A homing/racing pigeon was hanging around our home tonight. Kept returning to our porch. It flew to the roof when our dog chased it, but then came back. It’s really docile and not at all afraid of us.

My neighbor said it was in his garage and yard earlier today, and another neighbor said it was in their deck yesterday.

It has a tag with an ID on its leg. Looked it up online and submitted a form (and separately an email) to the pigeon clubs that we identified from the tag, but it’s Friday night on a holiday weekend during social isolation, so I’m not terribly optimistic we’ll hear back any time soon. 

We tried to shoo it away, but it kept returning. Decided it was either hurt, tired, hungry, or some combination so put it in our old puppy crate, gave it some bird food and water, and a safe place for the night.

I’m guessing we should just let it out in the morning and hope it flies away and finds its way home again.

Does that sound like the correct approach, or should we hold it for an extra day hoping the clubs we contacted can find and contact the owner based on the tag ID?

See if this guides you: https://www.bornfreeusa.org/2017/06/23/what-should-i-do-if/

Thanks. That aligns with some of the other things I’ve read. 

One point that stood out in your link is that they’re not great at fending for themselves and are used to being fed. This explains why it was still loitering around even after being at our various neighbors houses. 

We’ll see if some rest and sustenance is enough to give it the needed strength to try again. It’s lucky we got it before our dog did. 

The UK's Royal Pigeon Society says to feed for 48 hours to gain any lost strength, then remove the food as it can search itself. They are a nuisance here with lots of feral ones. It might hang around for 7-10 days.

16 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

It might hang around for 7-10 days.

In which case, our pup (or the foxes or various other wildlife regularly passing through our yard) will find itself an easy delicious treat

36 minutes ago, iNow said:

In which case, our pup (or the foxes or various other wildlife regularly passing through our yard) will find itself an easy delicious treat

Do you want a new pet?  

Hard no

Unless, of course, that’s a Penthouse reference