Racing Pigeon

[noelex 77]

A rather unusual topic for Cruisers Forum, but this is the second racing pigeon that has flown into our yacht during the last few years. The first was a long way offshore (in the North Sea) and hitched a ride for several days. This latest one was just a few hours ago when anchored in the Caribbean.

The bird seemed very thirsty so we gave it some water and seed, both of which it gobbled down and seemed very grateful for, especially the water. It loved the linseed and sesame seeds, but turned its beak up at the sunflower and pumpkin .

The rings on his left foot are a bright blue one labelled 932? and a grey one above it with 002. The right foot has a dark navy band with no numbers we could see.

He is still onboard enjoying our hospitality and exploring his new domain now that he is sated. Any advice would be appreciated, as we not sure what is best for the bird.

Excuse the mess in the photo. He is not the neatest of guests .

[Fore and Aft]

Here's my advice, but you're going to need to attract a few more of his friends to make a good pie.
Cheers
https://foragerchef.com/pigeon-pie/

[Wolfe10]

We have rarely been on an offshore passage where we haven't had a "bird hitchhiker" decide we were the best roost within 100 miles.


No, none large enough to be considered food, and sadly few survived even with water and food.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Here's my advice, but you're going to need to attract a few more of his friends to make a good pie.
Cheers
https://foragerchef.com/pigeon-pie/

We have just read your post out aloud to our guest who has now joined us in the front cabin to watch a movie, sitting on one leg and occasionally dozing.

He was not impressed .

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Wolfe10

We have rarely been on an offshore passage where we haven't had a "bird hitchhiker" decide we were the best roost within 100 miles.

No, none large enough to be considered food, and sadly few survived even with water and food.

We have also have several exhausted wild birds on passages although our current visitor is obviously a tame bird that seeks out human company. He seems particularly impressed with my wife .

Some advice on how to best care for all these visitors would be good. Perhaps they should should be totally left alone, or offered only water? Should food be put out? I suspect it varies with the type of bird.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

We have also have several obviously exhausted wild birds on passages although our current visitor is obviously a tame bird that seeks out human company. He seems particularly impressed with my wife .

Some advice on how to best care for all these visitors would be good. Perhaps they should should be totally left alone, or offered only water? Should food be put out? I suspect it varies with the type of bird.

Did a quick search and found that racing pigeons are fed a variety of grains and veggies. Who knew?

What vegetable can I feed my racing pigeon?

For veggies, you can chop/mince up most anything that is bird safe: carrots, broccoli, snap peas, dandelion greens, kale cauliflower, lettuce, spinach (in small amounts), edamame, bell peppers, etc. Plenty of clean, fresh water at all times (served in a clean dish every day).

Oh My. Not surprising, there is a British company selling feed for racing pigeons. There catalog has feed based on the month, racing miles, etc.

https://www.bucktons.co.uk/wp-conten...igeon-Care.pdf

Looks like the company's feeds contains a bunch of different seeds and grains so anything you have on board the bird might eat. Rice, oats and peas was surprise to me.

It will be interesting to see how long the bird stays on board.

Later,
Dan

[Knotical]

Isn’t it cheating on the pigeon’s part if its hitchhiking on your boat?

Does the bird have any tags that you can see?

Also, pigeon droppings can cause lung disease in susceptible individuals.

[Kelkara]

This is the advice from the UK ...

https://www.rpra.org/stray-reporting/

[psk125]

Hitchhikers can be interesting. We had a bat arrive on board once as we headed up to Maine about half way between Boston and Provincetown. It was blowing hard, raining, and pretty dark at around 02h00 when he flew into the cockpit and disappeared below. About five seconds later he flew out and landed in a heap at the foot of the binnacle. Then he jumped up and flew under the dodger, where he hung upside down from one of the ribs. There he slept, preening his fur from time to time. He stayed with us the rest of the night and through the next day, when we arrived in Tennant's Harbor. When it got dark again and the mosquitoes came out, he left.

[Fore and Aft]

Noelex he sounds really tame, I hope you're not watching Game of Thrones. There's a scene which might get his pigeon heart racing.
I am surprised he was fussy regarding sunflower seeds. Our native King parrots love sunflower seeds.

Cheers

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by Knotical

Isn’t it cheating on the pigeon’s part if its hitchhiking on your boat?



Does the bird have any tags that you can see?



Also, pigeon droppings can cause lung disease in susceptible individuals.

Tags were described in the first post and photo

[HopCar]

You might contact these people about your new friend. They might be able to tell you where he’s from. They also have care information.
https://www.pigeon.org/pages/lostbirdinfo.html

[Knotical]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Tags were described in the first post and photo

I guess I need to be more specific - I was talking about RFID or GPS tags that are sometimes found on racing pigeons, not the “rings” with numbers described in the OP

[JPA Cate]

We had a racing pigeon land aboard about a day out of Cape Reinga. Quarantine in NZ told us to put it in a birdcage, not exactly a common thing on a 36 ft. sailboat. It would have been a $10,000+ fine had we not arrived with it--30 yrs. ago. We fed ours shelled (not salted) sunflower seeds, and gave it water. It was with us for 2-3 days. AND, the NZ Quarantine Service was kind enough to scrub out the cockpit with bleach and other harsh chemicals, too.

What we were told later, is that during races the whole mob in the race stops off and on to feed, and then takes off. I would imagine that the bird should be tossed up in the air to go find home as soon as possible.

What happened with "our" bird was that it was flown to the owner in Christchurch at taxpayers expense. What fate it met then is unknown, but I'd think a pigeon that got "lost", would not be a good breeding option, unless a "family pet."

Hope you get a good result here. Probably Mr. Google could tell you about races in the area, and you could get from there to the local pigeon fanciers' league, and from there to your owner.

Ann

[ejs]

Check the Palomacy website for what to do if a racing pigeon chooses you as a refuge. "Racing pigeon hanging around, what should I do?" is one such post. www.pigeonrescue.org