In early June, a call came in from an elementary school principal in Richmond. Two pigeons were hanging around the school yard. The children, ages 4 to 12, were picking up the birds and carrying them around, and the principal was concerned that this might not be good for the birds or for the kids. Care Director Jill looked at the photos sent over and realized immediately that these were domestic pigeons. She drove to the school and discovered two baby fantails who had been dumped by their breeder, probably for failing to meet some arbitrary breed standard. With a great deal of enthusiastic and noisy help from the children, Jill collected the two young birds. She also told the children about our rescue work and thanked them for their part in saving the feathered schoolyard visitors.

The babies, now named Hydrox and Rainbow Bob, were thin but not in bad shape otherwise. They would not have survived long out in the world, though — domestic birds have no survival skills and fancy breeds like fantails are inbred in ways that affects their ability to fly. These birds need safe homes, either in a house with a human family, or in a safe, predator-proof aviary.

Hydrox and Rainbow Bob act just like human siblings — they squabbled so much in the car on the way home that Jill had to pull over and separate them. In the aviary, they insist on being right next to each other…all the better to endlessly bicker!

Breeders and fanciers treat pigeons as disposable, discarding them without a second thought. You can read more about these practices here. We believe they are precious and deserving of care, so these adorable, funny little birds join the nearly 300 in Palomacy’s foster network. They need a home! Could you be their foster or forever person? Apply to foster or adopt today! 

Do you have space for an aviary, to give a home to a small flock of rescued pigeons? Here’s how to build one! Email cynthia@pigeonrescue.org and let’s talk about how we can work together!