His little body told a sad story. He was brought into the shelter and surrendered by his owner on 4/20/19. No name, sex unknown, feathers thrashed, crawling with parasites, not-yet-diagnosed arthritis in both legs and with an untreated broken right ankle that had, over time, fused into an unuse-able infected, painful liability. He couldn’t walk but could scoot and fly a short distance.

At the shelter, the busted up Indian Fantail was named Sizzle and put up for adoption with a promise of medical treatment required. A volunteer gave him a mirror for company and to try and determine his sex. (Pigeons love mirrors, are proven to self-recognize in them and males usually can’t resist cooing at and showing off for their reflection. Females are most likely to just sit companionably close to their reflection.) Sizzle showed no response to the mirror at all suggesting he was either female, feeling poorly or both.

On 5/5, the volunteer, Lacy, reached out to Palomacy seeking help for Sizzle. She was worried about his prospects. When we heard about him, we were worried too. With his medical problems, Sizzle was more likely to get euthanized than adopted despite his wonderful pet potential. Special needs pigeons make lovely, charming and inspiring companions. They are very adaptable and can live long, happy, love-filled lives given the chance. We have seen special needs pigeons of all sorts- blind, crippled, paralyzed, neurologically impaired- thrive inspite of their challenges. There is a saying, “Pigeons bloom where planted” and it is true. Plus Palomacy has a motto: We don’t have to start with euthanasia.

Lacy writes, “When we first saw Sizzle, we knew he was very special. The shelter kept him warm and fed him, and as amicable as their efforts were, they did not understand his needs or know how to properly care for him. We reached out to Palomacy who accepted him with open arms and a promise to care for him the way he deserves and to treat him for his needs.” 

On 5/8, Lacy and her fiance arranged for Sizzle to be released to them as a Palomacy rescue and then made the 200 mile round trip to deliver him to me.

The minute he arrived and heard the other pigeons, he perked up and started cooing, declaring himself to be all man bird. He had been depressed at the shelter. Being around other pigeons is a great tonic for a depressed pigeon. I gave him a bath and after some time basking dry in the sun, settled him into his VIP cage in my special needs bird room.

On 5/10, I took him to Medical Center for Birds to see Dr. Gianopolous who admitted him for radiographs and wound care. There, we learned just how bad Sizzle’s broken but untreated ankle was. We could also see evidence of an old injury to his vertebrae as well as an unidentified mass that could be either kidney or testicle-related. Sizzle’s not had the easiest life so far but we are going to give him his best life going forward, for as long as he has.

I picked him up on 5/13 and brought him back to foster with me while we figure out the right long-term placement for him. Sizzle is great company and a very good patient, easy to medicate twice daily. He’d do best indoors as a pampered family pet or in a small aviary with a mate or gentle flock. Please let us know if you think you might be the person Sizzle is looking for.

And of course, dear Sizzle’s story is just one of many. Just since 5/5, we’ve also taken two juvenile King pigeons, Handsome and Beautiful and two doves, Fran and Ziti, into our care; we are coordinating the rescue of another not-yet-named stray dove; placed single female pigeon Flapjack in a forever home with rescued and no-longer-lonesome mate Super Lucy; rescued Iggy the stray Fantail; rescued, around-the-clock cared for and are mourning the deaths of two grieviously injured and terribly missed little pigeons, Patience and Ember; provided daily care for 140 fostered birds and advised on how to rescue and help almost 100 other pigeons and doves in need all over the country and beyond. And if we had more resources, we could be doing more.

There is a huge need for Palomacy! There are so many more people who are breeding, using and endangering these birds for their hobbies, sports and businesses than there are resources to help the inevitably lost and injured. We rescuers are vastly outnumbered and we need all the support you can offer. Thank you for donating to Palomacy! Thank you for volunteering and adopting and sharing and for all you are doing in your own world to help these sweet birds. You are making a difference!

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