If you get near a baby pigeon, or near any bird for that matter, then the bird will likely fly away as soon as you get too close, but this isn’t always the case with all birds.
This article is a look into why a baby pigeon will not fly away when you approach it.
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Baby pigeon not flying away:
Pigeons usually fly away when we humans come near them, this is because the birds see us as predators and don’t want us getting close to them, but, there are a variety of reasons why baby pigeons will not fly away when we get close including:
It can’t fly yet:
Baby pigeons don’t come out of their eggs ready to fly, these birds will start flapping their wings at around four weeks of age and will start to fly at around six weeks of age.
If you find a baby bird around this age, or younger than this age, then the bird will not fly away because it physically can’t fly away, it may however try to walk and hop away if it sees you as a threat.
What to do:
There isn’t anything wrong with this bird, it is simply young, too young to fly, the bird will start to fly soon enough.
In the meantime, you can leave the bird alone and let its parents tend to it and teach it how to fly.
Temporarily incapacitated:
If you find a baby bird on the floor, somewhere close to a window or a glass door, then the bird may have flown into the glass and become incapacitated.
Swelling in the brain from the impact would have caused the bird to become stunned and unable to fly away.
What to do:
A stunned bird should usually be able to recover on its own assuming that the impact was not too hard.
If the bird isn’t quickly recovering on its own then you can place it in a shoe box for safety, doing this will keep predators away from the bird, place a colander on top of the shoe box for ventilation.
Isolate the bird and don’t handle it as it recovers, don’t give it any food or water either while it’s recovering. The bird will become more active as it gets better and goes back to normal
It was attacked:
If the baby bird was attacked by a larger animal, like a cat or a dog, then the bird may have an injured wing and may not be able to fly at the moment because of its injured wing.
The bird may attempt to fly but have no luck.
What to do:
If the bird’s wing is broken then the best way to deal with this situation is to either wrap the wing yourself or take the bird to the vet to be examined and to have its wing wrapped.
Taking your bird to the vet is recommended as the vet will be able to give the bird antibiotics if the bird was infected during the attack
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: My Bird Is Throwing Up Clear Liquid, Why Is My Bird Throwing Up Water, Cockatiel Vomiting Blood, Cockatiel Not Digesting Seeds, Parrot Falling Off Of Perch At Night
