Jenny

I was contacted on 8/17 about a juvenile feral pigeon that Good Samaritans Annye & her wife Jane had taken in on 8/13. Three young boys had found her and apparently they weren't being very nice.

We spoke at length about what would be best for the young bird they had named Jenny and agreed that the best outcome for her would be through rehab and release if at all possible. (It's very tempting to keep a baby pigeon- they are incredibly endearing- but doing so is a 15-20 year commitment and, to be have any kind of captive life at all, they need a pigeon mate and lots of room to move and fly.)

Jenny's condition isn't great though. She doesn't have full range of motion in her right wing (which may be a soft-tissue injury that will heal completely) and she also seems to have something wrong with her vision.

Jenny's not self-feeding (though she's old-enough) but she has been responding to syringe feeding and is showing improvement. Her initial assessment for being surrendered to wildlife rescue suggests that we wait and have her assessed by a private avian vet first. If she isn't releasable, she could still live a good life as a pet (provided she can find someone to commit to giving her one) but, if wildlife rehab accepts her, they must either return her to the wild or euthanize.

8/24/11

9/6/11 UPDATE
Jenny is doing great and, since WildCare's Kelle K. netted an otherwise doomed baby king pigeon at Pier 94 (now named Maya) on 8/19 and brought him to me to care for, she has had the fun and comfort and support of a wonderful friend.

Maya taught blind baby Jenny how to self-feed.

Maya's also teaching Jenny to explore.

And they love to play in the bath.

And, along with Maya, Jenny has been making lots of new friends too.