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Beak makes it look more like an adult bird to me.. Also that it apparently did not find its way back to its dovecote. Gonna be tough in the streets. But a nice looking pigeon!
In that case I am afraid s/he might have been sick or very tired. S/he was reacting to me slowly and would close the eyes a lot as if falling asleep intermittently. Gave me the impression of youth because the reactions felt like those of a baby bird.
Poor bird. Looks like the right wing is hurt too, seems like it's hanging down. Have you seen it fly? A pigeon that is so visibly weak is usually super weak, they try real hard to hide it until they just can't anymore.
If you happen to see it again, maybe you could try to secure it and hand it over to some pigeon care / animal shelter, if you have something like that around. Or contact the carrier / pigeon breeder association and give them the ring number. Some breeders are real assholes though and don't want their "failures" back. It is probably super hungry and relatively easy to secure when you feed it.
As I approached to take the pictures it walked away first and then flew to a nearby spot. I didn't want to bother it anymore so I did not follow.
I didn't fully understand why it had a ring on its foot, as keeping track of all pigeons in the city seems ambitious. Does this mean that the bird likely comes from a breeder? You mentioned a 'dovecote' and I figured this meant its wild resting spot, but is this also the term for the place that breeders keep them in?
Yeah i meant dovecote, as in an actual domestic pigeon house. Pretty sure that it's a breeders pigeon that got stranded. Just because it looks so unique nice golden and of course the ring. Maybe you could report the sighting to a bird / pigeon group, at least where i live, there is an active scene of people who try to secure pigeons like that.
Not sure if you know, but feral pigeons pretty much all stem from abandonded dovecotes, stranded wedding doves, lost carriers or other breeds that managed to survive and reproduce in the cities, they are not really wild animals but more like stray pets.
Interesting. I have some idea about how pigeons originally came to live in cities, but I don't know much about the state of dove breeding today.
I do see a lot of interesting doves near where I live, so I will pay more attention from now on to whether they have rings. Maybe I live close to a pigeon breeder. I have not seen the one in the picture again, so I hope it found its way back home.
Lots of local "speciality" breeds. And of course not just for beauty, or athletics but also perversions like ground roller pigeons who are bred for having a severe movement disorder and only tumble in backflips across the ground instead of being able to fly. Although i guess in the eyes of the breeders this is beautiful and athletic.
Thanks for having another look after the pigeon!
perversions like ground roller pigeons
Oh..... wow. I looked them up and I am both amazed and saddened.