What to do with an injured pigeon?

[Thaiyogamassage]

Found this poor chap in the garden this morning. He can't fly so have brought him in to be safe from all the neighbourhood cats.

The only wildlife rehab we had in our area has sadly closed down. What can I do for him? Will a vet take him? Should I find an old cage and put him in the shed until he feels better? I feel awful leaving him out to die 😢

Contact a vet who will humanely put it to sleep. Otherwise you've successfully acquired a new pet pigeon.

Some vets will take wild birds. But if not, I would put him somewhere safe for a bit with some food and water and see if he rallies. ( Cornflakes if you haven't got bird seed).

We found an exhausted pigeon once. DH put him in the garage in a cage with some water for a few hours to rest, then opened the cage and he flew off. Then about three weeks later he came back and hung around! I knew it was the same one because he had brown on him.

Does it look like there’s any reason it can’t fly?

Have you given it some water? I found one like this and it turned out it was a racing pigeon that was just exhausted. Might perk up with some water, food and rest.

Put it under a hedge and let nature take its course. Circle of life and all that.

We took the one we found to the vet, and they couldn't do anything for him so dealt with him.

Yeah, I didn't think vets would do anything other than PTS. I'll try to find a cage and leave some food and water to see if he recovers. If he's fading we'll take him to the vet. It's better than being torn apart by cats I suppose. Poor little guy ☹️

Put him in the shed in a box with some food and some water, in the dark.
We had a blackbird that couldn't fly in the utility room in a box with a towel over the top last night. Took off like a bat out of hell this morning 😀

Could it be a baby? It takes a while for them to work out the flying business. I had one in the garden last year. I set up a shoe box for her with seed and water. She stayed there for about 2 days and then flew off.

@StarlightLady Definitely not a baby, he's enormous!

I've now found a lovely couple that rehab wildlife and will take him over there later. The kids have named him Patrick and are very sad to see him go.