Feral pigeon issue

Kess73

I may have a slight problem with a feral pigeon out my back.

I get quite a few of them daily, but this guy does not attempt to fly when the rest get startled. Instead he ends up spinning in a circle like a puppy chasing it's tail.

Once he calms down he is fine and goes back to eating or walking around the garden.

He is not fluffed up, has no obvious marks, is eating fine, and is not carrying a wing or the like.

I can walk out into the garden and the minute I get too close he starts chasing his tail and can literally do it so fast that he literally falls onto his tail over it.

When I come back into the house he goes back to walking about in a normal fashion and the other pigeons come down again. But again when something startles them, he is left behind and spinning in a circle.

I had things like Paramixo virus running through my head as being dizzy/confused can be one of the symptoms, but none of the other symptoms like the hanging of his head, being fluffed, throwing food in the air.

Throat canker was another thing that went through my head as one of the symptoms is an unwillingness to fly even when the flock bolts. But as far as I know it is extremely rare amongst adult feral pigeons as it normally only can affect them if they are a few weeks old. Plus I could see no signs of discharge from it's beak, and of course no fluffing of the feathers.

The other thing that came to mind was a concussion or shock that it may have suffered sometime before I saw it. But I think if it were that then it would not go back to acting in a perfectly normal manner everytime I backed away.

I am still slightly leaning toward the first option I gave in this post, mainly because the unbalance and chasing of the tail type spinning reminds me of it desoite the lack of other symptoms, plus I tend to find it better to err on the side of safety in case it is something that could have an impact on the other birds that use the garden.

If he continues in the same manner I may have to catch him and get him looked at, but am very open to any comments from anyone who has had similar experiences.

Kess73

Ok this ended quicker than I thought. I think he is dead. A cat came into the garden, he tried to fly, got airborne, had no sense of balance in his flight at all, and smashed into the side of the nearest house to mine and then crashed to ground. Will go and see if I can have a look to make sure it is dead.

Mothman

I was thinking while reading the op that it won't last long.....

Half-cocked

Wash your hands well if you handle the carcass, these are flying rats when it comes to diseases.

Kess73

Dead as a doornail.


Just spent the last twenty minutes cleaning around any feeding points or drinking in the garden with a diluted vanodine mix.

My ultra efficient neighbour had the bird already picked up, placed in a sealed bag, and binned when I got there. He is a bit of an animal nut as well, so no surprise to see him having things done so neatly.