Baby pigeons back in flight training after west-end reunification effort (update)

There appears to be a happy ending for two baby pigeons who were separated from their parents in the city’s west end.

As reported Tuesday, Shauna Syms-Lavoy and co-workers were caring for the two birds, having provided them with shelter and food until they were able to fly and reunite with their parents 

“The birds are flying!” Shauna Syms-Lavoy informed SooToday Wednesday morning.

“They just needed that one night with their parents. When I got to work this morning they were on the roof with their mom,” Syms-Lavoy said.

Original story, Tuesday July 9, 2024:

The Sault’s Shauna Syms-Lavoy is - like so many others - primarily a dog lover as far as animals are concerned, but two baby pigeons have captured her heart along with the hearts of her co-workers.

“Two weeks ago we were at work and noticed a girl had put a box over a bird. She told us there was a baby bird under that box and asked us if we could tend to it. We said yes, then we saw it was a baby pigeon, bigger than a robin,” Syms-Lavoy told SooToday.

The baby pigeon had fallen out of a nest on the roof of Market Mall’s Beer Store.

Syms-Lavoy is an employee of DC Communications located immediately east of Market Mall on Second Line West.

Syms-Lavoy said she and staff were advised by the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society that the bird was uninjured and were advised not to take the bird away from the area to care for it. 

Instead they were instructed to let its parents find and care for it as it takes four to six weeks for baby pigeons to learn to fly.

“The mother bird was on the roof of the business making these soft but sad sounds, along with the dad bird,” Syms-Lavoy said. 

“All the girls in the office are very loving, caring people. We made a little home for it with water and food. We were wondering how the pigeon’s parents could find it. They were looking for it but every time we went outside they would take off.”

“One day we came back in the morning and there were two birds. We put them in a cat carrier with the door pried open with branches on it to hide them from predators. Finally - and they must have heard them - the mother and father pigeons found them and ran to the box they were in. It was like a family reunion. It was so funny and we caught it on camera,” Syms-Lavoy said.

Later, she and her co-workers were dismayed to find the cage and birds had been taken away. 

Syms-Lavoy published a social media post pleading for the birds’ return to enable their parents to care for them.

The birds have since been returned and the parent birds have located their young. 

“The mom has returned, the father is looking for food. They’re waiting for the birds to learn how to fly. They’re flying about six feet then dropping. They're getting there but they’re not quite there yet,” Syms-Lavoy said.

“People typically think of pigeons as nuisance birds but they fell down out of their nest so what were we to do? The parents couldn’t help them at the time, so we did. It was a total team effort. Everybody was concerned about them and caring for them. In this day and age when there’s lots of bad things going on it’s a heartwarming story.”

“The baby pigeons should be flying soon,” Syms-Lavoy said.