A dove in my driveway!

I just went outside to check the mail and found a white dove wandering around my driveway. It's banded, and doesn't seem too fearful of me although it did fly to the top of the storage trailer when it saw the dog. I have no clue if I should catch it and notify someone or if I should just leave it alone. I found this website: http://www.white-dove-releases.com/bands.htm and emailed them. Any other suggestions for me?

It is probably lost and probably a white pigeon. You should really catch it because white birds are a great target for hawks and owls as well as every other predator. Could you take a picture of it? If it is a pigeon he might find it's way home but if it's a dove then it is probably lost and will die if not captured.

I just got the band number and send a message to the 911PigeonAlert organization. I do have a picture of it, but not a very good one, it was taken with my cell phone. It ran into the barn now, I'm going to try to catch it I guess and hope someone with that organization gets back to me about it.

Awww, I hope it gets back home!

Well, I caught it and put it in a dog crate for now with some water. I've contacted everyone I can find on the internet to contact and just hoping someone gets back to me!

How pretty! Hey, how is your eating going? I remember a thread awhile back and I was concerned still...

I found this on wiki

Pigeons and doves constitute the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerine birds. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological practice, there is a tendency for "dove" to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones...

Click to expand...

What a find! She is gorgeous. I hope someone gets back to you. Do you imagine she is a lost chick from a wedding? Makes ya wonder huh?

Glad you found her! Congrats on catching her and Good luck finding her home. Do you have an avian rescue in your area that you can contact?

Here is a place in Indiana that releases white doves:

http://www.whitedoveascension.com/policy.htm

phone number is on their website.

Thanks for that info, I'll give them a call!

I also just called a lady up north of Lafayette, Indiana that also releases doves. She's going to contact the place that originally sold the bird and she said they *should* have the info on who they sold it to. She says there's a releaser just west of me but he may be difficult to get ahold of. She's supposed to call me back shortly.

Oh good! It's amazing that she picked you to find huh?

Really makes ya wonder! How perfect.

Well, the story gets a little stranger. I left part of it out earlier. About an hour before I found the bird, I got a call that my Grandma had passed away this morning. She lives in Texas and I didn't know her that well. But she raised doves. I thought it was kinda spooky.

Here are a couple somewhat better pictures.

Originally Posted by bnwalker2

Well, the story gets a little stranger. I left part of it out earlier. About an hour before I found the bird, I got a call that my Grandma had passed away this morning. She lives in Texas and I didn't know her that well. But she raised doves. I thought it was kinda spooky.

Click to expand...

I just got chills! I was going to ask if you knew someone recently that had just passed, but didnt want to offend.

I love the pictures, she is so enchanting! Thanks for sharing your story with us.

BTW - I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. I wish you and your family much love and many memories.

I called the lady at that link, and she gave me the number for a guy that lives near me. She said it's probably not his bird but may be able to help. I'll give him a call in the morning. For tonight, birdie is set up in the shed out back with plenty of food and water.

And here's one more picture for anyone interested... I took the digital camera out instead of my cell phone.

Oh that's a much better pic! She looks so white and cuddly!

I'm glad you got some leads. She's lucky she found you!

I've heard of white doves being released at weddings, and also heard it's bad for them as they are captive raised and usually dont live long as to forage for food properly or find a good place to sleep.

But, yours MAY be an albino pigeon, it matches a pic of one when I googled it. If it has a brace, it's most likely someones pet that may have gotten seperated from the flock. Someone has pigeons by me, and the flock is let loose for a few hours a day to excercise there wings, and they know how to find home.

The white dove release seems suspicious though, I would honestly report this to the local aspca or wild animal rescues, incase this is one of those doves released from a wedding who cant survive in the wild.

No matter how safe they say it is to do, can they really control a hawk catching one, or it getting injured and never finding it, nope. Plus white birds are targeted being they stand out from the darker colored pigeons.

A friend of mine found one of these birds, and it was so ill, full of ticks and feces and bone thin. They kept it for 2 months and it got well enough to fly and the ticks were removed. We couldnt find a place here to take it so we had no choice but to let it go, but it did learn to eat wild seeds and sleep in a realistic nest, and it hung out with the wild pigeons, so we did the best we could for it.

if shes someones she should have a ring on

if shes someones she should have a ring on

Click to expand...

She does, but bnwalker2 doesnt know if its from that dove release or someones lost pet. It's hard to tell unless there is a telephone # or contact address.

whats the number?

if im not wrong it looks like a male white dove!
what a bizarre find!

The number on the band is "AU 2006 JEDDS 8090". The AU is the Dove/Pigeon racing organization.

Jedds is a bird supply place in Anaheim, CA and I have a call in to them when they open to see if they have a record of who they sold the bird and/or band to. Also have calls in to every white dove release organization in the surrounding areas and have posted on all of the national "found pigeon" lists that I could find. I also posted on Craigslist, which probably don't do much good but it's worth a shot.

So right now it's just waiting for someone to get back to me, hopefully we'll be able to find her owner but if not then I'm hoping to find a rescue/sanctuary or something like that for her to go to.