Lost Pigeons
Table of Contents
People often find a lost pigeon. Whether they are a exhausted homing pigeon, or a lost fancy pigeon, here is what you need to do:
Most pigeons that do not have a band are wild pigeons, and should be left alone. If you have reason to believe it is a domestic pigeon, (such as unusual markings and features) and it does not have a band, there is no way of tracking the owner, unless you know where they live, or if you post about it online.
Food and Water
If you have caught the bird in a cage, give it water immediately. And then give it food. A quick solution for feed is wild bird seed. They may or may not eat right away. Stress, injury and exhaustion can all affect the quickness of it settling in. the best thing is to leave it alone for several hours before examining the band.
Wellwood Pigeon Store - Babylon NY
Registered Band
Once you examine the band, you need to determine if it is a registered band. If it is a registered band, it will have a code, a organization, and a year. there are also non registered bands, they will have no number, or a simple number, such as 57.
There is no way to track the owner through non registered bands, unless you know where they live or post online. if it is a registered band, the code is the number to keep track of that particular bird. The organization is who sold the band. The year on the band is the year the bird hatched. So lets say a band has the following: AU 2020 ARPU 53640. The AU stands for National Union. the 2020 means the bird hatched in 2020. the ARPU stands for The American Racing Pigeon Union
Once you read the band, you need to contact the organization that sold the band. For the band above, you would contact The American Racing Pigeon Union, and say something along the lines of “I found a pigeon with the band that reads AU 2020 ARPU 53640.
Can you give me the owners contact info to work out details of getting the bird back to them?” this is all they need, and they will either work it out themselves, or allow you to work it out.
Racing Homing Pigeons
A lot of lost pigeons are racing homing pigeons. A homing pigeon will be a large bird, with no unusual features such as a crest, short beak, or big tail. They can be all colors though These birds are flown competitively in races.
They get tired and land, and can get lost. If you find a racing homing pigeon, you can either contact the organization, (which is what I recommend) or give it fresh food and water and give it a nights rest, and release it early in the morning.
Some owners will ask you to release it. Please respect them and do that immediately, if that’s what they asked. Others will ask you to feed it, and release it the next morning. and some will ask you to ship it to them, and they will cover the cost.
No Notes !!!
Never tie a note to the bird, this is dangerous for the bird as it can get caught in a tree, and the bird won’t be able to free itself.
If you find a fancy pigeon, and catch it, don’t release the pigeon. If you release them, they do not have the homing instincts to return home. A fancy pigeon will look different than a homing pigeon. Most fancy birds will have a crest, a short beak, a big tail, cool colors\patterns, etc. fancy pigeons will have a band that will most likely be a NPA band, which means it is from the National Pigeon Association. In this case, you would contact the NPA to find the owner.
Homing pigeons can also have NPA bands.
Organizations that provide pigeon bands:
NPA - National Pigeon Association
IF - International Federation IF Lost Pigeons
AU - American Racing Pigeon Union
IPB - Independent Pigeon Breeders