On Tuesday morning, a reader spotted three white doves in a playground on 63rd between West End Avenue and Freedom Place.
As the birds seemed a bit out of place, a passersby gave them a Tupperware filled with water.
A representative from the Wild Bird Fund said “These look like domestic king pigeons,” adding that “Someone no doubt released them at a ceremony. This is a cruel practice and often leads to the birds’ deaths.” The representative asks that if anyone who sees them is able to bring the birds to WBF’s storefront at 565 Columbus Avenue, between 87th and 88th Streets, that they please do so.
The only organization that comes to pick up animals is the Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC), but the Wild Bird Fund told our reader that it’s unlikely they would make the trip for these birds.
According to beautyofbirds.com, King Pigeons were “developed in the United States in the 1890s by crossing four older varieties.”
According to California-based pigeonrescue.org, most King Pigeons that make it to shelters “face euthanasia as their likely fate,” and that the birds are “gorgeous, calm, simple to care for, smart and full of personality. And they want to live.”
Spotted one of them still around at about 5pm. It can fly pretty well though, so we were not able to catch it.