Pigeon with leg bands.. What to do?

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Nov 14, 2020
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I found this guy lying next to my driveway. Appears to be an every day pigeon. Believe it was killed by a Cooper’s hawk. That’s pretty common in my neighborhood. I was going to throw it in the trash, then I saw these bands on its leg. Anybody know what they mean or if I should do anything about them?
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Sometimes they can be racing pigeons. Just Google all the info and one of the pigeon racing clubs may pop up.
 
yeah, do that and let us know please,
ive shot a bunch of birds with bands, punch it in and they send you the info.
very cool but kinda sad in the regard that something hatches in the marshes in canada, makes a couple successful round trips then finally falls victim to a sly decoy rig under the right(wrong for it) weather conditions
 
Like ODB stated, you can find the info about the local clubs online, but I’ve pulled up a pigeon’s owner by entering the info from the band into Google.

Probably the right thing to do to let the pigeon’s owner know you found it. It’s probably a local bird, but you never know how far from home they may be.

I remember a story from a couple of years ago about a pigeon that was released in Japan, flew across the Pacific and ended up in the US.
 
It's either a racing pigeon or somebody who has pigeons for dog training.

I have about 20 pigeons in a loft at my house, 3/4's of them are banded. If I had to bet, it's a racing pigeon, you can usually find their info with the bands online.
 
yeah, do that and let us know please,
ive shot a bunch of birds with bands, punch it in and they send you the info.
very cool but kinda sad in the regard that something hatches in the marshes in canada, makes a couple successful round trips then finally falls victim to a sly decoy rig under the right(wrong for it) weather conditions
Those aren't federal bands, and I'd bet a lot of money it wasn't migrating anywhere.
 
Definitely someone’s bird. I know several people that raise them for racing and pigeon shoots


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Those aren't federal bands, and I'd bet a lot of money it wasn't migrating anywhere.
oh, i know they are not federal,just an example on getting interesting feedback from sources when you look into bands but thanks for the info
 
I found 1 while working a landscaping job. Just googled as much information as I could. Forgot where it was from exactly but it was from like Ohio and found in MN
 
Should be able to find owner through internet search. I found a banded pigeon dead one time and was able to find owner. I was amazed at how many websites and info was out there about flying pigeons. Website said they like to be notified if a bird is found dead. I emailed the owner, but never got a reply.
 
Doesn't really appear to have been killed, definitely possible tho.

With avian flu around I'd be wondering, is it in an area of poultry production?
 
Our DNR bands some when they turn them loose. Doves anyway. Killed a few while hunting and can get on dnr website to see info.
 
i shot one years ago in eastern minnesota. Had the exact same set up but a yellow band instead of red. also had the green radio band on it as well. Looked up the numbers and it was from some pigeon club in eastern wisconsin. There was a flock of five flying around during early goose season with one white one. finally got a shot at the white one and it was banded.
 
When I was a teenager one showed up at our house.
The thing was obviously accustomed to people.
Would land on my shoulder, head, arm......
It would wait on me to get off the school bus and fly
in and land on me. Everybody on the bus would be watching.
Kept it fed and watered, hung around for probably 2-3 months
and then one day was gone.
Never saw it again.
No bands on it BTW.
 
I would try to contact the owner if you have time. I took my kids this winter to a pigeon show and these people are passionate about their pigeons. I was blown away by this subculture while at the same time having zero interest in joining it despite my kids pleading. It’s amazing the things going on under my radar.
 

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They are both probably RFID bands. They get scanned when they fly into the coupe so the owners know they have all returned. Or whe they get mixed up in another flock and go somewhere else. It also let's them know which birds are faster, slower etc.

The owner probably would not want either the band or the bird. It is very common for a disease to kill them and with birds, it's very dangerous to get any contamination in the pigeon house. Just bringing the bird or the band back could start an outbreak.

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You could try CPR...but I would not reccomend mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
 
Racing homers. Son shot one during dove opener when he was younger. i Still tell him some poor soul is waiting for their prized bird to come home. He did get a band kind of.
 
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