Pigeon

Silent Running

I couldn't decide where this should go, could be here or the pets forum.

A pigeon has been around the house for a couple of days. Not a wood pigeon. Light grey in colour. Vert tame and will come up to me for food, it's clearly starving. I gave it some grain that the wild birds seem to like and it devoured about a mug full of this.

He/she has two rings n the legs, a red one and a green one with some writing. I can make out WHU written over 2016 an a number: T07xxx I can't get the xxx.

Would this be a local homing pigeon or something?

http://welshhomingpigeonunion.moonfruit.com/strays/4534350388

All rings with the prefix WHU will read, e.g. WHU 2016 A 12345, please ensure you have the full ring number in order for us to locate the owner.

No wonder he's knackered!

Keep feeding him, he should allow you to pick him up with a bit of coaxing. Get the full number then contact that crowd and see what they say. Pigeon fanciers are a weird bunch, might even be a reward for his return.

Edit: http://welshhomingpigeonunion.moonfruit.com/download/i/mark_dl/u/4007071692/4632998507/Ring%20List%202016%20T.doc

Here's a list of all numbers and their owners and contact info. There's too many T07's to list though, you'll have to narrow it down.

Silent Running

Deleted User wrote: »

http://welshhomingpigeonunion.moonfruit.com/strays/4534350388



No wonder he's knackered!

Keep feeding him, he should allow you to pick him up with a bit of coaxing. Get the full number then contact that crowd and see what they say. Pigeon fanciers are a weird bunch, might even be a reward for his return.

Edit: http://welshhomingpigeonunion.moonfruit.com/download/i/mark_dl/u/4007071692/4632998507/Ring%20List%202016%20T.doc



Here's a list of all numbers and their owners and contact info. There's too many T07's to list though, you'll have to narrow it down.

I could have caught him when he was hungry. The ungrateful bugger ate then went all standoffish. Won't let me get within arms reach now.

I've emailed that crowd.

I'd say he'll hang around if you've been giving him a bit of grub. They're used to depending on their owners for being pampered. Give him a bit of seed at the same times and get him used to being around you again, they're also well used to being handled.

dodderangler

Don’t be surprised if they don’t get him. Usually pigeon that does that once will do it again and is no use to the pigeon racer.

recedite

It might decide to head back over to Wales after a few days R&R.

Silent Running

After a good feed and a sleep on top of a wall yesterday, it flew off. I think it was heading for the evening Irish Ferries boat. My wife reckons that it was with us for 3 days.

No sign of it around the place this morning, so I hope it made it home.

Ardrageen

This may be a coincidence but I will tell my pigeon visitor story anyway.

Storm Hannah(April 26th) was wild here in West Limerick and the next day a confused looking pigeon showed up at my back door and following me around in the garden. He had a red and a green ring like the pigeon mentioned by Silent Running but I didn't manage to get any letters as he always kept just out of arms reach. I borrowed a net to try and capture him but I never managed it and gave up after a while.

He stayed with us for about three weeks and I fed him bird seed every day. He loved Nyjer seed the best. Expensive tastes!

Anyway I was advised to stop feeding him and he flew off around 10 days ago. Maybe he flew to your place.

It would be funny if it was the same one.

Silent Running

Silent Running wrote: »

After a good feed and a sleep on top of a wall yesterday, it flew off. I think it was heading for the evening Irish Ferries boat. My wife reckons that it was with us for 3 days.

No sign of it around the place this morning, so I hope it made it home.

OK closure on this story.

He returned the same afternoon. Bouncing off the windows trying to get me to feed him, which I did. While he was chowing down, I managed to catch him. There was a phone number on his wing, so I rang it and got no answer. As I now had the full ring number I called the Welsh Homing Pigeon Union. They told me that the bird was sold to a man in the North. He called back later and told me to feed him up and let him loose in the morning. He seemed confident that he would head home. It would take him about 4 hours and he would let me know when he got home. He said the bird was in a race from Wales.

Next morning at 6:45, and after a feed, I took him to an open area of the garden, faced due north and launched the pigeon. It headed north... for a bit, then did a wide circle and disappeared to the south. Later that evening he was bouncing off the glass doors again. But he had learned a bit, and wouldn't let me catch him again. That was it for the day. All he did for the rest of the day was destroy my wild bird feeders and bounce off the windows. Flying up to the gutter when I came out of the house. With 2 feral cats prowling, he was lucky not to be a ball of feathers in the grass. It wasn't for the want of trying, they took a couple of runs at the thing.

Next day, around 2pm he returned to the door. No call from the owner, so I assumed he didn't want him back, so I made a pie. No seriously, I emailed the Irish Homing Pigeon Union. While waiting for a reply I did a bit of Googling and found that there was a club near me, with a mobile number, which I called.. At this stage Flunky the pigeon was sitting on a high roof watching me with suspicion. The man I made contact with said to try to catch him and he would collect him.

Seemingly through starvation, the bird found new trust in me, and I abused it and caught the feathered menace. I called the fella from the club and he came round and took the pigeon away... with it sitting on his lap while he drove. ( the man, not Flunky).

No sign since, no word from the owner.

Del.Monte

Great story. Send your man down to Enniscorthy if you're talking to him again as the town is chocked full of feral pigeons and ringed pigeons.

recedite

It seems Flunky was not happy about being rehomed to NI

Lets hope he finds his latest accommodation more satisfactory.

.......

A very fancy one came to visit me last year. He refused to be handled but he was certainly no ordinary pigeon.

Of an evening he would fly high in the sky and tumble joyfully towards me.

Id come home from work and he would magically appear at the window looking for his dinner. I called him Pidge.

Eventually I got close enough to get the numbers off his rings but the website one was to use was down and no one ever replied to calls.

I spoke to the local vets and they said he might be my new pet pigeon so I set about looking into a shelter for him - however he flew off after 3 weeks and then about a month later popped back into me for 2 days, then off again.

Silent Running

recedite wrote: »

It seems Flunky was not happy about being rehomed to NI

Lets hope he finds his latest accommodation more satisfactory.

He's going to have to get used to it. his new accommodation is only temporary. The guy that took the bird away is going to bring him to his old home in the North. Whether the owner still wants him or not is another matter.

recedite

....... wrote: »

Of an evening he would fly high in the sky and tumble joyfully towards me.

Are you sure it was joyful though? Perhaps he suffered from vertigo.

recedite

Silent Running wrote: »

The guy that took the bird away is going to bring him to his old home in the North.

That's what he told you anyway

.......

recedite wrote: »

Are you sure it was joyful though? Perhaps he suffered from vertigo.

Leave me with my dreams.........