So I found this guy at my doorstep, hunkered under the side of the house. I think hes a pigeon but Im not sure. He can walk and flap his wings but cant fly. I brought him in the house yesterday and have been giving water and keeping him warm. I am not sure what else I can do with him to help him fly. He doesn't seem to be injured and is pretty active.

What kind of seed should I buy for him? I don't mind keeping him until he is able to fly but I am concerned that he may just want to stick around. I guess that's not all that bad but I need some advice on what to do. Any help would be appreciated.

Do you know anything about hand-feeding? That little one is not flying for quite awhile yet.

At the Las Vegas Bird Rescue site, which evidently is for parrots (http://www.snperrs.org/) they ask anyone with rescued pigeons to: contact Rich at richbarschdorf@clear.net

Edit: please note there are two email addresses listed - please note the "birdsinwhite" address doesn't work, but the one above seems to.

He could learn to eat seed at this point if you teach him. Put some "pigeon mix" (you can sometimes find this at a pet store or bulk store in pet section, sometimes called dove mix) or you buy the bird seed and add in some dry peas (like split peas but in whole form, the yellow and green ones can be found at bulk stores in soup and legume area)

Put them down and peck at them, see if he catches on. If he doesn't he may still need to be hand fed. You can buy a baby bird formula, make a light mixture and adding whole seeds to it and gently scooping a bit in his mouth by opening it and he will swallow. You must be cautious as birds tend to have a windpipe right behind their tongue and you don't want anything going in there.

The mixture should not be soupy, you can forgo the formula and just try this with dry seeds opening his mouth and putting a few in. At his age he can learn to eat on his own, this is pretty much the point when they do or start practicing.

Very soon his tail and wing feathers will grow out nicely and he'll be big and plump, his beak will change a bit and he may be ready to fly and join the other pigeons. It's best not to get him too attached to humans at this point because he needs to know his own kind.

If you can find a rehabber who deals with pigeons that can take him in it's an option, if not we'll guide you through this. You say he was near your house, can you describe the surroundings more, he must have fallen from a nest, if he has a sibling and a nest he could be placed back inside the nest. Do you know of any pigeons nesting in the area? Is there a pigeon flock in your area that you've ever noticed?

I also found a listing for the Wild Wings Project:

Wild Wing Project, Inc. 702 238-0570
http://wildwingproject.com/index.html

That's a pigeon...

We also have a member who lives in Las Vegas. He's had a lot of experience with pigeons. I call him a "pigeon whisperer."

His name is Phil and his number is 702-388-2085. He lives near the Stratosphere.

Good luck!

Please keep us updated and I hope all goes well!

Thank you for caring and wanting to help!!

Love and Hugs
Shi

Hello This is Rich Barschdorf in Las Vegas if you need some advice please feel free to call me or contact me by email.

Email richbarschdorf@gmail.com Phone or text 702 526 3496

Thanks Rich

Thank you guys so much for all the info.

He seems to be doing well, I kept him warm and tried feeding him some rice but he didn't seem interested. I am going to pick up some dove seed today and see how that goes. If that doesn't work I will try the formula.

I am pretty sure he fell from a nest that is in the overhang of the roof on my house. Unfortunately, its approx. 30 feet from the ground and under the overhang so I have no access. I know that there have been 2 pigeons roosting there since November and there are quite a few on the other houses in my neighborhood. We don't mind caring for him until he is able to fly. Am I correct assuming that once he is able to venture out on his own, if he stays in the area, he will be able to rejoin his "family"?

Thanks again for all the info and I will keep updating as time goes on.

Hi Luckyfish...I'm glad our members could assist you. Please keep us informed about this young pigeon and let us know how things work out.

LVdoves wrote:Hello This is Rich Barschdorf in Las Vegas if you need some advice please feel free to call me or contact me by email.

Email richbarschdorf@gmail.com Phone or text 702 526 3496

Thanks Rich

Hi Rich! Welcome to the forum and thank you for your quick reply!

Welcome to the forum Luckyfish and thanks for taking care of this needy youngster. Do keep us informed of the bird's progress.

You have some great helpful advice and rehabber contacts from Cyreen, Shi and TTT which I hope will assist you in looking after the bird.

A warm welcome also to Rich and for leaving your contact information to assist Luckyfish.

Lucky,

At his age warmth isn't much of an issue, the mother doesn't even sit on them anymore as they just sit in the nest and pass time waiting for feedings from parents so don't worry too much. I also assume it's pretty warm where you are right now.

He just needs some food, and he gets his liquids through the crop milks that the parents feed him along with whole and semi ground mash of seeds.

At the moment, keep some dry seed around at all time, so it will keep him occupied trying to practice, the earlier they start to eat at this point the better so you don't have to worry about feeding.

Sounds like those are his parents nesting somewhere in/on your roof. You want to keep minimal contact with the little guy too so he does not depend on you as a parent. Some of the first pijjies I rescued were his age and it was a matter of days with me that they became very tame and imprinted, so you don't want that. If you have a back yard it's a good idea to put some seed out there, and take your little guy out when he's a bit older and let him mix with the pigeons, eventually he will become part of the flock and know he is a pigeon. You should supervise him of course, and hopefully he will learn to fly, once that happens keep feeding for a while so that he knows where to come back for food and eventually he will fly away with the flock and know how to search for food like them.