Guest Post by Nicole Smith

Piji Moto is a very special bird. After surviving a hawk attack and recovering from his injuries, he is thriving in his new life.

I first met Piji Moto at Medical Center for Birds. I went to pick him up once he was ready for discharge, with the intention that he might provide companionship to my foster Sprout. I didn’t know what to expect with Moto, and my first meeting with him didn’t do much to guide my expectations. The vet placed him on the floor where he stood still as she told me that she wasn’t sure how aware he was. I remember picking him up and giving him a scritch on the head. I think I remarked that he was cute, and I think the vet told me it almost looked like he was enjoying the pets.

Poor Moto had survived a hawk attack, which cost him his right eye and a bone in his left wing. He had a nasty hole in his crop infected with aspergillus. By the time he was coming home with me, his puncture wound was almost completely healed, and his continuing care included only some medications to knock out any remaining infection and some gavage feeding as needed.

I spent a good chunk of time in the beginning worrying about whether Moto was happy. He was mostly still and quiet, but occasionally crept forward without doing the pigeon head movements I am so accustomed to. I couldn’t tell if he was comfortable, if he was afraid, if he was feeling poorly.

Although Moto was initially dependent on gavage feeding, I slowly realized that Moto loves safflower seeds. I started giving him a little scoop of safflower seeds with every meal to encourage his self-feeding. Once he started eating “Moto Mix,” I was able to stop gavage feeding him entirely.

I tried introducing him to other pigeons, perhaps a little earlier than I should have, thinking it might make him feel safer and more like himself. Upon meeting Moto, Sprout tried to give him a little preen, which Moto found to be deeply offensive. I shortly had to rescue Moto from the fight that he had started. I tried him with my gentle, flightless foster Paprika and once again had to quickly rescue Moto from his own decision making. Keeping him alone was the only safe option, since Moto can easily be flipped over and is unable to right himself, but his isolation was another source of worry for me. I couldn’t tell if being frequently handled was scary for him, but it seemed like I was going to have to be his primary companion, so he started joining me for most of my daily activities.

He now loves riding around on my shoulder, surveying his lands, playing cards on my “team,” and attending Zoom calls, sometimes taking a little nap. When he gets sick of me, he just hops off my shoulder and walks over to his pen. He generally seems to enjoy traveling, as long as I let him sit on my shoulder. He peers out of the window of the car with curiosity and generally looks tough and threatening. He shows a clear preference for being with me and will not sit on anyone else’s shoulder. Noticing this helped me realize that he is telling me when he is afraid and when he is comfortable.

He feels very safe in our home, as we found out when we brought him to a friend’s house. In their aviary, he ran over to me and stood on my foot. In their house, he seemed nervous, so I let him sit on my shoulder, which instantly calmed him.

Moto loves to boss other birds around. Sometimes when the birds are having out of cage time and I’m at my desk, I’ll hear a bunch of commotion. I’ll look down to see a stampede of pigeons running past me. A couple seconds later, Moto will surely dart by, chasing them all from wherever they dared go against his will. In general, the birds clear out when Moto barrels through. I think they see him running full speed with his head totally still and they assume they don’t want to mess with him. (They are right; he is very tough.) I always supervise, but Moto seems to have convinced the other birds to abide by his rules for the most part. I trust him to maintain order around here.

He spends his days enthusiastically lording over the floors with occasional happy flappies, big stretches and preenies, and visits to his mirror to admire his handsome reflection. He is vocal, honking when offended or alarmed and cooing when telling the other birds how tough he is.

I love Piji Moto, and I now know that Piji Moto loves living with us. Big thanks to Palomacy for giving this miracle bird a second life. He’s comfy, safe, and happy, and he’s the big boss of this household. We wouldn’t want it any other way.

Nicole Smith discovered the magic of pigeons in 2020 when she and her partner, Christopher Hudson, scooped up a sickly young feral pigeon. Since then, the two of them have become Palomacy volunteers and fosterers. They have a flock of family-member birds, composed primarily of “self-rescued” pigeons that found their way to them all on their own. Nicole is employed as a caregiver and recently went back to college at UC Berkeley to finish her degree.

 

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Piji Moto’s vet bill was $3808!