We were recently adopted by a racing pigeon! About 9 days ago a racing pigeon showed up on our deck. She landed right in the middle of three standing adults, no fear and just stayed there. She is beautiful with fancy white feathers around her feet. We researched online and decided she must be lost, put out water and food per the site and thought she would leave in 24-48 hours. Well.. she is still here, very friendly but not enough so that we can pick her up to get the info off of the red band on her leg. We would like suggestions on how to coax her into our hands so we can find her owner and get her back home. We live in an area with eagles, hawks and fox and are concerned that she may not survive them. We live on Long Island and have tried finding local clubs but so far no luck. She is sleeping every night perched under our deck. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank[img][/img] you.

If you wait until dark, you should be able to approach the bird and catch her. Pigeons can't see in the dark.

I would try using a pair of binoculars to see the band number.
Also try what gnuretiree suggested.
Its a very good suggestion.

gnuretiree wrote:If you wait until dark, you should be able to approach the bird and catch her. Pigeons can't see in the dark.

Thank you for the suggestion. I don't think we would be able to reach her as she roosts on different joists under our deck which is 12 feet off the ground. Do you have any other suggestions? If I buy a cage and put food in there do you think she will enter it?

Thank you for your suggestion with the binoculars. Unfortunately, her band is covered by these fancy feathers that drape down over her feet. We catch little glimpses of red when she is above us roosting under the deck.

How can I add a picture of her either as my profile picture or elsewhere so you can see what she looks like? Thank you.

Hi There,

The cage with food inside might be an idea, but you'd have to be watching it all the time to catch her. Another idea is to create a simple box trap with a stick and a string attached with food underneath. Again though, you would need to be watching constantly to catch the pigeon and so that if it is caught, it doesn't overheat in the box or a predator comes along.

If you can get it to come close to you, a fishing net might work....one on a long pole or maybe a throw net. Lastly, maybe you could lure it into your house with food if it will approach and leave a few seeds out and in a trail into your house.

Hope one of these ideas might help and keep us posted.

Well if she lands on your deck and is good around people then I would put some food inside your deck door area and see if you can intice her inside by scattering wild bird seed around beyond the entrance to your deck and then sit in a chair by the door and shut it when she or he enters...or get a ladder and have it in position and then at night time snatch her off the joist or a cage with a rope that you could shut when she enters the cage for food or get one of those pigeon traps they sell in the stores and I am running out of suggestions here Thank you so much for being concerned for this pigeon and I am so glad you are feeding and watering it for now. I must have got lost in a race but now you are getting it stable--your a good person...

Thank you both so much for the suggestions. She is such a sweet bird and will get within inches of me but I am not quick enough to pick her up. Early on we tried the propped box with a long string and food and only the chipmunks came! She seems leery of structures. I have been trying to warm her to hand feeding, so far unsuccessfully. She really likes my husband so I assume her owner/trainer is male but he has had no luck either. It's clear that she feels comfortable with people as she greets us as soon as we come out of the house, follows us around the yard and last week while I was power washing for 8 hours she was always within 3 feet of me despite the noise. I thought the noise would bother her but she was very calm.

I am giving her fresh water and a mixed bird seed. Is there anything else I need to give her to make sure she is being properly fed until we are able to catch and return her to her owner?

Do you know how I can find out if there are any racing pigeon owners on Long Island? We are located on the North Shore about 65 miles out of NY city.

Thanks for your help.

Hi Blondie,

What you are offering her is just fine for now. I would keep trying to catch her and trying to coax her into your house or maybe garage. Keep trying to gain her trust to get her to come closer so that you might be able to catch her somehow.

Here's the info for the Bronx Homing pigeon club. Maybe you could call them and ask them for a listing of clubs in your area.

http://www.manta.com/c/mmn1dkm/bronx-homing-pigeon-club

Not all owners want their birds back though unfortunately, if they get lost on a race, 'some' owners would not like them back because they would consider them to be poor racing/homing stock.

Sprinkle some bird feed on the ground near her. Then when close enough, throw a soft blanket on her. Then pick her up.

It's an old post...

yazmeen83 wrote:Sprinkle some bird feed on the ground near her. Then when close enough, throw a soft blanket on her. Then pick her up.

Good suggestion, yazmeen!

c.hert wrote:It's an old post...

It's not that old, it's only a month ago.

yazmeen83 wrote:Sprinkle some bird feed on the ground near her. Then when close enough, throw a soft blanket on her. Then pick her up.

That's what we do when a wild mouse comes in our house, but now we have a re useable mouse trap that won't hurt or kill them.