Hi, I have a white bird that has been hanging around my property today (Perth suburbs) it looks like a dove or a pigeon and is pure white, has a band of some kind on its leg but I cant get close enough to read it, Seems fairly tame like it would ALMOST come to me.
Any advice on what to do? It doesnt take off and fly very effectively so I am abit concerned about it with my curious dogs and cats!
Hello CrabyLion, welcome to the forum. This bird is probably a rock dove aka feral pigeon (Columba livia). It is most likely a homing pigeon and someone as let it go and assumed it would fly back. We have many birds like this around here, and they seem to be almost impossibly to scare away because they are so familiar to humans. Are you sure that it has problems flying or is just reluctant to fly?
I would be careful handling it because these birds have been know to carry up to 50 diseases!!! If it does not fly away maybe contact a local expert. The best thing to do is to just keep your pets away from the bird.
Hello CrabyLion, welcome to the forum. This bird is probably a rock dove aka feral pigeon (Columba livia). It is most likely a homing pigeon and someone as let it go and assumed it would fly back. We have many birds like this around here, and they seem to be almost impossibly to scare away because they are so familiar to humans. Are you sure that it has problems flying or is just reluctant to fly?
I would be careful handling it because these birds have been know to carry up to 50 diseases!!! If it does not fly away maybe contact a local expert. The best thing to do is to just keep your pets away from the bird.