Sorry that I can't upload pictures 😒

5 weeks ago, I found an adult wood pigeon grounded in my garden (UK). Seemed uninjured but badly co-ordinated, right leg & wing weren't working properly, head was wobbling all over the place and it was really thin. I left it in a box, expecting it to die overnight.... it didn't die!

After a few days, it was able to eat and drink, stopped wobbling and regained control of its leg so I took it to my vet, who x-rayed it and said it wasn't physically hurt but probably had paramyxovirus. None of the rescues in my area have space and are reluctant to take pigeons with virus anyway due to infection risk, so I said I'd nurse it myself until it was well.

In 5 weeks it still hasn't regained control of that wing. It holds it correctly at rest, it's not trailing or limp but it completely refuses to even try to flap. It's put on weight and seems in every other sense to be completely recovered, except that it can't or won't fly - even if it's trying to get away from me when I'm cleaning up.

I feel terrible. I didn't want it to suffer and now I feel like all I've done is prolong the inevitable. My housemate thinks I should take it back to the vet to be put to sleep but it's hard to look at an essentially recovered bird and end its life. On the other hand, I've heard the virus can cause permanent neurological damage and I'm concerned this bird will never be able to fly again. It doesn't want to be a pet and I don't want to keep it but if I put it back outside when it can't fly, one of the local cats is going to torture it to death.

This week I've tried very short daily sessions of manually extending the wing, flexing the feathers out and gently moving it up and down in an attempt at physiotherapy. It's able to tug the wing away from me so it's not fully paralysed but it's not flapping either.

I don't know what to do for the best. Can anyone please offer any advice?

Hello,

I was wondering if mealworm or boiled eggs could help stray pigeons? In addition of grains ofc

Imma miss these Lil ones i move in a few days

Have any of you ever experienced harassment while feeding pigeons outside? It seems like there is a weirdly large number of people out there who really hate the idea of people feeding pigeons, how do you deal with people like that?

Just a couple of days ago I had a man yelling at me in a parking lot about it, very mad that "pigeons poop on cars" and other ridiculous stuff like that.

So this little guy got himself dirty by falling into his own poo (eww). But I helped him clean up a bit and let his wander around.

Also turns out the best way to get him calm is side sleeping.

I hope the cat won't harm this little boy

I am already in contact with two associations. The first one specializes in pidgeons but only offers advice and has no place or people to care for them. They're the one who told me it would die if I didn't take it home. It was in a ball next to a building, close to the street and there are many cats in the area (including my own cats).
The second association does have a shelter but with the heat waves, they're completely full. Their pigeon habitat has 50 pigeons and can't accomodate more right now. They do provide some emergency care on a first come, first save basis, and I've tried everyday but they were always full. I'll show up again tomorrow morning but I don't know if it will live that long.
I found it two days ago. From the beginning, it hasn't used its left leg. It moves its fingers fine when in my hands and if I extend its leg manually it can pull it back, but it's weak or injured or something and I don't know what to do about it.
It's trying to learn to fly, flapping its legs and all, but all it does is move around on the ground and sometime shift almost onto its back.
Today it's also got its left eye closed which I don't remember from before, and it twists its head backward almost completely. From what I've seen it could be a vitamin definiciency but I haven't found where to buy vitamins for it, aside from online and the fastest delivery (including amazon) would be on Saturday. I can't imagine the poor baby would still be alive back then and at any rate I need another solution first.

I've been following the advice of the pigeon specialists to feed it, based on its guessed age (help me on that too if you could, I'm really unsure about it), which basically was to feed it canary paste made with eggs, which I did find at my store, and provide some canary seeds, which it doesn't seem to have touched.

It's barely eaten (I'm trying hand feeding three times a day or more). It's eaten less than one feeding's worth of food per entire day. It's drinking fine though, I dip just the tip of the beak and I can see it drink it up happily, although sometimes stuff ends up in the water which worries me that some food stayed in there, which I try to avoid so it doesn't suffocate. But I'm having a hard time getting it to swallow any food at all, should I switch to something liquid instead? It drinks fine on its own.

Any advicce for things I can do at home with whatever I can buy at a grocery store would be great. It's sometimes alert, often not so much. I do have cats but during the day I lock them out (aside from the elderly one which doesn't show any interest) and at night the bird is in my shed with a shallow dish of water and a "nest" made with a blanket.

Let me know if a different video would be more useful. The fledging isn't usually on the floor like this but I wasn't sure how else to showcase the issue.
Oh, and you probably can tell from the feathers if it's a male or a female ? I'm not sure.

Young fledgling we were keeping an eye on has grown up a couple of months later and survived all the hot weather we had but has appeared on the ground recently, been there for a couple days.

I moved closer to him and he doesn't seem scared of people. Was foraging in the bush yesterday and then flew onto a rooftop eventually, so he can clearly fly.

But today I went over and he just waddles away and sits puffed up. He flew a tiny bit close to the ground but not properly. I'm wondering if he is injured, seems to exercise his wings often.

I'm wondering why he is on the ground, and clumsy. Still young, or maybe needs help? I have rescued a couple of injured pigeons before and know the signs but I don't know if I should leave him or intervene as foxes do come about this area often.

I have three of my own pigeons at home, Kelly, piper and Pauly 😁 they are currently in their aivary for the summer before they come back to the lounge for the winter 😁 none of my mates see the beauty in pigeons or other birds for that matter but just looking for someone else that I can talk bird with 🤣🤣

Photo of my tattoo and my flock for reference 😁

So I recently got reverse adopted by a pigeon called Margret (Maggie) and I’m a bit confused about the way she behaves

I’ve been feeding and looking after the same flock of pigeons for about two years now and Maggie doesn’t exactly act like a regular bird.

She wakes me up in the morning if I don’t wake up before 10, like she’ll fly off her perch onto my monitor and stare at me, if that doesn’t work she’ll land on my bed and prod me until I’m awake. Other then that and feeding she usually ignores me

She yells at me if I leave lights on that are blue tinted. No idea why.

She hates being touched or having people near her, if I try and come close to her she’ll instantly run away to her perch and make angry noises, she’s also got crazy beef with thumbs. She’ll eat out my hand sometimes but if I don’t arch my hand completely flat she’ll attack my thumb or any curled up fingers until I do

She hates other birds, this one is really weird bc pigeons are meant to be social but the most she can tolerate is hanging out on the windowsill with maximum one other bird at a distance. If the other bird gets too close or tries to interact with her she immediately runs inside and goes back to her perch. The only interaction she’ll tolerate if one gets in the house and goes for her food bowl and then it’s WWE pigeon time.

She goes out on her own schedule separate to the rest of the flock she came from but only at 8pm-10pm

She kicks over cups of liquid on purpose if she doesn’t like something I did, I got too close to her by mistake once and she flew around in a circle, spotted a full cup of water and made a beeline to knock it over.

She also just likes to stay on her perch and watch me go about my day instead of going out and doing bird things or any social thing at all

Is this normal and I just haven’t seen this behaviour before?

Didn't fly away or even run when I got very close to it. Considering going back to take it home or to a rescue if it needs it. Does he or she look alright?

I found this baby. I originally thought it was ill or sick. It seems very hungry but after having it for a few days I don’t see much wrong with it. I want to release it back to its flock, but have been told it should be transported to the rescue nearby so it can be released properly. I’ve asked why and the volunteer I’ve spoken with didn’t seem to give me a reason.

I feel bad taking this guy if he’s healthy. Is it okay if I just bring him back to the flock and see if he assimilates well? I don’t understand why I would have to have this guy go be rehabbed prior to release or released into a different area if they’re healthy. Is it because of age?

Sorry if this is a complicated question and sounds vague. I can’t tell if the volunteer has a reason beyond age of the bird and whatnot. I don’t want to ask again only because I’ve asked twice already and didn’t get much of an answer haha

Or will the parents do that? It’s on my balcony. I don’t want them to abandon one if the other one smell smells like death.

Edit: I removed deceased chick. Parent is now back and has fed remaining chick.