Rex the Wild King

Christina and her family don't know why Rex the Wild King chose their home as his own but he did. They don't have any birds and they didn't feed him. They don't even know where he went to find food but, every day for seven months, he was back looking in at them through their kitchen window.

On February 7th, I got this e-mail from Christina-

I'm interested in finding out if your organization will rescue a bird from a neighborhood? We have a white pigeon/dove (not sure) that has decided to live on our kitchen window for the past 7 months. He suddenly appeared and will not leave. Despite many attempts at encouraging him to find a new home (fake owls, 'predator eye' balloons, and bird-deterrant spikes - yes, he sits right on top of the spikes!), he remains. We even have 2 cats and he doesn't seem to care. We have been unable to find a nest on our roof or surrounding area, and have not seen any other birds with him. We wouldn't mind him 'hanging around' except that from where he has decided to perch he is making a terrible mess on our window, alley, fence, patio, yard, and outdoor furniture/toys. We have 2 small children and we worry about the sanitary aspect of it, not to mention the intense clean up. We would love some suggestions or information if you are able to rescue him, or if you know of another organization we could contact. We don't want any harm to come to him, we would just like him to 'move on'.

After a couple of weeks of emailing about ways to catch the Wild King, Christina and her family have. At my suggestion, they'd begun putting bird food out in an open crate and, on 2/27, were able to catch the king in the crate with the old 'string-tied-to-the-door-and-pulled-from-the-window' trick.

It was bittersweet to catch this wild king who had beat the odds and survived out in the world, alone, for at least 7 months. Rex is on the small side for a king and, though not thin, only weighs 473 grams. His (her?) sleek-for-a-king-pigeon build probably helped a lot. Most king pigeons weigh 600-750 grams and their wings can't cope with their oversize frames, making them easy prey for hawks.

Tonight Rex is fostered in my backyard coop. My flock acts like Rex may be a hen.

Peppermint seems especially interested.

With all the king pigeons I've been asked to rescue in the past 3.5 years, this is the first time I've ever heard of one surviving on its own without even a feral pigeon flock for support for so long. Most kings don't last a week out in the wild. I'll want to place Rex in a large aviary where he can fly.

Long live the Rex the Wild King.