Web footed feral pigeon

Subject: Web footed feral pigeon Sat May 30, 2009 1:43 am

I recently noticed a feral who has been visiting my yard had odd looking feet. She walked with a slight limp and the toes seemed stuck together. I though it might be a string injury so I trapped her. I was surprised to find that the outer toe was attached to the center toe by a web of skin! I've heard it can happen but this is the first time I've seen it. The bird was fine otherwise. I released her. She wasn't put out by being trapped, she still comes by for handouts. Here's some pictures of Webby Smile

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Subject: Re: Web footed feral pigeon Sat May 30, 2009 6:32 am

That's very interesting, Jen.
I had never heard of this condition in pigeons. :WHAT?:
It's great you were able to catch her, check her out and get a picture. Way to go

Thanks for sharing Webby with us.
She sure looks to be a healthy pij otherwise. Smile

Subject: Catching a pigeon Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:07 pm

How did you catch her? I have a ferral flock that comes to my yard, but if I were to notice something wrong with one of them, I don't know that I could catch one of them. They disappeared over the winter, as hawks were really bad this year. We were getting one or two a week. They have started coming back, but are very cautious. Even with me. They didn't used to be so nervous before. I know some people catch them with a box and string, but it seems unlikely that the right one would be brave enough to go into the box. How would you do it?

Subject: Re: Web footed feral pigeon Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:14 pm

Wow! That's really somethin.

Subject: Re: Web footed feral pigeon Sat Jun 06, 2009 3:50 pm

NiteOwl wrote:: How did you catch her? I have a ferral flock that comes to my yard, but if I were to notice something wrong with one of them, I don't know that I could catch one of them. They disappeared over the winter, as hawks were really bad this year. We were getting one or two a week. They have started coming back, but are very cautious. Even with me. They didn't used to be so nervous before. I know some people catch them with a box and string, but it seems unlikely that the right one would be brave enough to go into the box. How would you do it?

I had no luck with a box trap. Here is a quick video of the trap I used. I put seed in the far corner so they had to walk all the way in.
Cage Trap

Here's the page that explains how to make that cage. It's an inexpensive way to make a big, lightweight cage.
Cage instructions

Subject: Re: Web footed feral pigeon Sat Jun 06, 2009 4:02 pm

Thanks for sharing the video on the cage trap and the instructions for making the cage.
It helps when we can actually see how things work. Right on

Subject: Re: Web footed feral pigeon Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:23 pm

Thanks for the post and photos, Jen, I had never seen a pigeon with webbed toes -- didn't even know it could happen. Lovely pigeon, by the way! Smile