Adelaide, Australia: Right wing broken/dislocated - anyone can help/take this girl?

Hi everyone,

At 12:20am this morning when I went to put some garbage out, a feral pigeon was right at my doorstep. It wasn't here at 11pm when I got home. It's right wing is not functioning (drooped, bird cannot extend it or fold it). Other than that she is in fine spirits: eating/drinking/pooping and alert and attentive. Extremely quite - makes no noise - just watches everything and blinks.

I'm presuming it's a girl if the YouTube video here is accurate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I4iU4KTJRo

It's a feral pigeon and I've called two vets/emergency clinics and am told that it will be euthanised if I take it in as it's considered a Category 3 pest under the law.

So rather than put to her a certain end, I'd rather take a chance and see if there are any rescuers or anyone interested in taking her on? Or if there's a vet who will look after her in Adelaide?

Please PM me if you don't wish to post publicly. I can only keep over here up till Tuesday. She is getting small bird seed and water, in a box with a fleece blanket. I'll post a photo when my camera batteries are recharged.

I dont see pigeons as pest and they have more right to be here/been here longer than most Australians. (Actually they clean up what others leave behind, imagine all the flies we'd have in our cities without these janitors that work for free). Any help/ideas appreciated. A lovely and otherwise healthy bird.

Thanks,
JC

Thumbnails of her as promised (if you're logged in, you can click on an image to enlarge)...

Hi lamarmotte71,

Thank you for trying to help that pigeon!

From the photos, I agree that it looks like her wing is either dislocated or broken. Only an X-ray could tell for sure, but the way her wing droops looks exactly like one I have here, which was hit by a car and her wing got dislocated at the shoulder joint. It was bandaged by my vet, but although she improved she never flew again, so a bird in her circumstances needs to be looked after.
We have two experienced members in Australia, but I fear they are very far away from you. I will contact them nevertheless, and see what can be done.

I've messaged the two contacts, plus also posted on Facebook (on Pigeon Angels, and Pigeon Protection and Rescue).
I hope someone will be able to help.

Thanks heaps Teresa, let's hope someone wants her or knows a vet who will look after her without putting her down.

Hi,

I'm over in Melbourne and I'm keen to help, but I need a little more time. I'm due in Adelaide for work for the second weekend of July and I could bring back the girl to live in the flight aviary we have here. I have two other pigeons who can't fly properly, similar situation. They're very happy permanent residents.

The problem is the Tuesday deadline. Most importantly this bird needs to have her wing strapped. If you take her to a bird vet and say that she's a pet they will treat her without putting her down. Would you feel comfortable doing this?

Is Tuesday the absolute latest you can hang on to her? I don't know if I can bring my trip forward at all bu if you can buy me some time at least I will see what I can do.

Hi - I've PMed you on timeframes due to impending travel, I simply won't be in country much longer so there's no one to take care of her. Anyway all the specifics are in my PM. In the meantime, if you can call me per the PM, we can try and work something out. I can also drive her halfway over the weekend or can try and convince my brother to hold on to her for a while though I doubt he'll agree to it. If she's got a new home assured, I'm happy to take her to my vet and get her bandaged up on Tuesday given that tomorrow is a public holiday.

Cheers,
JC

Folks -

I have some great news in that StrikerthePurpleFrog will be picking up the little one in early July. As in interim measure she has been bandaged up (see photo below) and my brother has kindly agreed to take care of her while I'm away.

It's a great outcome and thank you to all particularly Teresa for her efforts in making this happen. This little hen wanted to live and walked across a busy road after being hit to end up on my doorstep in the early hours of the morning.

Thanks also to Striker for giving her a new home.

Keep up the good work everyone.

Regards,
JC

Right on, Great job you did on the cast, And he even looks cleaner then the previous pics. He looks like he has quite alot of expression on his face too. He looks like he even may have some Humor, He kinda looks like a Goof ball. As in a funny pigeon u know? lol

lamarmotte71 wrote:

Folks -

I have some great news in that StrikerthePurpleFrog will be picking up the little one in early July. As in interim measure she has been bandaged up (see photo below) and my brother has kindly agreed to take care of her while I'm away.

It's a great outcome and thank you to all particularly Teresa for her efforts in making this happen. This little hen wanted to live and walked across a busy road after being hit to end up on my doorstep in the early hours of the morning.

Thanks also to Striker for giving her a new home.

Keep up the good work everyone.

Regards,
JC

Thanks a million, StrikerThePurpleFrog! What would we do without you?!
Have a safe journey and let us know how it goes!

Hi all,

Just a belated update here. I've collected the pigeon from Adelaide last weekend and brought her back to Melbourne. She's fantastic, in good health, though I wouldn't mind her being a little heavier (300grams). We've named her Adelaide.

When I went to change her bandage her wing suddenly dropped to the ground. She ended up walking on in fact. I strapped the wing to her body just to get her back to Melbourne and she continually got her talon stuck in the bandage. We sorted that issue and I've taken her to the vet for x-rays and so on.

The verdict seems to be possible nerve cluster damage, she doesn't know her right wing is there at all. The odds are unfortunately that this is a permanent situation but we have a window of opportunity for the nerves to regenerate. We'll be administering anti-inflammatory twice daily and doing some basic physio to stretch the wings out gently.

She's also on baycox for coccidiosis, which she was loaded with! We've trimmed the wing back in the meantime to prevent her walking on it and damaging it.

I'm hopeful, but the window is generally 8 weeks and we've already lost a few since the injury.

If she cannot regain her flight then we will look to other ways to provide her quality of life, ramps and so on.

A photo to follow soon.

Poor Adelaide, I hope her wing improves!
Nerve cluster damage is something I haven't come across before. Did the vet say what might have caused it, being hit by a car maybe?
Thank you for the information on the 8-week window and the need for physio, and thank you so much for taking her under your wing!

Hey Striker - thanks for the update. She has certainly found a loving and compassionate home with you.
Teresa - yes she was definitely hit by a car, I tracked her faeces and feathers to the impact, on the other side of a dual carraige major road in Adelaide. The fact that she walked across three lanes of traffic without being hit a second time is nothing short of amazing. Why she chose to end up at my doorstep is beyond me but she was exhausted and near death when I found her.

Thankfully because of this forum, and the kind efforts of Striker, she should have a good life. But she'll never fly again, that is near certain.

My regards to all who helped her, as she's definitely a survivor.

lamarmotte71 wrote:

Hey Striker - thanks for the update. She has certainly found a loving and compassionate home with you.
Teresa - yes she was definitely hit by a car, I tracked her faeces and feathers to the impact, on the other side of a dual carraige major road in Adelaide. The fact that she walked across three lanes of traffic without being hit a second time is nothing short of amazing. Why she chose to end up at my doorstep is beyond me but she was exhausted and near death when I found her.

Thankfully because of this forum, and the kind efforts of Striker, she should have a good life. But she'll never fly again, that is near certain.

My regards to all who helped her, as she's definitely a survivor.

Poor little thing, she must have had a very strong urge to live! How extraordinary that she managed to cross all the lanes of traffic!!! Thank goodness she found you!

Adelaide is doing well. Her wing isn't really improving but we're still trying, still some hope.

Fingers crossed! Keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers!

Hi Striker!
This is a long shot as this thread is a few years old, but I thought it best to try!
I stumbled across this page when searching for help with my own wild pigeon who has a broken wing. The pigeon is otherwise healthy and I have wormed him and sprayed him for fleas/lice etc. We found him in our yard and due to cats, most grounded birds get killed pretty quick here so we have setup a temp cage for him while we work out what to do. His wing doesn't drag but he just can't lift it at all. When we've checked it out, we discovered it won't move above horizontal whereas the healthy wing can stretch right up to the sky.
We are also in Adelaide and are finding it hard to find someone to help take him in. After calling several wildlife rescue groups, the only answer we got was to take him to a vet to be euthenased as they won't help with non-native birds.
I noticed you helped another pigeon from Adelaide and was hoping you either knew someone who is like minded who could help or perhaps you had some room for another bird?
Hope to hear back!