Or, you could contact local wildlife rehabilitators to see if any have a list of contacts for such birds. However, your query via the “contact us” part of the club’s website does not always produce a timely response. Such searches will usually work to get you started finding the owner. Find the initials of the club and type them into your search engine along with the word “pigeon,” or “pigeon found,” or “banded pigeon,” and so on.
But, it is now relatively easy to track down ownership of a banded lost bird by using the internet. Many people think there is, or should be, a central registry of all numbers. Leave it alone.Īt the very least, one normally sees the club initials, year of hatching, and individual serial number. This is definitely not recommended if the bird is alive, and not possible with a “closed” band without serious injury to the bird.
The owner’s name or contact information may also occur, although if so, normally on a supplementary band, or on the inside of the band (where, of course, it is not visible without removing the band). There may be coded letters which reflect an alphabetical sequence, as well as a serial number, usually four figures, which tells the owner exactly which bird it is.īands may be either metal or plastic. There is also a date, which may be two numbers (like 15, meaning the bird hatched in the year 2015) or four numbers indicating a relatively recent year (2015, which also means the bird hatched in 2015). There may be a single number, which indicates band size. For example, AU stands for American Racing Pigeon Union Organization FTCNA is Flying Tipplers Club of North America CU is Canadian Pigeon Union and NPA is National Pigeon Association.
#RACING PIGEON SERIAL NUMBERS SERIES#
The band typically has a series of letters that indicate the name of the original owner’s club affiliation. Unless another band is added (an “open” band that can be closed around the now-grown foot, thus showing where the two ends come together), the closed band has information that pertains to the original owner-not necessarily to the current owner. Of course, the bird may subsequently change hands (being sold, traded, or gifted). Normally, there are just the initials of a club or pigeon fancier’s organization to which the bird’s original owner belongs.įancy pigeons are usually banded when they’re just nestlings (or “squabs”) with a “closed ring” that is a complete circle and slips onto the foot but won’t fall off once the foot grows to adult size. The band typically contains information that may not be as informative as we would like. How do I read the band, and what does it tell me? They are typically very vulnerable to predation by hawks, cats, or other predatory animals, or may be unable to find food, always having had it provided in a dish.īecause fanciers and hobbyists like to keep track of their birds, they put a band, or “ring,” on the foot. Often, they are very used to people and to being handled, and are easily picked up. And, while even “fancies” normally have good homing instincts, it is common for one to become lost or disoriented. They have a variety of color patterns, all involving various shades of black, dark gray, white, or reddish brown, often with iridescent shine on the sides of the necks (absent or nearly so if the neck is white).īecause these various “fancy” breeds are so highly domesticated, they may be very dependent on human care-and yet able to fly.
Some are almost grotesque in shape, have strange plumage characteristics, exaggerated poses, or facial carbuncles. Adult birds weigh around one-half to two-thirds of a pound (238-302 grams).īut, pigeons have long been selectively bred by hobbyists, or “fanciers,” to create a highly variable number of “breeds” or “strains” that, although all the same species, can, in some instances, be very different in appearance. However, in shape and size, there is relatively little variation.
The domesticated, or feral, Rock Pigeon comes in a variety of colors and patterns. It is found in most towns and cities around the world. Of those, one, the Rock Pigeon ( Columba livia), also called the Rock Dove (and often just “pigeon”), is, in its domestic form, one of the world’s most widely distributed and best known bird species. A handful of these have been domesticated. Wild pigeons and doves are distributed worldwide. By Barry Kent MacKay in Coexisting with Wildlife on June 23, 2017įrom time to time, one finds a banded pigeon who, for whatever reason, seems unable to care for himself or herself.įirst, it’s important to remember that there are more than 300 wild species of pigeons and doves (the two terms are somewhat interchangeable) that range in size from that of a large sparrow to that of a large pheasant.
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