Destringing a pigeon

I managed to catch another pigeon at Union Square today. It wasn’t the one with his legs tied together unfortunately: I haven’t seen this one for a while now. But the one I caught only had three toes left so I’m glad we removed the string so he doesn’t lose the remainder.

Ben was there again to help with the actual removing of the string. I honestly couldn’t do it alone as I needed two hands to hold the bird.

Ben took these photos after destringing and just before we let him go again. It was very quick and I don’t think it was particularly traumatic for the bird.

If you cover their heads with a bit of fabric they tend to relax a bit. I forgot to bring a towel so had to use my scarf.

Here are his little feet after removing the string. You can see only one toe left on one foot and two toes on the other. They should have three toes on each foot.

He flew off back to his mates when I let him go.