designed for rearing parrots. If sick or injured it will also need treatment. Your best bet would be to get it to a local wildlife rehabber. If you have any in your area you local vets should have their details.


Thank you for the reply and the information, I think it is all ok now as the bird is now gone (not dead:blush. I had checked for canker when I was giving it water and saw nothing its mouth/throat all looked healthy, plus the first time I grabbed him it sat on my arm but the next day it was back in fighting form and would slap me with its wing or try to bite if I went anywhere near it so that was an awkward experience trying to get it out of the box each day. I tried phoning various animal rescues in the area and none said that they would take the pigeon or if they did it would simply be PTS so I thought I would give it a chance and try and help it. The only one that said they would take it was nearly an hour away and since my car is with a friend at the moment I didnt fancy taking a bird on a train for over an hour. I was surprised by how many places wouldn't take them, but after reading I didn't realise that they are considered a pest so maybe that explains why nobody would take it.

I had set it up in in a plastic box with some paper, a water bowl and a bowl full of various foods that I read wood pigeons eat. I also read that it might be best to give it water via syringe and after gently squirting some on the side of its mouth it was drinking fine so I was doing this 3 times a day and its food had gone down each day so I guess it was eating. I didn't realise how much a single pigeon can poop and it seemed to be shedding the lighter feathers, so when cleaning the tub out each day I let it stand on the trampoline in the hopes it would just up and fly away.

But to my surprise this morning it did! I took the box out to the garden to clean and as I was trying to nudge him out so I can put fresh paper in I think the second it realised the lid was off it shot up and flew off into the woodland behind our house:2thumb: It took me by surprise as it suddenly figured out how to fly, but it seemed strong enough and went straight upwards towards the tall trees so I hope its ok. We have quite a lot of wood pigeons in those woodlands and in the garden so hopefully he does alright back there.

I know I maybe didn't make the best decision by trying to look after it knowing nothing about birds. But it seems to have gone well and it was great to see the little bird in a bad way then fly away a few days later.


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## rcsceats777

herper147 said:


> So I heard the dogs going crazy in the garden, went out to see a fairly young wood pigeon just sitting on a bucket looking terrified. Luckily the dogs didn't touch it they were too scared and just barked:blush:
> 
> I know very little about birds but it looks quite young as when it lifts its wings up its all fuzzy ish underneath and in between some of the feathers on its back it looks a little fluffy like you see on some young birds. But it is quite large not far off the size of a regular wood pigeon, although its beak looks different, almost elongated almost like a magpies beak rather than a standard wood pigeon which made me think its a little deformed in some way.
> 
> I moved it off the bucket onto the trampoline so its a little higher just so the dogs couldn't get to it (I have brought them in for the time being).
> 
> But basically I have no clue what to do, it cannot fly its just puffs up and flaps its wings a little when you pick it up.
> 
> I am not sure if its a case of leave it be and hope something comes back for it?
> 
> Call some sort of rescue, although we tried to RSPCA in the past when a whole nest of baby birds came down the chimney and they showed no interest.
> Or if I need to actually care for it and nurse it back to full health, which I dont mind doing as it seems quite responsive and relatively friendly considering its situation.
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated
> 
> EDIT: After looking on other forums the bird is definitely a juvenile


Might be a good idea to contact the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) in Norfolk. I live north of Barcelona and have only this morning rescued one myself. Good luck


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## Shellsfeathers&fur

Post is from 2015.


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