To have befriended this bird?

[Tangled59]

I live right in the middle of a market town just off the main square and have a huge rooftop terrace.

I noticed this beautiful pigeon the other day, dont know if the photo does it justice but its a beautiful cream colour. It also has "wristbands" on its feet.

This morning I fed it some bread and it ate out of my hand! It appears to enjoy sauntering around my terrace.

AIBU to have it as a semi feral pet? What can i put out for it (im assuming bread isnt great)? Or is that irresponsible?

Could you make her/him? a little shelter if there's a storm a coming. And a little chicken flap. And a perch.

Just make sure the box is in a sheltered spot, in case it blows away with birdie in it!

Ahh, x post! How lovely. Might it not blow away? Could you get a bigger box and nail it to your decking then tape the folds together and cut a little smaller opening?

I'm not overly invested at all.

Tangled59 love your thread! Feels like watching a movie
Please keep posting (with photos)!

Ive weighed the box down inside with a massive stone! Do you think she would prefer something bigger and lined with something? #crazypigeonlady

@LuciaLuciaLucia
😂

So cute! Congratulations on your new pet

Where I am pigeon men can be cruel, I've heard lots of stories, most first hand, of pigeons necks being rung if they aren't worth the upkeep

Yes Tangled bigger box, lined and could you stick a stick through from one corner to another for a perch? 🐦 🐦

Reallyanotherone I don't think people want to hear that, unfortunately, or read the info in the links I posted.

"Do you think she would prefer something bigger and lined with something? #crazypigeonlady"

Just go get yourself a fabulous des res dovecote costing €100++s. You know Praline deserves it.

@MildlyFedUp
Are you saying I should just continue letting her live wild?

We had one, am in England, I traced the owner and called them and they didn't really care! Wish I had kept it now (we fed it up and released it in a field)

Yes, Tangled, that would be preferable. I got advice from a pigeon rescue when we found the one I mentioned, and they advised me to do this. They said he would hopefully join a flock of wild pigeons and roost where they do, find food where they do etc, and they were right. He flourished, bred, and survived at least one very cold winter.

I think it would be kinder to leave out food and water (needs to be deep enough for them to dip their whole beak in) and let him live out his days free.

I would let her live wild, if she is happy to do so.
We had a racing pigeon in our back garden that couldn't even fly. We took it to a wildlife hospital and they said it was so painfully thin it didn't have enough strength to even take-off. We contacted the owners, they said they wouldn't collect it but to just boot it out once it was able to fly and if it made it's way home good, but if not, never mind - nice

Well heres something else the French lady told me: the red band is from a 2017 race. Im assuming the owner would have removed it by now? Which suggests its been living wild for at least 6 months now? So considering its in such good nick im assuming its well suited to wild living

How adorable! I love pigeons.❤️

Yes I agree with the above posters , when we found one we contacted the owner who collected the pigeon that had gone off course during bad weather and he said he was going to dispatch it as it was not up to the task , we were gutted to have contacted him ...let it stay free

OK well everything seems to happen for a reason doesnt it? Good job the belgians didnt respond! Considerjng she must be a 2017 bird that has been missing a while I'll let her live on the rooftop then. Now I just need to figure out what arrangements to make for her! I dont want to build a dovecote because as you can imagine due to location i am surrounded by "basic bitch" pigeons and I'll be overrun. So I'm thinking just get a bigger box, line it with something warm (what?) buy some bird food that i will put in thr box for her in the mornings and just leave her to live as she does now.

So we won't be seeing photos of you covered from head to toe in pigeons like the Bird Lady in Mary Poppins? Shame!

That's good to hear Tangled

I fretted like mad about ours at first, it was closer to winter so he had less time to adjust to living wild but he was fine. He used to hunker down in a corner of our flat roof. Hopefully if yours has been living wild since 2017 he is already adept at finding food and shelter.

Love the term 'basic bitch pigeons' btw, I will be stealing that!

Hopefully yours will shack up with some refined, cultured wood pigeons.

This is lovely! She’s a beautiful pigeon.

I am pleased no one has wanted her back, if they fail to complete a race in time and consequently return they are usually drowned or have their neck broken. Usually only wanted back if they are valuable or for breeding.
If you can pick her up and she is tame then she is at risk from other people, you might want to think about an aviary for her, she will bond with you if she has no mate (assuming she is a girl). There are ways of telling (by the toes or looking at the vent). They are also at risk from rats, and hawks etc.

There are pigeon rescues (Google) and a forum you might find useful www.pigeons.biz/forums/

It is difficult to give them up once they settle in, but they are messy little sods. Do not feed bread. Peas, lentils, split peas, sprays of millet, peanuts and you can buy special pigeon seed mix - and a water bowl at least 2" deep as they suck the water up, plus a regular bath in a shallow bowl to keep feather clean.

What a wonderful thread, and a beautiful pigeon!