Bird Help ...

Does anyone know what kind of bird this is and why she would have bands on her ankles?

It's a male, common pigeon, probably someone's racer.


ETA: Are you in the UK or in the states?
There is a lost ad from New Eltham (UK) for three lost racers with blue bands, and this looks like the photo of one of them.

Yes their it's ID tags Pam. Gil used to race pigeons a few years back

Heres a link

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...3195450AAFhOGG

No Im in the US. This bird let me sit beside him.
Does it mean the bird belongs to someone and is lost?
SHould I feed him? Or do something?

How do you know its a him?

Have a look at that link and if you can get hold of it, it should give you a number on the tag

It will belong to someone, and it could be lost, or it could be resting before carrying on it's journey.

These birds when let out to race can travel miles, but 9/10 they always come back to their owner

He flew off, but I thought maybe I could put some food to lure him back and put him in the sunroom, if hes lost. I found through the link you provided how to look for a lost or report a found bird.

He was sitting by the pool, so maybe he was just chilling out before carrying on his journey.

If he's alone he's probably lost, racing birds are flown in "kits" of usually 4 birds minimum.
Chances are he'll let you gently grab him, he may even step up on your finger.

I've had my racers missing for months only to come home far, far behind schedule...bringing wild pigeons home with them, but my birds always stayed together.

I've sent Gil a text but he could still be at work.

I think he was probably resting because he looked healthy enough?

Check this website, they can probably help you locate the owner: http://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm

It also gives you specific care instructions for lost birds.

Thanks for caring about this guy.

Hopefully he's got somewhere to go. I'm betting you like that visitor to your pool a lot better than a particular past one!

That's also a fairly young bird.

So if hes alone do I need to go buy some specific food to lure him back to help him, if so, what kind? He flew off into the trees now.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Hopefully he's got somewhere to go.

I'm betting you like that visitor to your pool a lot better than a particular past one!

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You got that right!!!

Originally Posted by GingersMom

Check this website, they can probably help you locate the owner: http://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm

It also gives you specific care instructions for lost birds.

Thanks for caring about this guy.

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Thats the link I got to through the one Susan posted.
I wish he would come back here if hes lost, I will definietly help him.

Gils replied to say there should be a federation that you could ring.

He said if you can, get hold of it and keep it until you've reported it, but he said it may just fly off after a rest, and if you've any seeds and water you can put those down for it

He said it's a beauty though!

I wish I would have known before I saw him and was taking pics of him.
I would have helped him. I dont see him anywhere now.

Does it matter what kind of seeds? I have pumpkin seeds? and I have water out there for the redheaded cat, which is a reason I would need to get the bird in the sunroom.

Originally Posted by Pami

I wish I would have known before I saw him and was taking pics of him.
I would have helped him. I dont see him anywhere now.

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He may have just wanted a rest?. He looked ok, that's why i sent Gil a picture so he could see for himself, and he thought he was fine

I think any seeds would do as long as it's food?

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

He may have just wanted a rest?. He looked ok, that's why i sent Gil a picture so he could see for himself, and he thought he was fine

I think any seeds would do as long as it's food?

Click to expand...

Ok good. Hopefully, he is on his way.

I wonder how far he's travelled?. I think it's brilliant how they know how to fly back to their owners after a week or so

So what do people do with racer birds? They just let them out and race them across a distance? Do they race each other?

This link explains it

http://www.ruralsports.co.uk/about-pigeon-racing.html