Guest Post by Heather Hohlowski

In the evening of August 28, Palomacy received an email from a woman named Amillia in Southern California asking for advice on helping a rescued pigeon:

Despite the injuries, she noted that she was alert and responsive.

Palomacy responded to the email about an hour later, giving Amillia the contact information for Avian Underdogs and Moose’s Flock, two wonderful pigeon rescues in Southern California, as well as suggesting where to buy pigeon feed. We also suggested she join the Palomacy Help Group page on Facebook and post about the bird asking for local help.

Enter Avian Underdogs!

The very next morning, Terry at Avian Underdogs responded that they could take the pigeon. The next step was to find someone who could help with transport from Bakersfield to Lake Forest — a 150-mile trip. Meanwhile, the pigeon had made it through the night and was much more responsive in the morning. She was drinking and eating well and had even started vocalizing — quiet but high-pitched squeaking sounds. Because she started cooing, Amillia decided to call her “Coocoo”. And — because she was rescued from the street — “La Rue” was added for a little flair. Coocoo had developed an affection for Amillia’s mother, enjoying head scratches and sitting happily on her lap. Although Coocoo had not had any seizures overnight and no active bleeding or obvious respiratory distress had been noticed, her abnormal head/neck posture remained.

By the next day, Coocoo was drinking voluntarily and eating, and her head and neck posture had improved significantly. She was now actively using her neck to look around and follow what’s happening around her. On top of that, her right eye swelling had resolved!

Palomacy and Avian Underdogs had been seeking transportation assistance from Bakersfield to Lake Forest and by September 1, Terry had found someone. A generous woman named Elizabeth was willing to make the more-than-300-mile round-trip on September 12 — and Amillia was happy to continue caring for her until then.

The Next Chapter

Coocoo La Rue is now a resident of Avian Underdogs, meeting many new friends.

We are so grateful to Amillia for caring enough about a pigeon to intervene — to rescue Coocoo from being assaulted and then to bring her home, create a safe enclosure for her to rest and recover in, to research ways to help, to buy pigeon feed, and to continue caring for Coocoo until arrangements could be made to get her to a sanctuary 150 miles away. This is what all lost domestic pigeons deserve — someone to see their plight and step in instead of looking away. We continue to work towards the day when pigeons and all animals get the same kind of attention as dogs and cats — our more familiar companions.

Thank you, Terry and Avian Underdogs for your tireless efforts on behalf of Coocoo La Rue and all pigeons. We are grateful to you for coordinating this rescue with Amillia.

Guest Post by Heather Hohlowski

On September 12, Palomacy received an email from a woman in Cottage Grove, Minnesota:

We wrote her back and explained that this was a domestic bird who needed to be caught and brought inside to safety. We copied our friend Rose Jensen on the email — Rose runs a pigeon rescue in Shoreview, Minnesota, which happens to be about 30 miles from the pigeon’s rooftop hangout. (She is also one of Palomacy’s amazing Facebook Help Group Moderators.) Rose quickly responded that she knew someone in Cottage Grove who might be able to help. And within hours, that someone — Johanna — had safely gotten Mr. Peepers off the roof and into her arms. He is staying with her for the time being and she is treating him for a pretty severe lice infestation. We are so grateful to Rose and Johanna for arranging such a lightening-fast rescue and for giving this lucky pigeon a chance at a long, happy life.

Johanna believes Mr. Peepers is a Roller pigeon, based on his size and “sketchy flight skills”. And he is just a tiny fledgling — just 190 grams and still squeaking and with pink feet and beak. I had assumed Johanna must run her own rescue, but she does not. Her entry into the pigeon world came during COVID, when a pigeon she named Bert showed up on her driveway. That’s when she found Rose, who helped her with Bert’s rescue. Since then, she has adopted two pigeon racing survivors and two rollers, and has rescued two other birds, Girlfriend from a motel parking lot last year and Beatrice from a local yard just a few weeks ago. She and her husband also tried to save a hit-and-run Racing pigeon named “Ginger” last week, but she unfortunately did not make it despite five days of round-the-clock hand-feeding. As for Mr. Peepers’ future, Johanna is not entirely sure yet what lies ahead, but notes that her daughter has already grown quite attached to him, “So we will see!”

Guest Post by Heather Hohlowski

In 2017, Palomacy was alerted to a group of three very sick King pigeons at the Embarcadero BART station in San Francisco. The trio were named the “Three Melons” — Cantaloupe, Honeydew, and Watermelon. All were sick and in desperate need of rescue. Palomacy volunteers got them into care and discovered all three had PPMV-1.* Pigeon paramyxovirus is a highly contagious viral disease affecting pigeons and doves. It causes neurological damage, which manifests as a twisted neck (known as “torticollis”), extreme thirst, and green watery diarrhea. Supportive care can help some birds survive, but currently there is no known cure for the disease. Despite excellent supportive care, Honeydew and Watermelon did not make it.

Cantaloupe did — pigeons are fighters! Supportive care, including hand feeding soft foods, keeping the bird warm, and maintaining hydration are critical for birds with PPMV. Recovery, when it occurs, takes several weeks. Cantaloupe’s neck twist was fairly severe in the beginning, but it steady improved during his stay in his loving foster care home.

The Origin of King Pigeons

King pigeons are “utility birds” — bred for meat (known in restaurants as “squab”, which is the term for young domestic pigeons, typically less than four weeks old). The breed was created in the 1890s by Harry Baker, a pigeon fancier (as well as an undertaker). Harry crossed four pigeon breeds to create the King: the white Mondain/Duchesse (a breed known for its grace), the white Racing Homer (known for being alert), the white Maltese (a compact breed), and the Runt (another so-called “utility bird” bred to have a large body mass).

King pigeons are larger than most pigeon breeds and can weigh two pounds (570 grams) on average. Compare that with a Homer, which weights between 300 and 500 grams, or a Feral, which weights an average of 350 grams.

These birds are typically sold in live markets, including those in San Francisco. (We suspect that is where the Three Melons came from.) Often the baby birds are dyed bright eye-catching colors like pink or blue or purple. People walking through these markets are often shocked to see these birds being sold as food, so they buy them and release them, not knowing that this is almost always a death sentence.

Domestic birds cannot survive in the wild — not in parks, not in cities, not in the sky. They have no wild survival skills and when free will wander hopelessly, in desperate search of rescue. Many will be killed by birds of prey or cars; many die of starvation or dehydration.

Cantaloupe was in foster care for a little more than two years before we started fostering him. We had already started fostering Paige, another Palomacy rescue and a survivor of pigeon racing, and we wanted to find a friend for her. The two immediately hit it off, and we adopted both of them a couple of months later.

Cantaloupe is most definitely what you would call a character. He still has a slight twist in his neck, which makes him look like he’s curious about everything. And he IS curious. He’s also not a very graceful flyer (likely, in part, due to the torticollis) and he is quite lazy. So he will always take the ramp if one’s available. We have his aviary set up so that there are four ramps that spiral up to his nest box. His neck twist also makes it difficult for him to preen his feathers well, so we do a lot of that work for him. When we sit with him and help him scratch his pin feathers, he does his preening pantomime in sync with us (also called “air preening”). He LOVES this — we refer to it as taking Cantaloupe for a spa day.

Always ready to pose for the camera, Cantaloupe is a really fun subject to photograph. We have thousands of photos at this point — even though many look the same, we can’t seem to delete any because every single one is cute. See for yourself:

Like all animals, King pigeons deserve better than to be bred as “utility birds” and slaughtered at less than four weeks old to be served as squab in restaurants. Kings are gentle giants with sweet dispositions. They show affection, they love and protect their mates, and they adore head scritches. Let’s all sign the petition and say no to squab.