July 12, 2021
by Elizabeth
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Please Support Palomacy: Do It for Moo

Moo

Rescued unreleasable pigeons like Moo depend on Palomacy for life-saving care and we depend on your donations to provide it. One surgery costs on average $2000. One month of Palomacy’s rescuing and rehoming costs $18,000. This Wednesday 7/14, starting early in the morning at 6 AM PT, donations of $100 – $1000 made to Palomacy will earn much needed bonus match funds until they run out. Please- donate!

Moo and her mate Cooper were among a whole flock of pet pigeons displaced when their person’s rental home was sold. Palomacy flexed and stretched and together, in partnership with Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue, we were able to take them all in to foster care in April 2021.

Cooper & Moo

Fosters Chris and Gary instantly fell in love with the sweet couple and they were doing great until, near the end of June, Moo stopped eating and started hunching over in pain.

Moo hunched in pain

Chris rushed her to our Care Coordinator Jill who immediately got her seen at Medical Center for Birds. The diagnosis was worrying. Ultrasound showed a big mass in her abdomen, likely reproductive disease-related, possibly cancerous and, if it was, prognosis was poor.

Moo cradled in Dr. Baden’s loving arms

Moo’s ultrasound- the red & blue markers suggest the mass may have blood flow (potentially indicating cancer)

Moo was too weak for surgery to even be considered so she went back foster home with Jill for supportive care and pain management while we figured out what to do.

Jill carefully nursed Moo along with small, frequent, gavage fed meals of nutrition-rich Emeraid, supplemental heat, pain meds and lots of encouragement. Moo got a little stronger but she was suffering. Jill felt strongly that, despite the low odds and high expense, we needed to give Moo a chance with surgery. She might have inoperable cancer for which she’d be euthanized on the table or she might die from the strain of surgery or she might be saved. We wouldn’t know until we knew. Moo had surgery on July 1st.

When Dr. Baden called Jill that afternoon with the post-surgery update, she asked, Do you want the good news or the good news? Moo woke up after surgery and it wasn’t cancer! Both good news! Moo had a severely impacted oviduct (through which she was inexplicably able to pass a normal egg on 6/17) which was removed. She had had a successful salpingectomy. (Graphic photo of the removed oviduct and impacted material is posted way down a few inches after the end of this post, if you want to see.)

Moo recovering after surgery

Her no longer smooshed intestines resumed working and she began to improve immediately. Tiny little Moo is doing great now! While she’ll no longer lay eggs, we are cautiously optomistic that she can still live a good life nest building and sitting on fake eggs with her mate.

And that was the plan- to reunite her with husbird Cooper, patiently waiting at their fosters’, when she was healed up. But Moo, only eight days after surgery, surprised us by giving her heart to sweet, lonesome Apollo, another special needs bird fostered in Jill’s bird room, the day before he was to be transferred to his new foster home.

Love is… newlyweds Apollo & Moo

They are so happy to be together that we can’t bring ourselves to interfere. But don’t worry- Cooper is already signed up for pHarmony and is flirting hard with an androgynous Fantail named Dulce.

Together, this is what we do. We combine everything we have, all of our knowledge and empathy and money and time and hope and tears, to catch these incredible little birds from falling, to save them when they need help.

Thank you for helping! Please donate if you can.

Scroll down for graphic photo showing the impacted oviduct surgically removed from Moo.

Keep scrolling if you want to see, stop here if you don’t…

Warning: Graphic photo below

Impacted oviduct surgically removed from Moo

July 6, 2021
by Elizabeth
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Our Greatest Strength…

Gremblin thanks you for saving his life

Our greatest strength lies in the gentleness and tenderness of our heart. -Rumi

Your tender heart saved the life of a tiny, skinny and badly injured Valencian Figurita pigeon named Gremblin. Rescued on May 17th, he’s been hospitalized twice and there were times we feared he wouldn’t make it. Our Care Coordinator Jill has appointed herself his round-the-clock nurse and he rewards all of our kindnesses with an impossibly grumpy, bitey, wee ferocity that makes us swoon.

Echo, a “released” King pigeon found with a huge, terrible neck wound, was facing shelter euthanasia until Palomacy volunteers and donors intervened, saving his life. Lovingly fostered by Nath and Darren, he’s made a full recovery and is working on winning a mate.

Echo’s wound was stitched & he began recovering on 4/22

On the night of June 22nd, we were alerted to a broke wing racing pigeon who had been hiding in a garage for eight days, being fed by the kindly homeowner who was hoping she would heal up and fly away. Palomacy rushed to help her.

Raced pigeon Corazón, badly injured by a hawk, took refuge in a garage

We named her Corazón and rushed her to Medical Center for Birds where the vets, in partnership with our Care Coordinator Jill, did everything they could to save her. Ultimately the necrotic wound was too deep, too severe. On Sunday July 4th, she was, through tears, lovingly euthanized to release her from suffering. She is missed and loved. Your tenderness helped Corazón when she needed it most.

We all, volunteers, vets & Corazón, tried our best. Rest in peace, sweet bird.

We were amazed when a young, lost, completely emaciated racing pigeon was rescued alive, despite weighing only half of what she should have. With gentle supportive care, Merritt has made a full recovery and will never be exploited again.

Merritt lost half her body weight & nearly starved before being rescued

There are so many… See Death Defying Rescues, Peepers: Brought Back to Life, The Car Lot Kings and lots more on our blog. Every day, across all the miles and time zones and issues and challenges, we are coming together to help gentle little birds that used to go unnoticed.

We are saving individuals, sharing their stories, raising awareness and creating compassion as we do.

Thank you for being our greatest strength.

June 10, 2021
by Elizabeth
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The Car Lot Kings

Guest Post by Andrea Crebassa

Once upon a time, but not really that long ago… five white King pigeons escaped the butcher.

Somehow, they safely made it to, of all places, an auto body repair shop. When employees arrived, what to their wondering eyes should appear, but five white “doves” on top of one of the totaled cars in the back of the lot. Now, for a body shop, birds are not a good thing to have around because they poop on cars! And bird poop is known for ruining car paint.

So, one of the technicians waved his arms to shoo the birds away. Slowly, they did finally move, fluttering their beautiful white wings a bit… but landed on the ground and went under the car. An office employee saw all of this and realized this was not normal behavior for wild birds.

Within a day or two, she started bringing food and water for the “doves,” who each day could be found in their safe space under the car. Unfortunately, after weekends, lots of poop could also be found on the three totaled cars in the back. The rest of the cars were always parked inside the shop overnight and weekends. She was starting to get pressure to stop encouraging the birds to be anywhere near the shop. As in: don’t feed or water them, shoo them away, etc.

Abandoned King pigeons making themselves at home…

But the employee now knew that the birds were at least partially domesticated or they wouldn’t keep staying there. That employee was me, so I will now finish the story in the first person.

I called the Humane Society and asked if anyone had reported five missing white doves. I swear she kind of laughed, but she said she would post a notice that five had been found.

Then I called Wildcare in San Rafael that helps all kinds of animals. I missed the first return call from them, so left messages but when we connected, they couldn’t help. They did tell me I should call a pigeon rescue organization named Palomacy.

In the meantime, the owner of their “home” came to remove her personal items in preparation for her car being towed away. I pointed out the doves and told her how we’d found them. She was absolutely thrilled (although her car was covered in you-know-what), since the car had belonged to her mother who had passed some time ago. She saw it as a sign from or about her mother.

A day later that car got towed away — so the birds moved next door underneath another total.

But now, about a week after my first phone call to get help, I had a hard deadline for removing the birds. It was Monday, and on Friday the landlord was getting the parking lot re-surfaced. We needed to move all cars into our shop by end of the work day on Thursday. I was now starting to get frantic.

I called Palomacy and left a message. The next day, I got a call back from the Pigeon Queen herself, Elizabeth. She tried to refer me to the San Rafael organization. I told her they’d already said they couldn’t help me. I also told her about the Thursday deadline. Elizabeth sprang into action.

She had me text her photos. She told me they were King Pigeons, and were indeed domesticated: bred for meat and therefore not good fliers, and bred to be white. And that they were maybe six weeks old. They would not survive long in “the wild.” She was surprised they’d survived so far. Sooo many predators.

Elizabeth said we’d need to trap them for any kind of rescue. I had neither the knowledge nor means to do that. On Wednesday, she set up a volunteer to help. Unfortunately, I was already on my way home to Petaluma with hubby when I got the text that Tim would be coming with a dog cage. Valiant Tim tried for over 2 hours — actually had 4 in the cage when they got spooked, and then there were none.

Trying to trap the Kings…

Four of the five in…

Spooked by a crow, they retreated back under their car

Elizabeth and Tim kept me apprised of all the goings-on via text. It was so sad for human and birds that it didn’t work out. But the next morning, I put the food and water dishes back in the cage and waited. Since now the birds were hungry and thirsty (and a bit used to the cage?), I felt more confident I could trap them. And within 15 minutes, all five went in the cage and I quickly closed the door! Woo hoo! What a relief!

Safe!

It was now D-Day. The Pigeon Queen had arranged for another volunteer, Jerri, to pick them up and transport them to foster at Sindy and Steve’s in Benicia. Jerri probably added at least two hours to her trip by coming to the shop. Later that afternoon, Jerri arrived and she and I took the cage full of scared pigeons into the bathroom. Jerri had to practically crawl into the cage to grab them one by one, and we put them into individual cardboard carriers. Some of the pigeons squeaked in fear or anxiety during and after the transfer. But we knew they were going to a safe, wonderful, new home.

All the cars were now moved into the shop garage. Early the next morning, the re-surface folks arrived. I sent Elizabeth a picture of the re-surface vehicle finishing up in our now empty lot.

Later, she sent Jerri’s photo of the five in their new, roomy aviary. I was so grateful for that.

Safe & comfy in their foster home with Sindy & Steve

From start to finish, everybody at Palomacy could not have been kinder, more helpful, educational, gracious, and wonderfully communicative! I cannot imagine what the fate of “The Auto Body Shop 5” (Elizabeth’s moniker for them) would have been without Palomacy.

Andrea & Stan visiting the fostered Kings

All Hail the Pigeon Queen (MY moniker for Elizabeth) and all her “subjects”!

And five sweet pigeons lived happily ever after… (and are adoptable)!

Merton- the suspicious one

Clark- the biggest one

Snow white, lady-like Jeri

Mild mannered Morgan

Jackson cleans up nice!

These beautiful birds need new foster or forever homes before June 30, 2021. Please apply to help them (and we’ll help you).

Andrea writes: Andrea Crebassa is older than the hills…OK, not quite that old. She is one of 9 children. Her husband owns Crebassa’s Auto Body in San Rafael (since 1982). Andrea, who previously worked in the tech field, started working at the shop five years ago; their son has worked there almost 20 years. Andrea has always had a heart for animals and feels a strong connection to them. Between her own observations and researching the web, she has learned quite a bit about many of them. Mostly she notices that they have many of the same behaviors as humans (especially small humans). So how could she not try to help the pigeons that landed in her bailiwick?

www.crebassa.com

May 31, 2021
by Elizabeth
Comments Off on Pidgy: The Pigeon Who Survived Against All Odds

Pidgy: The Pigeon Who Survived Against All Odds

Guest Post by Seyma

Pidgy and her sibling were born as wild rock pigeons, enjoying the comfort of their nest and the warmth of their parents until someone with ill intentions decided that he did not want them there. They were not given the chance to grow up and fly away, with the excuse that they were “on his property”. So their nest was taken down and the babies were left on the corner of the sidewalk near the trash bins, to die… Someone found them and took them to an animal shelter, only to be put on the list to be euthanized because they did not deal with pigeons. So this is where our story begins…

This is a story of love and perseverance. Love of life and willingness to survive against all odds. I met these two babies after they were brought to the shelter, cold, sad and separated from the parents that cared for them up until someone decided they didn’t deserve to live. I knew at that point I needed to step in and rescue them from being euthanized. Humans have failed them twice by now, and they needed another chance. After getting some warmth and nutrition, they started to perk up and in a few days, they became the happiest, funniest baby pigeons. I bought them nests, toys, and cages, just to spoil them and get them ready for the wild life ahead. The plan was to raise them up with minimal human exposure so that they could be healthy and wild, and live a long happy life as wild pigeons they were. However, life doesn’t always happen according to plans. This plan failed miserably after I purchased them a very big, fancy and considerably expensive cage so that they could get acclimated to the great outdoors. It was made of metal fencing that was rodent-proof. Sounded good at first. Then, on their first day there, after barely an hour, I noticed blood! Then I saw that Pidgy was bleeding from the beak and the lower beak was split into two, like a fork!!! I can not put that moment into words. I was sick to my stomach, nauseous, angry, and guilty. I couldn’t believe that I missed to see a wire sticking out in the cage and to this day, I still have no idea how she managed to put her soft lower beak into it and slice it like that. Another human had failed her yet again… And that’s when everything changed…

I stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound and looked for emergency vets. There were no emergency avian vets on a Saturday evening, literally the worst time for such an injury. I knew from experience that it was bad, and very unlikely to heal, but I kept praying I was wrong. I read probably everything online about beak injuries that night and couldn’t sleep. It was not until Monday that I could find an avian specialist that was willing to see her, and I confess I literally cried genuine tears on the phone for an appointment. Blessing in disguise, I came across the wonderful Dr. Speer at Medical Center for Birds who agreed to see Pidgy when no one else would, and helped us tremendously. He not only helped Pidgy, but also helped me by saying that even though she was not releasable any more, she could live a long and happy life if taken good care.

So that was a problem… I was not equipped or capable of taking care for this pigeon in the long run due to multiple personal reasons. But humans have failed Pidgy so many times already and I was not going to fail him again. I tried contacting every resource that could provide long-term care with no avail. I hate people who take a responsibility and leave it half-way so I needed to find a way, but I just couldn’t… until Elizabeth at Palomacy lended me a helping hand! I will never forget the email she sent me after 10 days of hell I’ve been through thinking how I will help Pidgy! It was comforting, reassuring, very helpful, and it was the email that saved Pidgy at the end of the day. Elizabeth was going to try to find a placement for him!!!

Pidgy’s split lower beak surgically bolted

Seyma helping Pidgy eat with a DIY seed feeder.

Until the time Pidgy went to foster to adopt, he went to see Dr. Speer for 2 more times. After the initial glue came off, (which he managed to do in less than a week!) he had an operation under anesthesia to try to hold the beak together using a needle, stitches, and glue – which was a work of art. He also managed to take that needle off after 2-3 weeks, and even though that made the beak a little better, it was not healed. Now, it was misaligned. So we went to see the doctor one last time to accept that at this point, further intervention would be experimental and since he was in great body condition and a really happy pigeon, it was best to see what happens. Pidgy had a greatly misaligned beak, but that sure did not stop him from being funny, happy and friendly. He was getting supplemental feedings until he was ready to self-feed.

Pidgy using her self-feeder

Pidgy smiling her crooked grin

With the help of Elizabeth, we were able to find a great person, dear Garni, to care for Pidgy. Garni already had 3 pigeons of her own, and accepted to give Pidgy a try. Funny enough, one of Garni’s rescues, Peepers, was born the same day Pidgy was probably born! Her pigeon was a very pretty, mostly white, bigger pigeon and Pidgy was a special-needs standard looking pigeon with a very crooked beak but Garni did not care about the looks. She accepted her as she is, with her big heart and personality. It was bittersweet to say goodbye as we’ve been together for about two months, went through hell, tears of sadness and happiness, a crazy rollercoaster of emotions. But it’’s only been three days and I can already see that Pidgy is happy and improving on learning to self-feed under Garni’s amazing care! Thank you Palomacy, Dr, Speer, Elizabeth, and of course, dear Garni! Pidgy is Pidgy all because of you amazing people. Every time we humans feel sad, hopeless or just bad overall, I think we should remember the awesome and resilient birds pigeons are, and perhaps be a little less human, and a little more pigeon!

Peepers & Pidgy making friends

Video courtesy of Jenna Close of www.BuckTheCubicle.com

Seyma

I’ve been an animal lover for as long as I can remember. I did not have any siblings or friends growing up until I started elementary school, and even after that, animals were always my closest friends. I started rescuing and volunteering at a very young age. I volunteered at shelters in the UK, Turkey and the USA. I was one of the co-founders of a no-kill shelter abroad that helped strays and disabled dogs and cats find homes in Germany and other EU countries. To this day, I take pride in saying that animals are my passion and life force.

May 15, 2021
by Elizabeth
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Building Aviaries Saves Lives

Guest Post by Sindy Harris

My husband, Steve, and I brought home our first pigeon, Glory, about a year ago. She was a self-rescue, and a beautiful white homing pigeon. Steve and I didn’t even know that she was a pigeon! Steve just knew this white bird refused to fly away, despite much “shooing,” and instead remained unreachable under his car.

Glory asked us to help

So, Glory came home to me in a box, with the task of answering, “what do we do now”? Research quickly led me to Palomacy, and like a porthole, I stepped into a whole new world: the world of rescued pigeons.

I guess, it started slowly enough: talking to Elizabeth Young, Palomacy’s founder and director, about domesticated pigeons and what owning pigeons would be like; getting a mate for Glory, the handsome and devoted King pigeon, Cy; building an aviary in our backyard and filling it with rescues. As each pigeon arrived with his or her own rescue story, own unique personality and own distinctive and beautiful love life, it opened my eyes and my heart to these amazing birds. So too did the human beings of Palomacy. Palomacy itself is something of a “flock,” a community of people who are deeply committed to educating others about domesticated pigeons, rescuing them and being a source of support and encouragement for other animal lovers.

The first aviary Glory built

This could be the end of the story, having found peace and joy with my backyard flock and a new community of like-minded friends. But this is just the beginning. Two things happened the last several months that inspired me to build another aviary. This time at a farm sanctuary in Martinez, called One Living Sanctuary.

First, Steve and I and another Palomacy volunteer, Shiva Se, were able to rescue 15 of 16 Roller pigeons, which were apparently “dumped” in an industrial center in Concord. A kind employee of Magna Chrome had called Palomacy about the new flock of colorful birds, all wearing metal bands. Roller pigeons are deliberately inbred for a genetic defect that strikes in mid-flight, causing a brief seizure that sends the birds spiraling (“rolling”) uncontrollably toward the ground. Why they were left and by whom will never be known. All that was clear is that they needed help, and the three of us were able to rescue 15 of the 16 tattered, helpless hungry Rollers. (We went back many times but were never able to catch the 16th.)

Rescuing Rollers

But then what? Shiva had all the pigeons she could house. Our backyard aviary was full. The Palomacy aviaries at Ploughshares and in members’ back yards were overfull with rescues. So, I did the unthinkable: I took the Rollers home, cleaned out my spare room, covered the furniture and let them free there.

Rescued Rollers

That is, until some sort of temporary structure could go up outside. A week or so later, with the help of Jill McMurchy, Palomacy’s Care Coordinator, we erected a temporary 6’ by 8’ Wingzstore aviary (one of two donated by adopter Penny Noel) on the side of the house. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t my spare bedroom either, and the Rollers could remain comfortably there until each could be fostered or adopted. Time passed, none were.

Emergency fostering

15 saved Rollers

The second thing that happened was similar. On January 7th, seven baby King pigeons huddled at Fort Funston were rescued by the San Francisco Animal Care and Control. They were likely part of a release, perhaps even well-intentioned, as baby King pigeons are sold at live markets for meat – squab.

Domestic King pigeons helpless at Ocean Beach

They were taken to the San Francisco Animal Shelter, where they remained for three weeks. Palomacy volunteers reached out to sanctuaries seeking placement and Ari Wee’s appeal to One Living Sanctuary, owned by veterinarian Faith Albright, worked! She brought them home and two days later, Palomacy volunteers (including Steve and I) set up the other 8′ x 6′ Wingzstore flight cage for them.

Setting up the aviary

Love

Teamwork!

Rescued Kings’ initial aviary

These King pigeon babies would soon outgrow the small space. Then what? Incoming rescues were quickly outpacing any place to home them, and the ones already rescued weren’t getting fostered or adopted fast enough.

Saved!

So, it was time to create more aviaries! I approached Faith about building a more permanent structure in her sanctuary for her fast-growing King pigeons and the rescued Rollers. It could also house more rescues for Palomacy. She graciously agreed and so our builder created a big, gorgeous permanent aviary. On April 7th, the beautiful birds, seven Kings and eight of the Rollers moved in: home!

Home!

Thank you!

We are happy to be safe & home!

There are two things that are desperately needed by Palomacy: more aviaries and a place to put them. Quite often, one person has one of these resources but not the other. That was the case in the match between One Living Sanctuary and myself. One Living Sanctuary had a place for an aviary, but little funds for such a venture. I had no place for another aviary, but a little extra money. We put our resources together and now there is a big, beautiful aviary for rescued pigeons to finally call home.

Elizabeth coined the term, “super,” to be applied to any bird that inspires the adoption of another. Hence, Super Glory, who has inspired the adoption of 40 pigeons (and counting!), is Super, Super, SUPER Glory!

Editor’s Note: Sindy and Steve are saving so many lives with the aviaries* they are building! Their success is inspiring us to develop additional partnerships. Thanks to donor Marian Issac and Dennis Barwick’s Backstretch Horse Rescue in Aromas, an 18′ x 25′ aviary is being built to house rescued Ringneck doves in one half and rescued pigeons in the other. And thanks to donor Heather Hohlowski and adopter Christa Livingston, an 8 x 24′ foster pigeon aviary is being built in Half Moon Bay. And even so, we need more! With your help, we can save lives. Contact Elizabeth@pigeonrescue.org and together, we’ll get birds home.

*Here’s another that Sindy & Steve built!

Stacey, Theo & their flock with Sindy!

May 14, 2021
by Elizabeth
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2022 Calendars Photo & ART Contest Is On!

May 14, 2021
by Elizabeth
Comments Off on Just a Few of Our Recent Death Defying Rescues

Just a Few of Our Recent Death Defying Rescues

Warning: article contains images of wounded birds

Maple

On April 2nd, a badly injured little Old German Owl pigeon was found stray and brought in to the Oakland Animal Shelter. Her left wing, tail and back feathers were all pulled out. She had a large wound on her back plus punctures on her abdomen. We don’t know what got ahold of her nor how she got away. She got very lucky again when shelter volunteer Kay, who also volunteers for Palomacy, happened to be there and saw her come in. (Injured pigeons are often more likely to be euthanized than to receive vet care. We have a saying: We don’t have to start with euthanasia.) She needed antibiotics, pain meds, wound treatment and supportive care. Kay got her to Jill and Jill got her healed up via consults with the vets.. Her name is Maple.

Something really chewed her up

Survivor!

What was left of Maple’s wing

Poor Maple’s torn up butt

Despite being so beat up, Maple’s spirit was fierce! You’d have never known, by her attitude or behavior, how hurt she was.

Gorgeous: Maple’s good side on rescue day!

Maple, Splash & Merritt recovering together

Maple thanking Jill with a hard bite!

Maple loving the loving

Splash & Maple chatting in recovery ward

Sassy Jill & fierce Maple

Maple married Patti’s Brad

All of Maple’s feathers grew back perfectly

Congratulations to Maple & Brad: in love, married & adopted

Splash

Chyna, a sharp-eyed home owner, spotted someone hiding in her pool filter inlet- a little domestic Roller pigeon. She fished her out researched pigeon rescue and reached out to Palomacy for help.

See the little pigeon peeking out?

Splash- fished out of the pool, injured & weak

Splash on her rescue ride

Chyna rushed her to Care Coordinator Jill who, seeing a big, deep hole piercing through her back, sent them straight on to Medical Center for Birds. Later that night, the vet called, overcome with emotion, amazed that the little pigeon, only a couple months old, was even alive. The big, deep hole (likely from a dog bite) punctured one lung and pierced a rib. Incredibly, somehow, water hadn’t gotten in. Jill named her Splash.

Splash’s wound cleaned & covered with duoderm

Splash had a chance of recovery, she wanted to live and we committed to saving her. When Splash was ready to leave the hospital, Jill brought her home for intensive medical foster care. She needed daily wound care, nebulization, antibiotics, anti fungal and pain meds. Her deep wound was left open for a few weeks so it could be monitored and carefully cleaned as the dying tissue sloughed out.

Halfway healed

Splash in the nebulizer

Splash had herself a big bath!

On May 7th, Splash went back and her well-healed wound was surgically closed She’s doing good. She’s adorable. She’s somebody. She’s not disposable! (Rollers are bred, flown and lost or killed as if they were.)

Splash says Thank You!

Bean

Injured lost pigeon asking for help

Maya brought him indoors to safety

On May 2nd, good Samaritan Maya rescued a sweet little Roller pigeon who had been hanging around her home. She contacted Palomacy and too full to fit the pigeon in, I counseled taking him to the Oakland Animal Shelter. There, our dual volunteer Kay, became concerned about how weak the bird was and reached out to Jill and I. We had to fit the little one in. We named him Bean.

With Palomacy overfull, Bean goes to the shelter

Once at Jill’s, Bean is carefully looked over and his wound, hidden by feathers, is revealed. (When a rescued pigeon is very sweet and docile, it usually means they are critically ill, injured or both.)

Feathers can hide so much!

Little Bean was too sick to eat & required tube feeding

Bean was very skinny and anorexic. His vet exam found a ton of bacteria in his crop. He needed a course of antibiotics, wound care and supplemental gavage feeding until May 8th when he began eating! He’s getting stronger and even treated himself to a half bath.

Bean’s bath revealed secret long legs!

Rescues Specks & Bean making friends in recovery

And there are so many more!

Merritt

Merritt, a racing survivor (who nearly didn’t), rescued in Oakland. Needed supportive and vet care due to her emaciated state and heavy parasite infestation. She was found to have trichomoniasis, roundworms and capillaria, all of which required medication.Despite all that she’s endured, she is very gentle and affectionate.

Merritt’s body condition was 1 on the 1-5 scale

Merritt’s weight needs to get up to 425 grams.

Echo

Echo, a big, injured King pigeon taken to SJACC who contacted Palomacy. We pulled him due to a massive wound on his neck where the skin had been torn away. He needed surgery to close his wound, antibiotics and ongoing supportive care. He’s making a great recovery with foster volunteer Nath and working hard to woo her lady birds.

Echo was facing shelter euthanasia when Jill pulled him

Beverly

Beverly, a super sweet 2021-hatched pigeon racing survivor, taken to a wildlife hospital with punctures to her body and a broken wing. Getting supportive care, antibiotics, pain meds and wing wrap.

Beverly grateful for help & loving care

And:

Newt

Lunao

Harriet Jane

Apollo

Gemini

and so many more…

Thank you for helping Palomacy to say Yes to saving these birds. They’d all be dead if not for your support.

Foster or adopt

Donate

April 23, 2021
by Elizabeth
Comments Off on Peepers: Brought Back to Life!

Peepers: Brought Back to Life!

Pigeon dad Jacques & newly hatched oops baby

Mama pigeon Amelia

This is an amazing story! On March 15th, Palomacy adopter Garni contacted me asking for guidance about an oops baby (missed egg) hatched by her rescued pigeon pets Amelia & Jacques. She sent me a photo & the tiny baby looked good with a full crop, feet square beneath & attentive dad Jacques on the job. While we do our best to prevent them, once an oops baby hatches, we welcome & love them. I told her the parents know what to do & that all she needed was to monitor that all continues to go well.

A couple of hours later, Garni checked & the baby was dead & abandoned. We have no idea what happened.

Oops baby Peepers dead, abandonded & cold

Shocked, Garni texted me. We were both heartbroken & upset. In desperation, I suggested she try gently squeezing the baby in her warm hand in an effort to CPR her back to life. Garni did & IT WORKED! Baby revived! Garni rushed to further warm her up & we reached out to rescue expert Chava for 911 help & critical care.

Revived, warming up from 88 degree body temp (normal is 106) & barely clinging to life

Chava, despite being totally full & slammed, said Yes & Garni dropped everything to drive baby (warmed by heated rice-filled socks) an hour in heavy traffic to get the extra emergency support required for this critically weak hatchling. Chava’s rescue pigeon Ms. Pidge had been sitting on her fake egg & expertly welcomed the frail hatchling into her loving foster care. Ms. Pidge fed & warmed & comforted the baby now called Peepers. Chava provided one supplemental feed to boost baby’s strength (& monitored her closely in case more help was needed).

Ms. Pidge’s care, with the back up support of Chava, provided the best chance for miracle baby Peepers

Miraculously Peepers survived the night! Chava, Garni & I were all overjoyed the following morning to see the little miracle baby was still with us.

3/16 Foster mom Ms. Pidge admires baby Peepers

3/17 AM Baby Peepers is growing!

3/17 PM Baby Peepers fed & fat

A note about nesting with zip ties: Pigeons seek out long skinny things to build their nests with such as small branches, long grasses, hay stalks, pine needles as well as man-made things like string, wire, thread (which often result in stringfoot entanglement), zip ties, ribbons, coffee stirrers, charger cords (a favorite!), strips of paper, pipe cleaners, Q-tips, straws, scrunchies, pencils, etc. Chava’s pigeons have a variety of nesting materials available & Ms. Pidge has a strong preference for zip ties hence her nest filled with them. (Ms. Pidge built her nest, not Chava.) As rescuers who totally oppose breeding, we’re not allowing eggs to hatch so the nest materials don’t need to be perfect for babies but even in this case when an emergency baby was fostered, the zip ties proved fine.

3/20 Baby Peepers is 5 days old!

So proud!

3/22 Baby Peepers’ eyes are opening

Hello world!

3/24, 9 days old

3/25, 10 days old

3/26 Peepers weighs 220 grams!

3/28

3/30- 15 days old & standing up for the first time

3/31

4/5 Peepers is 21 days old!

Peepers fledged on 4/8 at 3 weeks old

Peepers admiring the thank you gift Garni sent to Chava

Peepers approves

4/15 Peepers is 32 days old & learning the art of pigeon pants

On 4/16 with Ms. Pidge & Chava’s job done, Peepers returned to Garni & her home

Chava writes, Garni, Elizabeth, Ms. Pidge, and myself all working together to save, support, and love baby Peepers is a perfect example of what Palomacy embodies every day – two species, humans and pigeons, collaborating with respect and love. We humans do our best to provide safe sanctuary and advocacy for these often-exploited birds, and in turn they share so generously with us their seemingly boundless capacity for love and their tenacious zest for life.

Making herself at home!

Garni says, I am embarrassed to have let an oops baby get by – but so thankful that we have Peepers! As always, Elizabeth’s knowledge and calm won the day! When I met Chava and she and Ms. Pidge fostered Peepers I could not have been more thankful! It seems Palomacy has created this flock of wonderful pigeons but also this flock of amazing people who share their knowledge, time, resources and joy generously. I’m so thankful to be a part of that little lock and thankful for Elizabeth and Chava. … and next time I’ll call Elizabeth with my questions BEFORE the egg becomes a baby!

Peepers is truly a miracle bird! Even after she was revived, I was terrified that she wouldn’t survive. Adult pigeons are tough but the babies are so frail & newly hatched ones the frailest. I am so grateful to Garni & Chava for so bravely risking the heartbreak that helping little Peepers might have returned. Palomacy opposes breeding (there are way too many unreleasable birds already!) & we replace real eggs with fakes for hatch prevention but when an egg is missed & hatches like little Peepers’ did, we cherish the new life. You can learn more about hatch prevention here & you can support Palomacy’s rescue & rehoming work here. Thank you!

April 20, 2021
by Elizabeth
Comments Off on In Rocky’s Honor

In Rocky’s Honor

Guest Post by Pedro Perez

It was just a few days after the 4^th of July that our beautiful white king pigeon Rocky landed on the fence right outside my bedroom. My entire family raced to the side yard to gawk at the newly-arrived visitor. We offered her a small ramekin of uncooked rice and some water, and stood out of her way. Rocky ate some of the rice and drank plenty of water before perching herself back on the fence. She spent the next couple of hours flying between the fence and the roof, and marching up and down the length of the fence like a little soldier.

By late afternoon, Rocky had made her way to the backyard. She settled on the top rung of a ladder that was propped up against the back side of the house. We checked on Rocky several times that night, and she did not move from the place she had chosen to spend the night. The next morning, we found Rocky nestled in the grass enjoying the warmth of the morning sun.

At this point, we were still thinking Rocky was on her way someplace, or that she had gotten disoriented by the 4^th-of-July fireworks. We thought that she needed a bit of rest and food, and that then she would be on her way.

By the weekend, Rocky had settled into a routine. We were all ecstatic that she didn’t seem to want to leave. That’s when we decided to build her a nesting box, which we attached to an overhang of the roof, away from predators. We got her a bag of proper pigeon feed at our local pet shop, and a bag of hay to put in her nest. Rocky did not need any coaxing at all to get into her new home. As soon as I was done attaching it to the wall, she flew right into the nesting box and made herself comfortable.

After about a week of enjoying her new lodgings, Rocky laid two eggs! We were all so excited Rocky was going to be a mom! We were also surprised Rocky turned out to be a she. She was such a large girl with such powerful flapping wings that we were convinced Rocky was a male. Rocky sat on the eggs for a few days but then rejected them because they were not fertilized.

For the next four months, Rocky was a focus and joy of my family. We all took turns checking on her several times a day, making sure she had plenty of food and fresh water, and reporting on what she was up to. Rocky seemed to enjoy our company as much as we enjoyed hers. She was a feature at every family backyard gathering this past summer. And what a joy it was to see her bathe in a plastic tub of cool water in the hot weather!

One morning I discovered Rocky had been killed by an animal. I buried her remains in our garden, under our lemon tree. My sister checked the security cameras in the backyard and saw Rocky fly out of her box at about 3 in the morning. She landed on the shed and that’s when some animal pounced on her. It could have been a cat, perhaps a raccoon. I did not have the heart to see the video myself.

I really thought I was doing the best for Rocky by letting her be free. She always looked so majestic standing on the roof, catching the last rays of the sun at the end of the day. Her passing left us all with a deep sadness and the realization that we could have done more for Rocky, we could have protected her better. She did not have to be taken from us so soon.

It was my sister who found Palomacy online. After a few days of hesitation, we made the decision to do something to honor the memory of Rocky: we would adopt pigeons! This time, though, we would do it the proper way. We would learn as much as possible about these wonderful birds to give them the best care possible. The aviary took a few weeks of planning. The construction of the aviary took a few months, mostly because I could only work on it on weekends.

The aviary built in Rocky’s honor

At last the aviary was done, and our new friend and pigeon expert, Jill, from Palomacy walked us through the pigeon-fostering-and-adoption process. Jill delivered our first couple of pigeons, Bonita and Beau, and how beautiful they are! Within a few days, we hope to welcome another two couples into our family. And yes, some of them will be king pigeons, just like our precious Rocky.

Fostered pigeons…

Special little Ashwa adopted!

Pedro & Padre

Editor’s Note: Rocky’s story is heartbreakingly familiar to pigeon rescuers. Domestic pigeons cannot survive unprotected. Palomacy completely understands the desire to let birds fly free & if domestic pigeons could safely live wild & free, Palomacy would absolutely recommend that. Tragically, domestic pigeons’ freedom was stolen from them at the genetic level many hundreds of generations ago. There is no domestic sky. Please read on for additional information about how to help domestic pigeons.

Why It is Dangerous for Domestic & Pet Pigeons to Fly Free

What to Do If You Find a Pigeon or Dove

How to Care for a Rescued Pigeon

How to Build an Aviary for Rescued Pigeons or Doves

Get assistance at Palomacy’s Help Group

March 7, 2021
by Elizabeth
Comments Off on Thank You for Helping & Please Keep Helping: WE NEED YOU!

Thank You for Helping & Please Keep Helping: WE NEED YOU!

King pigeon kids- survivors of the squab business & an inhumane release – safe!

Together we are helping so many amazing birds! In 2020, in Northern California, thanks to YOU, our incredible adopters, volunteers & donors, Palomacy:

Rescued more than 450 pigeons & doves
Healed & cared for an average of 180 foster birds every day at 40 home/aviary sites
Placed 257 birds with 66 wonderful, screened & supported adopters

Pigeons & doves adopted in 2020!

Palomacy’s current foster birds!

While online, our Palomacy Help Group moderators:

Responded to more than 12,000 posts providing fast, bird-centered, trustworthy support, information & referrals to people (from all over the world) needing help & info about pigeons & doves

Wonderful help for pigeons & doves

Our little rescue has grown into a game-changing engine of life-saving compassion & support for so many pigeons & doves who, without help like ours, suffer & die.

And we need to keep growing! There are more birds in need of our help! With more support- more adopters, volunteers & donors- we can make an even bigger difference for these birds. They have been used & abused, overlooked & underserved for far too long. People are blown away when they learn the truth about pigeons & doves- their plight & their promise.

Married couple posing in the aviary they built for rescued pigeons

Pamela & Jerry rescued a pigeon, built an aviary & adopted more!

Numbers can’t really tell their stories, though. Read about how gentle Barry, crumpled on the ground with a wing shattered during a training race, got healthy, happy & home. Meet sick King pigeon kids Shirin & Kian, survivors of the squab industry & inhumane release; childhood sweethearts rescued, lovingly fostered, expertly treated & when healed, adopted as cherished house pigeons. See how we saved 39 Ringneck doves & a pigeon who were crowded, dirty, unsafe & displaced. Your support writes these success stories (& so many more).

Smiling woman with happy rescued pigeon on her shoulder

Jill helped heal Barry body & spirit

Black pigeon youngster & white pigeon youngster snuggled together in a cat bed

Brave, death-defying kids Kian & Shirin

Domestic ringneck doves ecstatic to have long pieces of grass to nest build with

Neglected Gilroy doves thrilled to get care

GlobalGiving’s weeklong Little by Little Bonus Match Campaign starts Monday March 8th & runs through Friday March 12th. Little by little is how we do this! We need your support to sustain our unprecedented work. Every donation (one per donor) up to $50 will earn a 50% bonus match. For every person who donates $50, the birds will get $75! Your donations save lives. Thank you!