If he would poop somewhere else it wouldn't be a problem.

August 2, 2012 8:11 PM

Did a pigeon adopt our car?

My wife was greeted this morning by a pigeon sitting on top of her car. She tried to shoo it, but it didn't move -- not when she started the car, backed out of the driveway, even started driving. It finally gave up, presumably, when she was driving too fast for it to hang on. Then tonight, I get home from work, park in the driveway next to her car, and what do I see but the same bird in the same spot! I got out of my car not 3 feet away, proceeded to clap and jump and yell, and got weird looks from the neighbors but no response from the bird. What's the deal? [obligatory (new pet?) bird photo]

posted by Chris4d to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

In my admittedly limited experience with birds, when they fail to move when you "shoo", it is because they are ill.
posted by msali at 8:21 PM on August 2, 2012 [4 favorites]

I would say it considers your car a safe spot. Maybe his home in a nearby tree was stolen so he had to find another piece of territory, in your driveway. Funny.
posted by MyMind at 10:00 PM on August 2, 2012

have you checked the vehicle for nesting material and/or an actual nest? they can be remarkably ingenious and stubborn in where they stick nests.
posted by batmonkey at 10:08 PM on August 2, 2012 [4 favorites]

Check your wheel-wells and other obscure parts of the car/driveway/carport for signs of a half-assed attempt at a nest. I've seen pigeons lay on windowsills with only a leaf or two to try to keep the eggs from rolling off. They'll nest anywhere.
posted by trip and a half at 11:50 PM on August 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

He might be a racing pigeon that got lost. Or some other type of pet pigeon. I'm not sure that explains his attraction to your wife's car, but it might explain why he isn't afraid of people. If he is a racing pigeon, even if you find his human, this person might not want him because a racing pigeon that gets lost is not a good pigeon for their purposes.

I've brought home a couple of ill/injured pigeons and other birds over the years. Usually they are okay after sleeping one off in a safe place. If you are anywhere near the bay area, these people might be able to help you. Most wildlife rescue places won't take them because pigeons are feral, not wild.

They are very nice animals- lots of personality.
posted by Brachiosaurus at 12:01 AM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

We've had this situation for the past two years in the parking lot at my job. A pigeon will adopt someone's car and will actually start to make a nest. At the end of the day, the car is driven home, pigeon stays in the parking lot, next day it starts over again. After about a week the pigeon moves on.
posted by bookmammal at 3:17 AM on August 3, 2012

Yeah, I think this little guy is sick. Has he been puffed up?
posted by OsoMeaty at 7:04 AM on August 3, 2012

The lack of fear of humans though could signal it's been a pet at some point, check its legs for rings. If it's a homing or racing pigeon they most likely won't want it back. It's body language suggests its not feeling great, but if it's tame that could just be the stress of being lost or it could be a sick wild pigeon. You can leave it and let mother nature take it's course or you can take it in, keep it in a quiet safe place in a nice dark box (to reduce stress) with food and water for a few days and see if it gets better and then let it go again.

Rescues will most likely not rescue a pigeon, but these suckers are tough, if you take it in, it will probably think of your area as home and hang around. I've rescued several pigeons over the years, and they just hung around until one day they joined a flock wheeling overhead and flew away forever, also had one fall in love with one of my chickens and make nests for it and sing to it and another one raise 2 families in the backyard.
posted by wwax at 8:02 AM on August 3, 2012 [6 favorites]

wwax's story is adorable. I will add a counterpoint to say that we once permitted a pigeon mama to make a nest and have her babies in our laundry balcony, and the result was a column of lice climbing from the nest up the wall, over the window sill and into our house. We had to call the exterminator and the whole thing was ultimately very sad and gross. So... ymmv with allowing pigeons to hang around.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:16 AM on August 3, 2012