Last evening when I got home there was a Carrier Pigeon in my driveway. I got up this morning and it was on the roof of my SUV. I could see the tag on it's leg. As I left for work it was hanging out under the back of my motorhome.
It caught my attention and I wondered where it might have come from. Might it be resting for a day or so and traveling on? Are they released and have a dertermined destination?
I know they can get their "GPS" messed up by storms. Will it let you pick it up? - if so the leg band chould give some indentification. I remember reading about a "lost" homer recently that was several hundred miles off course, and the leg band and the state's carrier pigeon club were able to identify the owner.
I can get close to it but I have not been able to pick it up. I can make out the leg band but not sure if I'm seeing it all. What I see is 1968 I think. I live in the State of PA and wonder how I would find out if there is a group I could call. It is still here as of today.
Are you sure it is a carrier pigeon? Could it be a bird that has been banded for research purposes? If so, they would be very interested in knowing where the bird is.
The bird is probably a racing pigeon--a faster version of the homing pigeon. Since pigeons and doves are the same species, the cooing of my doves attract lots of lost pigeons. The pigeons seldom let me pick them up, but cornering and trapping them is pretty easy once you learn how. After catching them, I note the number on the leg band and make a call to the owner/club that owns them. The web site I use to locate the club/owner is: http://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm It's kind of interesting to find these lost birds, and how far afield they get. Usually I find young ones--probably released before they got their bearings.
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