A Story of Pigeon Rescue

I’d been working on a book proposal about wildlife rescue when I learned that someone else just sold a book about the very same subject. It’s fine, there are plenty of books out there to write, but I wanted to do my bit to draw attention to a wonderful group of people. The following is just one story of many.

The call came in on Sunday evening, April 29, 2012. A pigeon was hanging upside down from a tree in front of a church on 13th Street in the Village. As the caller watched, the bird desperately flapped its wings among the tree’s fernlike leaves, trying to free itself. Occasionally it would stop and sway quietly, taking a rest. Then it would resume its frantic beating. Horribly, this only sent it uselessly spinning in one direction or the other.

And on it went. Struggle. Rest. Struggle. Rest. A descendent of the very same bird who brought hope and salvation to Noah and all mankind in the form of an olive branch, signaling that dry land had been found, was ensnared by one of the simplest artifacts of man, a piece of string. Worse, its frightened, panicked efforts were beginning to slow down.

Al Streit, one of the founders of New York City Pigeon Rescue Central, took the call. He immediately posted to the group’s private online forum. This generated what is known as a Bird Down report. Technically, this bird wasn’t down, but he was in trouble.

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday April 29, 2012 at 10:53 p.m.

Going west from 7th, it’s the second tree on the right. Vincent [the caller] lives near and will look again in the morning. He estimates the bird is 30 or 40 feet up. He couldn’t see what kind of bird it is. It’s high, but we have poles that can reach. This job needs a crew. The poles are aluminum and not steady when extended that far.

Al

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, April 30, 2012, 3:49 a.m.

Hi Al,

Jennifer

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, April 30, 2012 7:23 a.m.

Could it possibly be sitting on a nest? I am not far. I should check it out if I have time. I have a pole, but lost it somehow during the Freddy 9/11 Memorial rescue.

Maria [not her real name]

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, April 30, 2012 8:37 a.m.

Maria, I’ll meet you, but you may be there first.  

Al

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday April 30, 2012 6:43 a.m.

Jennifer, I didn’t mean to ignore your idea. It’s a good one. So, if we can’t reach the bird, we’ll try Emergency Services or the fire people. Sarah [not her real name] got FD to rescue a pigeon, and Dave and I got an ESU to rescue another one.

Al

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, April 30, 2012 6:49 am

Still there. About 30 feet up. A pigeon. Still moving. I bet it recognizes him and knows he wants to help.

Al

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, April 30, 2012 7:40 a.m.

132 west 10th Street.

Sarah

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, April 30, 2012 10:00 a.m.

I went to W19th and they were going to call a dispatcher to see what they could do, but in the middle of things, they got called out on an emergency. But the Chief said he would definitely check with their dispatcher.

Jennifer

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, April 30, 2012 11:33 a.m.

Trevor and I can come help get it down but we don’t leave work until 6 and can’t help until then. I sincerely hope you guys get it down before then, it sounds awful. If not, and we can help, please let us know and we will come down at 6pm.

Thanks.
Jessica

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday April 30, 2012 12:32 p.m.

Thank you all who are making an effort to save this poor bird. I wish I could do something myself, but I am keeping my fingers crossed and waiting anxiously for further news.

Jennifer

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, Apr 30, 2012 1:56 p.m.

We did it! Two workers at the church next to the tree used Al’s equipment and went up on a balcony and cut the strings off that were hanging from the branch! It was amazing. There was no way Al and I could have done it from the ground. We tried like hell, but without the extra height, it was impossible.

Maria

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday April 30, 2012 2:00 p.m.

Oh thank you Jesus (and Jennifer and Al and everybody else too).

Anntelope

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday, April 30, 2012 2:20 p.m.

Thanks be to God!!! I was praying & praying for this poor soul to be rescued soon & for him or her to be okay. Thank you to everyone who helped save this innocent bird. May God bless all of you!

Patricia [not her real name]

Re: Bird hanging from tree on 13 Street
Monday April 30, 2012 10:13 p.m.

Thanks, Maria and Alice [not her real name]. Thanks to Dave for lending his equipment. The tree saw was what they used to cut the string.

Al

Once freed, the bird flew to a fence across the street and immediately fell over. His leg was hurt and he couldn’t hold on. When he tried to walk he stumbled. Maria, a blonde-haired mezzo-soprano opera singer and wildlife rehabilitator, scooped him up and took him to a veterinarian. No bones were broken, but his feet were swollen. Maria named him Ricky, after one of the workers who saved him, and brought him home.

Luckily, pigeons heal fast. By Friday Ricky was fine and ready to be released. Maria put him in a box and took him back to 13th Street, across the street from where he’d been dangling. Pigeons are very social creatures. They live, travel, roost and feed in flocks, and when they find a mate they stay together for life. For this reason, rescuers always take pigeons back to where they found them so the pigeon can return to their flocks, their mates, and their babies.

When Maria opened the box, Ricky didn’t immediately bound out. He thought about it for a few moments. Then he flew to the fence, where he didn’t fall. His feet were strong again.

I spoke to Rick, the assistant building coordinator at The Church of the Village who had actually freed the bird. He’d been watching the rescuer’s repeated attempts to help the dangling pigeon and at one point he couldn’t stand by any longer. “Let me try,” he said. He climbed out onto the balcony of the church, leaned out as far as he could, and using the pole with a knife taped to the end, he started sawing away at the branch that held the pigeon. He’d started at a larger section, away from the pigeon, but he soon found he didn’t have enough force and he had to move to a more slender spot on the branch, one a mere two inches from the pigeon’s impossibly tiny leg. The bird was now flapping and spinning in fear, each spin bringing him closer to the blade. At the same time, Rick’s balance was wobbling as he moved further out, balancing himself and pole that was growing heavier by the minute.

Fortunately, before long, the branch and the bird were free and they dropped into waiting arms of the rescuers below. Everyone cheered, including passers by, who’d stopped to watch the spectacle. I looked at Rick. Every day, if we even bother to look up or down, someone comes upon a small creature in trouble, struggling as any one of us would, to live. Instead of walking on, as thousands of people invariably do, there are a few compassionate souls in the world who stop. They can’t go about their day like they never saw what they saw, or tell themselves that the suffering of one pigeon, or squirrel, or fox, (or dog or cat, and so on) is insignificant. They help. How did it feel when that bird was finally freed, I asked Rick. “It felt good,” he admitted, almost sheepishly. “I felt like a hero.”

Thank you Rick and New York City Pigeon Rescue Central, and all people and rescue groups around the world who stop, and who help.

Here is a short movie of the bird dangling from the tree. Warning: it’s upsetting, but at least you know in this case there was a happy ending.

Here is a short movie of the bird being released.

I took this last night after choir rehearsal. This was near my apartment. I don’t know what these lights were, or where they were coming from exactly, but I thought a rainbow was a fitting ending to this story.