The Wild Bird Fund announced the pigeon’s passing on Tuesday.
We are deeply sad to report that Flamingo, our sweet pink pigeon, has passed away. Despite our best efforts to reduce the fumes coming off the dye, while keeping him calm and stable, he died in the night. We believe his death was caused by inhaling the toxins.
?: Alexis Ayala pic.twitter.com/218hh6oN8P
— Wild Bird Fund (@wildbirdfund) February 7, 2023
Original story, published on Feb. 1:
Animal rights groups (and, well, anyone else with common sense) are appropriately outraged after the discovery of a bright pink pigeon on Monday in Madison Square Park.
Identified as a domestic king pigeon, the bird — said to be in poor condition at the time — was promptly hauled up to the Wild Bird Fund at 565 Columbus Avenue and 87th Street. Due to its species (which is bred for a safe life in captivity or consumption), the assumption is that the pigeon was purchased from a poultry market.
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The nonprofit rescue service, New York City’s only wildlife rehabilitation and education center, took to Twitter to share the startling discovery alongside a photo of the little guy (who they’ve now dubbed Flamingo).
Pigeons come in many different colors, but pink isn’t one of them. This king pigeon was deliberately dyed and released. As a domestic bird unable to find food in the wild, fly well or escape predators, this poor kid had it bad enough before being dyed.
?: Phyllis Tseng pic.twitter.com/SnhdIOJsHU
— Wild Bird Fund (@wildbirdfund) January 31, 2023
Fair enough, right?
While the reason for the unnatural blush tone is technically unconfirmed, the Wild Bird Fund speculates a gender reveal party (when expectant couples find out the sex of their upcoming newborn, often through elaborate measures) was to blame.
Considering this controversial tradition has helped fuel California wildfires, explosions and many other unfortunate situations, this avian incident certainly isn’t a big jump.
“I don’t think we’ve ever really had a pink pigeon come into the clinic, so we were all pretty surprised,” Antonio Sanchez of the Wild Bird Fund told ABC. “We were honestly disgusted that someone would do this.”
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Needless to say, they are not alone. Until Flamingo is healthier, the bird will be under care on the Upper West Side — and will then be transferred to a king pigeon sanctuary. In the meantime, maybe people should stick to cutting a blue or pink cake and leaving the wildlife alone. Just a thought.
Just another idiotic trend fueled by social media.
Social media and people’s uncontrollable urge to gain their 15-minutes of internet fame is destroying society. Our younger generation has already lost the ability to communicate face-to-face. Rumors and mistruths travel at the speed of light. School yard bullying is now a 24-hour online attack that kids must deal with. Look around, people cannot put their phones down. They are addicted. They walk in front of cars and ignore each other at the dinner table. Technology is killing us and we don’t see it because we’re looking at Tik Tok. Sad.
GOSM (Get Off Social Media!). Life is going on in the real world.
Poor thing, now it’s name is Flamingo.
If and when you next think about it, please remember that the Wild Bird Fund (& Sanctuary) at 565 Columbus Avenue, NY, NY 10024, between 87th and 88th Street, on the east side of the street is a 501 (c) (3). charitable organization. It survives on your and my donations, all of which are fully tax deductible. I realize many of us tend to give closer to December 31 to take advantage of the deduction as the tax year comes to a close…but a story such as this one reminds us what the Wild Bird Fund does 24/7, 365 days of the year. Your generosity is rewarded by all the good work and rehabilitation in tandem with veterinary care (from local vets) this organization provides not only for sparrows, hawks, owls, starlings, pigeons, crows and blue jays but a host of other park- and city-based wild life including raccoons, squirrels, skunks, turtles, rabbits, and even the occasional snake. All will find a kind soul at Wild Bird Fund trained to handle their particular needs at the time they are rescued and sheltered from harm. I have no affiliation with the place other than (a) dropping off old newspapers which they use to line the many cages of recovering fowl and fauna and run out of often and (b)
I give what I can. Wild Bird Funds offers training in case you want to nurse abandoned baby squirrels back from the brink to be released when they get strong and can survive on their own.
people can be so stupid and selfish when i comes to animals…we are lucky we still have so many…
Use social media for good and find who had a gender reveal party recently & dye their hair pink
So…what’s the gender of the baby?
How disgusting. This poor thing passed away from the dye fumes.
Absolutely enraging how these thoughtless individuals took a life for the amusement.
Awful.
I was hoping the poor bird would survive , I’m appalled that this thoughtless act inflicted suffering on this poor bird , I hope whoever did this is satisfied that their irresponsibility caused this .