Saving a Drowning Pigeon from the Sea.

In a former life, I raised racing pigeons.

My early teenage years were spent breeding pigeons to fly in competitions. Their unique ability to find their way home from long distances totally amazed me.

Fast-forward to March 2008: Mark and I were on a sailing a trip from Woody Point to Sandgate in his unusual-looking trailer-sailer for a meat pie at Doug's Cafe. On the way I noticed something floating in the water ahead. I wasn't sure what it was, but I asked Mark to navigate towards it anyway. It was a baby pigeon!

Only a tip of beak and a bit of a tail was left above the surface. The chick was in distress and completely exhausted. My best guess was that it fell from the nearby Hornibrook Highway bridge (They nest underneath the support structures) and fell while trying out it's new wings.

Yes, it was a toddler learning to walk. 

Baby pigeons aren't perfect on their first flight. They mess up and fall down, staggering about just like a toddler testing it's legs and feet. Land-based pigeons have a safety net - the ground. Pigeons hatched above the water haven't that luxury. 

She still had all the yellow down feathers attached to her new adult flights. She still squeaked. Her eyes hadn't changed out of their baby-greys.

Like I said, she was exhausted and didn't have the energy to stand. Drooped wings and a floppy neck told me that she wasn't in good shape. I expected her to die in minutes

...but she hung on.

We got to our destination and I filled her crop with fresh water as soon as I could get to it. We ate fast and sailed straight back so I could take her home. By 7pm she could hold her head up again but I still expected to wake in to a dead bird.

...but she hung on.

A little bit of weet-bix mixed with water and glucose was pushed down her throat. A day later, she was standing again. I was very surprised!

Pigeons at this age eat regurgitated seed and water so two days later I switched to seed by filling a drinking straw with it and inserting it right past her throat, directly into her crop. Margo was watching and freaked out about how much straw disappeared into her birdie body!

As I said, I'd once raised pigeons and was confident.

The pics below were taken six months later. At this point we would put her away at night and let her roam the skies during the day. She became a good friend and looked out for me. Margo would feed her but when she saw me she'd abandon whatever Margo was doing and sat with her daddy. You can see in the sequence that she left her and landed on my head to take food from my hand.

A few months later, we stopped putting her away and let have a life of her own outside.

She is still out there in Dayboro (near the Uni Vets) mixing it up with the doves. Perhaps she found a pigeon mate at the local school and has kids of her own.

  

-Mx