Question:
Ok, a couple of ridiculously stupid questions pertaining
to a Pigeon that I rescued and raised. She was about 6 weeks old
when I got her (lost, emaciated, unable to fly) and I nursed her
back to health. She's two years old now and has been raised and
cared for like a normal house pet. My dilemma is that I've been
wanting to let her fly around outside for a while now but am
extremely hesitant because of the condition she was found in. She
*is* bonded to me and she does have a nest in the corner of her cage
but I don't know if she'd be able to find her way back home if she
were to get lost. Is it just homing pigeons that are freakishly
amazing navigators or is that a trait all pigeons share? The second
thing I wanted to ask is that every time the bird is out of her
cage, she clings to me obsessively. I can't even move from my
computer chair to my closet (6 feet away) without her flying after
me. Is it normal for pigeons to be that obsessively clingy or is it
just a personality quirk of my bird's?
Replies:
Your pigeon has imprinted on you! It now thinks that you are also a
pigeon, a member of its flock. I am not sure how the pigeon will react
to flying outside. It could just stay with you or it could fly away and
never return! Pigeons in the wild tend to stay close to others of their
kind, even huddling together!
Grace Fields
Alyssa,
This is largest problem with raising wild birds. If they imprint on you, their life
in the wild is most likely impossible. Imprinted birds often do not know
that they are a bird if a human is the source of their imprinting. They will
view humans as one of them and this usually leads to their demise.
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