Approaching a vulnerable bird requires a gentle touch to avoid startling it. A panicked bird may fly away, making rescue impossible. Pigeons often seek human environments for survival when they are in distress, searching for basic needs like hydration and safety. Rushing in to capture the bird without a calm plan can lead to it fleeing the area. Follow these essential guidelines to ensure you can safely secure the bird for care.

How to Catch a Pigeon

Fishing Net Technique

This one is pretty self explanatory but with a few caveats. If the pigeon cannot fly well or at all, this is the easiest was to safely get ahold of them. Use a wide mouth fish landing net and simply put it over the pigeon.

The Cartoon Method

Ever watched an old school cartoon where the antagonist tries to capture the protagonist with a box propped up by a stick and string? Yes this technique works very well for catching pigeons but it does require a little bit of patience. Use a smaller-meshed laundry basket, tote or large cardboard box and prop it up with a large enough stick to give at least a 12" gap for the pigeon to get under. Place something tasty like wild bird seed under the center of the box. On that stick you will attach several feel of string that you can pull as soon as the bird goes under the box.

Lure them inside

For pigeons that are clearly not feral, one of the easiest methods of capture is to lure them into some kind of structure. A human raised pigeon will often take refuge in a garage or shed when given the opportunity. You can achieve this by placing food just inside the door. Once the pigeon trusts the area enough, you may be able to close the door behind them and make capture much easier.

Pigeons after dark

This technique usually requires a net and the knowledge of their nighttime roost. Once pigeons are sleeping and the sun has completely gone down, catching them in the open is much easier. Pigeons do not see very well at night and if you know where they sleep (and have safe access to it), you might be able to toss a net over them. Make sure all lights are off so the area around the bird is as dark as possible. Get as close as you can without lights and then shine a narrow beam flashlight directly at them. It is important that they cannot see their surroundings as they will go for what they see. Keep you and any other humans out of the visual area as much as possible and be fast with the net. This method typically only works if they are roosting on a flat surface.

Once you have caught your pigeon, we can coordinate a way to bring them to Rockbird.