Hi! I own a pet store near Boston, MA. About 4 years ago, 2 little girls found an injured white pigeon in an alley and brought it to us. Either a cat or hawk had attacked him since his left wing was almost torn off and the chest was badly injured. We couldn't find a vet to help, but we were able to nurse him back to health. He or she (no eggs in 4 years so thinking it is male), is totally tame and loves to be held. He initially had a green tag without numbers on his leg and we were unable to track his owner. Since then, he has been our store mascot since then. He can fly but has problems with his left wing and has no concept of safety (he will land on the head of a dog in the store if we let him out of his cage). He is in a large parrot cage and just does not get as much attention and activity as he needs. The local zoo wants to adodpt him for the petting zoo, but I think that is just too much. He is a really sweet loving bird and extremely friendly - someone obviously put a lot of time and love into this bird. He is pure white with pink eyes - just gorgeous. If anyone can give me suggestions in finding a great home for him, I would appreciate it. I would be willing to provide transportation in the New England area. I don't want to go through Craigslist (too many potential nuts) and all the local rescues only take wild birds and he is totally domesticated. Thanks for any help you can give!

Stephanie

Hello & thank you for taking care of this pigeon.

Would you be willing to ship the bird, usually through the mail, or do you want him to be adopted locally?

Thank you for the reply Robin. Your website and facilities look amazing. Where exactly are you. Christmas (that is the name the kids in the store named him since he is snow white and was found on Christmas eve), is just outside of Boston. I am not familiar with transporting birds of what is invovled and who dangerous it can be. Thanks! He really is an amazing pet - when I clean the store at night he sits inside my sweatshirt hoodie because he likes to be involved and look around. He really hates his cage - and it is too small for him, he needs somewhere where he can fly safely (he can fly but not well due to his left wing injury).

Stephanie

We are located in Wisconsin. Shipping to us wouldn't be possible until the temps. warmed, usually late spring. If you are willing to wait then sending him here would be possible.

Hi Stephanie,

How thoughtful and nice of you to come to our forum looking for a home for 'Christmas'. Robin has a wonderful sanctuary for pigeons and other animals, but she's right, now is not the best time to ship live birds.

Is there no patrons of your pet store who would be willing to adopt the bird? Maybe if you advertised that you need to find him a home, someone who comes to the store might be interested. The only thing with this idea is, you may need to screen the person well. I'm sure you are aware that many people who come into a pet store to buy an animal, don't really know much about them or their needs. Also, there are those who will buy on impulse and then regret their decision down the road.

Anway, good luck and hopefully something will work out, he sounds like a wonderful pet pigeon and deserves a really good home.

Hi! and thank you so much for your replies. We have had a couple people inquire about him, but it never panned out. One was a childrens petting zoo which is just not a good fit for this bird, he is a pet and I don't think a bunch of kids petting him would be healthy. He is clearly someone's pet since he likes to be held. The other 2 places when I checked them out just weren't right and the Craisglist post was a disaster some really disturbed people out there. I really want someone who will love this marvelous little bird. Robin, your place looks perfect and I would be more than happy to wait til spring. I used to be in the store 5 days a week and spent a lot of time with him, but thanks to the economy have had to go back to my "real job" at a hospital and am now in the store only once a week. The rest of the staff feed and water him but that is about it and I can tell he is not happy. He also loves to fly, but is a bit impaired from his left wing and 2 of the walls in the store are plate glass. He has hit them twice pretty hard because he has trouble turning so now I don't let him out. All the more reason to find a home for him. If you could give this slightly disabled but great bird a home I would be thrilled. Let me know, I can also send you a picture of him. Like I said, he is snow white with a pearl sheen and pink eyes. He is great about baths and letting me trim his nails. I really want him to have a fantastic home & I can't give it to him (I have 4 cats at my home and with his lack of fear of anything - would end in disaster). Thanks again and Robin, I will be in touch!

Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

I think that would be fantastic if you could wait until spring to ship Christmas to Robin's sanctuary. I also agree with you that a petting zoo isn't a good place for him to end up at. Is there any chance that he might be a dove rather than a pigeon? Your mention of his red eyes got me thinking that this is more of a white ring neck dove characteristic than a pigeons.

It's too bad you couldn't take him yourself, it sounds like you would provide him with a wonderful home...except for your cats.

I feel confident that if you can wait it out, we will be able to find him a home here (probably at Robin's sanctuary) and without worrying about lunatics on Craigslist!

Hi Brad!

Thank you! I really don't know much about birds so I just assumed he was a white pigeon. I looked up white ring necked doves on the internet and that is exactly what he looks like. I always thought he was a small albino pigeon, he does make cooing noises though if that makes a difference. So hard to know if Christmas is a male or female or pigeon or dove, no matter, he is a great little bird.

It sounds like just a wonderful bird and EgypSwiftLady would give it a wonderful home. It needs to be warmer for shipping if you decide to do this but its not hard and usually works out just fine and takes about two days and the pigeons usually do just fine especially if the person is there to pick up the birdie when it comes into the post office. You can get shipping boxes especially for this purpose at Foy's Pigeon Supplies and Racers ship their birdies all the time--but it needs to be warmer--and people will help you with this if you decide to go this route...Your a very wonderful and smart person and has made some real good decisions as well. this forum is for all animals and after your birdie is settled stay with us on the forum because I really do believe that you would enjoy it. So I say :

Hi again Stephanie,

No worries at all and if you don't know birds very well. Your mention of his pink eyes and the band on his leg, WITHOUT numbers, just got me to thinking. You also said how tame he is which would also suggest he was a white ring neck dove. Ring neck doves are totally domesticated birds and not a wild species...these are pet birds that once belonged to somebody.

Here is a thread on a couple of Robin's white ring neck doves; Raven and Una. http://pigeonchat.forumakers.com/t1401-raven-una?highlight=raven You can compare your bird with hers and see if Christmas might be the same type. Also, it will let you know that Robin has her personal indoor pets as well that she gives extra special attention to.

I agree with c.hert too, you sound like a very nice lady and I hope you'll stick around. c.hert can also provide you with the links to Foys if/when you agree to ship to Robin. The procedure is fairly straight forward, there are just some simple protocols and considerations to consider beforehand.

Hihaley wrote:Hi Brad!

Thank you! I really don't know much about birds so I just assumed he was a white pigeon. I looked up white ring necked doves on the internet and that is exactly what he looks like. I always thought he was a small albino pigeon, he does make cooing noises though if that makes a difference. So hard to know if Christmas is a male or female or pigeon or dove, no matter, he is a great little bird.

I was wondering if in fact it was a Ringneck dove too. Hens coo too but they tend to bow less than males.

My avatar photo is our house dove, she lives in our living room. The other doves prefer to live in a flock in a large flight in our basement.

Well if you do decide to wait until spring, no matter if it is a dove or pigeon, we would welcome it into the sanctuary family.

Just let me know what you decide between now & then.

Brad wrote:Hi again Stephanie,

No worries at all and if you don't know birds very well. Your mention of his pink eyes and the band on his leg, WITHOUT numbers, just got me to thinking. You also said how tame he is which would also suggest he was a white ring neck dove. Ring neck doves are totally domesticated birds and not a wild species...these are pet birds that once belonged to somebody.

Here is a thread on a couple of Robin's white ring neck doves; Raven and Una. http://pigeonchat.forumakers.com/t1401-raven-una?highlight=raven You can compare your bird with hers and see if Christmas might be the same type. Also, it will let you know that Robin has her personal indoor pets as well that she gives extra special attention to.

I agree with c.hert too, you sound like a very nice lady and I hope you'll stick around. c.hert can also provide you with the links to Foys if/when you agree to ship to Robin. The procedure is fairly straight forward, there are just some simple protocols and considerations to consider beforehand.

Thanks Brad for letting Stephanie know where to find our photos, I never thought to show her to compare.

This is like so cool

EgypSwiftLady wrote:
Thanks Brad for letting Stephanie know where to find our photos, I never thought to show her to compare.

No problem, you're very welcome Robin!