Pigeon post

As regular readers will know we had Peggy the pigeon living in our laundry for about a week and a half. Initially I thought she had a head injury and just needed a quiet space to recover but I turned out to be quite wrong.

I contacted New Arc Wildlife Rescue just north of Aberdeen the day after we got her and they had no volunteers available to collect her, so I decided to keep her in the laundry until my day off when I’d be able to take her there myself. When my day off arrived I decided I could look after her until her release and what a good decision that turned out to be because a couple of days later I posted some photos and a video on the Pigeon Rescue and Protection UK Facebook group and the unanimous response was that she had pigeon paramyxovirus (PMV) and needed specialist care.

We had begun to have our own suspicions that she might have this virus as she seemed to have trouble controlling her head and I was getting worried that she wasn’t eating anything, as it didn’t look like any of the food I put out for her had disappeared. She was also producing very green poops.

Pigeons can recover from PMV but they need supportive care: i.e., someone has to put food in their mouths if they’re struggling, otherwise they just starve to death. They can also drown in their own water dish so it needs to be deep enough for a pigeon to stick its beak in but not so big that it could fall in and drown. The virus affects them neurologically which impacts their coordination affecting even their ability to swallow.

I recorded a video of when I first started putting food in her mouth – this was six days after we first got her, so she was famished as you can see. I felt bad for not doing this sooner but all the advice online says don’t force-feed unless you’re an experienced rehabber.

I later found out she’s also a baby. You can tell by her beak which is still pink and also the sounds she makes. Once I started feeding her she became happier and even started pecking successfully at food by herself. Her poops also became a more normal white and brown poop colour.

I rang New Arc again after getting the PMV diagnosis and they told me they would euthanise her because PMV pigeons can’t be released as the symptoms can return during times of stress and hardship. Thank goodness I never took her to New Arc to begin with! How glad I was that there were no volunteers to come and collect her because when you take the time to rescue an animal and care for it the last thing you want is a vet or wildlife rescue to put them to sleep. I was really not happy by how quickly they give up on them.

The Facebook Pigeon Rescue group pointed me to Pigeon Protection Scotland where I posted next and a plan was established. I was to take Peggy to Dundee where a volunteer would come up by bus from Edinburgh and collect her along with another PMV pigeon in Dundee. He would take both pigeons to Glasgow by train – I love living in a country where you can take pets on public transport as it’s not permitted in Australia where I grew up – then a second volunteer would collect them from Glasgow and take them onto to Helensburgh where they would get the right care from an experienced pigeon rehabber who runs Glaswegian Flock. Not only that, but once Peggy has recovered she can join the flock there and live out her days in the aviary, never having to fend for herself on the streets again.

I was very sad to say goodbye to Peggy as I had grown quite fond of her but I know this is the best outcome so I’m very happy for her. What a lucky bird she is! It’s heartwarming to know there are so many people who volunteer their time to help pigeons in need.