Cloud

On Sunday 8/28, Maribel, a visitor from LA was on her way to SFO headed home when she saw, for the second day in a row, an all white bird hanging around at 10th & Clement. When she saw it the second time, she knew it must be in trouble but she had a plane to catch and wouldn't be able to help it directly. Maribel used her smartphone to find local area rescue WildCare. She spoke with wildlife rescue hotline operator Winnie who in turn called me (but got voicemail) and SFACC and persuaded an Animal Control Officer to check on the bird (something that cannot always be prioritized since trying to catch a stray bird is often futile).

But this baby king pigeon was extremely lucky and was caught and taken to the safety of the SF shelter. (King pigeons are domestic and have no survival skills. They are usually dead within a day or two of release into the wild from hawks, dogs, cars, cats, mean people, etc.) He was named Fluffy Cloud by a volunteer and after delivering 8 adopted king pigeons to their new aviary at Terra Savia Winery, I stopped at SFACC and picked up Cloud and another sick baby king pigeon named Sugar to take into foster care.

They are doing well and are steadily recovering from their unhealthy factory-farm style rearing and then the stress and perils of being "set free" at the age of 4 weeks old to fend for themselves in a hostile city.

Cloud is having fun with his friends baby kings Maya & Sugar. He (I suspect) is a big sweetheart that someone marked up with blue ink before dumping. Despite all that, he's going to do fine and will somehow find a great forever home and beat the incredible odds that he faced when he was bred and raised to be slaughtered as squab.

His friend Maribel (who saw he needed rescue and went to bat for him despite risking missing her plane) and Winnie, the WildCare hotline operator are monitoring his progress and very happy to see that he's going to be just fine.