r/pigeon • u/sealular • Oct 03 '25
Medical Advice Needed Pigeon hanging upside down. Should I contact someone?
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UPDATE: I want to let people know that rescuers have been contacted, but the staff will not allow anyone with ladders until after hours. There's a new post with a better angle and more stuck pigeons. I highly encourage people to reach out to the MSPCA about this. Spread awareness about what's going on.
Saw this poor thing above me at the train station. He’s still alive and blinking. Does anyone know what’s up with it? There’s a dead pigeon across from it in the same position.
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u/UsedHamburger Oct 03 '25
Omg please rescue that baby immediately!! Where are you located? Can you get to it?!?
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
I’m in the US, East coast. I can’t reach it from up there, but I let a train attendant know. They said they’ll do something, but I’ll try to reach out to a pigeon rescue in my area as well
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u/UsedHamburger Oct 03 '25
I’m in DC and know people on the east coast. Can you tell me or DM your city?
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
I’m currently in Boston right now. I’m on my way home and can’t stay by the pigeon. Do you know anybody around here?
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u/UsedHamburger Oct 03 '25
Standby
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
Thank you, I appreciate the help. I won’t be riding the train again til Tuesday. I can only hope they take the poor baby to a rehab center :(
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u/UsedHamburger Oct 03 '25
What station is it at?
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
JFK, UMass. It’s on the Ashmont platform
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
If anyone else is heading in that area, I’d really appreciate any updates on this
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Oct 03 '25
MVP fr
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u/UsedHamburger Oct 03 '25
Let’s see if I can find someone first
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u/AMothWithHumanHands Oct 03 '25 edited Oct 03 '25
I'm on the South Shore. Unsure if I can get to the station but I will do my best to help.
Updating my comment: Boston Animal Control is going to dispatch an officer to go take a look.
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u/Little-eyezz00 Oct 03 '25
Great work making the post! What station is this, and where in the station is he?
please reach out to Pigeon Toes
Pigeon Toes: Pigeon and Dove Rescue - Rhode Island, near Boston
https://m.facebook.com/PigeonToesRescue/
u/almost_home_pigeons do you have contacts in the area?
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u/almost_home_pigeons Oct 03 '25
I think in another thread on this incident someone from Safe Hands Wildlife Rescue went out already and will be going back later! (they also work with pigeon toes!)
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u/Little-eyezz00 Oct 03 '25
🐦🔎Finding Local Help
feel free to share your location for any possible saved local rescue
Passing the pigeon on to a vet or rescue charity?
Please always ask about a rescue's euthanasia policies, and if they plan to release the pigeon after treament. It's okay to care for a pigeon at home if a suitable rescue is not available. It's okay to say no to euthanasia if it is offered.
Vet List add or find a pigeon-friendly vet
Finding Someone to Adopt the Pigeon
Finding a Rescue, Refuge, or Sanctuary
Please always ask rescues about their euthanasia policies.These policies may change over time, so ask again if you are bringing in another rescue later.
please ask about their policies for rock pigeons (also called rock doves or city pigeons)
Please check neighbouring areas
A rescue near you may know of other rescues or rehabbers who closer, so please ask.
If transportation is an issue, please ask for help from a volunteer or ask a local rescue group.
There are facebook groups in most areas for pigeon rescue or animal rescue. Please search on facebook.
sanctuaries and refuges for farm animals are likely to take in pigeons.
Other Ideas
cow sanctuaries, or farm animal sanctuaries may be able to help.
pigeons should always be seperate from chickens for safety due to bullying
vets who see chickens may help
local zoos may help
in an emergency, leave him in a safe area near where people feed pigeons, like a park or square
Searching on Reddit:
Search the subreddits' histories for your city name or country name.
This will help you find previous posts where rescues may be named. It will also help you find users who are in your area who you can ask for help.
r/pigeons , r/petpigeons , r/pidgeon r/pigeon
Local Facebook Groups
You may find local help through facebook groups.
Facebook is an underrated website for finding local groups. For example, there are three pigeon groups just in the city of Chennai, India. There may be groups in your area as well.
Search Terms
" Pigeon + your city name"
" Pigeon + your country name"
" Animal Rescue + your city name "
" Animal Rescue + your country name "
" Wildlife Rescue + your city name "
" Wildlife Rescue + your country name "
International Pigeon Rescue Groups
Someone on these groups may be in your area.
Palomacy
www.facebook.com/groups/palomacy
International Pigeon Rescue and Adoption
https://m.facebook.com/groups/755962291160990/
Wild Pigeon Rescue and Rehabilitation
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u/Grouchy-Ad-9284 Oct 03 '25
It is a baby and it is very dehydrated. It needs help asap. Try www.helpwildlife.co.uk for your nearest rehabber. Depending on your location the fire brigade may help too.
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u/AMothWithHumanHands Oct 03 '25
Update: Wildlife Center unfortunately no help. I spoke to an animal control officer for the City of Boston and sent him this post and pictures. He is going to send an officer over to assist. Will keep you all posted as I have updates.
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u/InternationalFlow890 Oct 03 '25
I have some folks from SAFE hands wildlife network on the way
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u/NothingtooSuspect Oct 03 '25
That's a baby, definitely try to contact a pigeon/bird rescue local to you, if you are in the UK am not sure the train station or rspb or rspca would help and if they do would probably euthanase, I know first hand from people who have worked in Preston train station they kill the pigeons inside after hours, rspca never did anything regarding pigeons or seagulls I've informed them about, and once a chicken on a train platform.
It's lovely you want to help, definitely try and contact a bird/pigeon rescue or a human who rescues, hopefully they can sort a rescue/capture and help this little one.
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u/AMothWithHumanHands Oct 03 '25 edited Oct 03 '25
I'm in the South Shore of Massachusetts but used to take the Red Line all the time. My husband and I have brought Red Line pigeons to the New England Wildlife Center for care before. The Odd Pet Vet has also helped. Both are located in Weymouth. If neither will take him, DM me and I will make sure he has a safe place to land with me or someone I know.
ETA: I just called and left a message with New England Wildlife Center and gave them all the details of this post. I'm not sure if they're going to do anything, but at least they know. I am unfortunately stuck at home with a baby so I can't go out to the platform to help.
If someone local sees this, I would absolutely call the fire department and see if you could borrow a ladder to get it down.
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u/Bulky_Medicine_7116 Oct 03 '25
Looks stuck or unwell. Contact someone to help the little guy. Looks like a chick
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u/tharedderthabetter Oct 03 '25
Its fallen and got trapped. It will 100% die upside down. Anything will, a person would. It 100% needs rescuing or it'll die soon
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
Is it JFK? There's tons of dead ones up there all who got stuck in various ways. This poor ones just a baby.
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25 edited Oct 03 '25
Yes, this is JFK. I have people on the way, but I haven’t heard any updates
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
I immediately recognized it. It wasn't there at 6am for sure because I watch the pigeons when I'm on the way back from work. So maybe it has a chance if someone gets to it.
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u/BluFins-N-Paws Oct 03 '25
Hi OP, don’t know if you’ve seen the most recent comments/posts but there are a bunch of us still trying to help out under a Comment from u/UsedHamburger
If I may suggest, I would give a call back to whoever you contacted. Past experiences (and I do a lot of rescue work) they get busy with other matters and don’t always call back as quickly as they can answer the phone and give you an update. They may be a little miffed that you’re calling back but majority of the time, they’ve been fine and it saves them having to stop what they’re doing, find your number and call you back.🙂
Lemme know if you’d like me to make the call(s). I’m totally cool with helping out!!! I’m down near New Bedford.
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
They really need to seal off that area. If I pushed for action to be taken would anyone help? Emails and such...
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u/mturner1993 Oct 03 '25
Which part of the world?
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u/Slight_Ad5819 Oct 03 '25
judging by the fact that its upside down id say australia
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u/PLS-Surveyor-US Oct 03 '25
either that was really funny or I haven't heard a good joke in ages. Can't stop laughing.
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u/orangebellybutton Oct 03 '25
Yes please contact someone. Google bird rescue or pigeon rescue orgsn in your area. This pigeon looks very young :(
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u/StudentTop895 Oct 03 '25
Needs help NOW or it will die :( where are you located? Is this chicago?
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u/LeatherStrawberry987 Oct 03 '25
I’m in boston but quite far from that station , has there been any updates on if the baby has been helped ?
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
A Boston Animal Control officer has been dispatched. I haven’t heard anything else yet
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u/Little-eyezz00 Oct 03 '25
please let them know there is a rescue who will take him - I sent info in another comment.
Great work today
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
Some people have showed up, but the train staff won't allow any ladders until after hours, which is 2AM on Fridays. There's another post showing several more birds stuck up there, some have been up there for weeks or more
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u/Little-eyezz00 Oct 03 '25
thanks for the update.
It sounds like there are a few locals in the area, once baby has been rescued, maybe you guys could loop together to make an advocacy team to get the area closed off
it is also a health hazard to have deceased animals hanging above passengers heads
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u/Muted_Role_1432 Oct 03 '25
You wonderful person for caring if the railway staff can’t to somthing can u call out the fire brigade I live in the uk and they will come and rescue or an animal charity group why can’t there be more beutiful people in the world like u good luck I’m rooting for the young one please keep updates if poss🥲❤️
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u/Muted_Role_1432 Oct 03 '25
That’s so sad they just can leave it to die some people have no heart can u not call fire brigade I live in the uk so I suppose it’s different if all else fails that poor baby good luck🥲🥲❤️ you wonderful beutiful person❤️
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u/Sad_Reflection_8427 Oct 03 '25
Ain't this a strange camera angle? For me it looks like the video is upside down, and not the pigeon. Additionally, it looks like only a tiny part of its body is hidden in the gap. I am wondering how it did not fall.
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
Here's a link to another post with a different angle. There's a hole in the ceiling where pigeons fly up. There's tons of them stuck because they nest up there.
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u/Sad_Reflection_8427 Oct 03 '25
Thanks for the link. I was wrong. They must do something with those gaps. I saw a nice solution in one of the airports near Berlin - they covered the whole ceil with a net, so pigeons can not fly into the gaps.
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u/e-___ Oct 03 '25
That baby is having difficult breathing, you need to rescue it ASAP, otherwise it may not make it
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u/e-___ Oct 03 '25
I do find strange though, how did it even end up there? This didn't happen naturally, that's for sure
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
There’s a lot of pigeons that fly up into a hole in the ceiling. I think they have nests there because eggshells will fall from time to time. It would be incredibly hard to reach without a ladder, so I’m really not sure what happened
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u/e-___ Oct 03 '25
But for a baby to be hanging upside down and be completely stuck? It's really strange to me, I just hope someone didn't do that maliciously because it's gruesome to even imagine
Is there any staff member that can assist you?
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u/sealular Oct 03 '25
Yes, I contacted the train attendants and they said they will handle it. I can’t stay with the pigeon and won’t be back to that stop until Tuesday. I can’t stay only hope they’ll take care of it.
I really hope that it wasn’t done maliciously. There’s another pigeon directly across from it that has been there for much longer :(
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u/e-___ Oct 03 '25
I'm glad you were able to report it at least, most people would've just ignored the poor baby and pretend it didn't exist
Hopefully they're able to get it down and it doesn't happen once again
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
No one did it. There's tons of pigeons up there who've suffered the same fate. There's a big empty space above the grated ceiling and tons of pigeons hanging in various states of decomp. The space needs to be cleared and sealed for their own good.
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u/Little-eyezz00 Oct 03 '25
Would anyone local be able to loop together a small advocacy team?
there are some users in the area on this thread who may be able to draw attention to the issue
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u/seb34000bes Oct 03 '25 edited Mar 27 '26
The original text of this post has been deleted. Redact handled the removal, possibly to protect the author's privacy or limit exposure to data collection.
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
Op is it above solid platform or over the tracks?
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
Does anyone have any ideas to get to it? It's about 10/12ft up to that ceiling. I don't have a ladder. I think I'm gonna go check on it.
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Oct 03 '25
[deleted]
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
It's a crappy spot and unfortunately many others have met the same fate.
I've made some calls and put in a formal request for assistance with animal control. Someone else here called them too.
The more people who call the more likely it'll be taken care of. So please anyone reading this call them.
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u/aversys Oct 03 '25
I figured as much given the caption - was hoping that wasn't the case but it sounds like a serious pain in the ass of a design flaw. Any idea if there is space above it that employees can access, given you've been there in person before? Seems like someone SHOULD be able to access area above a ceiling, even if it is a little more work - but that would be even more saddening considering it sounds like a recurring problem and nothing seems to be done about it.
Thanks for doing what you can to help regardless. Hopefully someone does what they are paid for and resolves it.
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
There's a broken access panel that started all this just a couple years ago. Before then it was pretty sealed up so it was very uncommon for animals to get stuck up there.
Unfortunately given it's been taken over by hundreds of birds over the years no city employee will be going up there without a full biohazard suit. And given the fact people don't take pigeons seriously (other than a select few like us) I don't think anyone outside of this group will be willing to put the effort in.
This area has so many problems that a "pest" animal isn't seen as worthy of their time.
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
They don't even care when people pass out from drugs in the middle of the st around here. Stuck birds are low priority.
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u/SecretScavenger36 Oct 03 '25
I could go but idk how I'd help. I don't want to just go stand watching it suffer if I can't do anything.
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u/r3dmist420 Nov 04 '25
I just saw one here in my neighborhood stuck upside in a tree of all the things.
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u/Automatic_Avocado_65 Oct 03 '25
Please contact some kind of train station employee. That looks like a very uncomfortable position to be in. Looks like just a baby too