While ANPA cares about the health and well-being of all birds, we can't trace pigeons not wearing an ANPA band. If the ring does not have the letters ANPA, you will need to check other sources. if the ring has a clear plastic protective coating, it probably is a racing pigeon. If it has what appears to be a name and a number, this is sometimes (but not always) the phone number of the owner.

First ensure the bird has some water available, and give it some seed in case it's hungry (parrot seed is fine, or even some rice, if nothing else is available try bread, pigeons do not eat meat.)

 

Check the bird's legs for a plastic registration ring. Some fancy pigeon breeds have long foot feathering, so you may have to hunt through the feathers to find it, often in these breeds, the ring may be up high on the thigh.

 

Once the details are found write down all the numbers and letters on the ring. It will have numbers and letters both horizontally and vertically.

 

For example, it will have ANPA 22 (the year the bird was rung) a letter from A-D (the size of the ring) and a number eg: 12347, this is what is called the ring number, the individual identification for each bird.

 

If the letters "ANPA" do appear the ring was issued by the Australian National Pigeon Association (ANPA) and can be traced to the club and individual who bought the batch the ring number was in, and thus bred the pigeon.

 

If you are unable to trace the pigeon's ring details, unable to safely keep it away from animals or other birds, or simply don't have the time, the best advice is to surrender the pigeon to the nearest Vet or RSPCA. A cardboard box with air holes is suitable for both the short-term and transport. 

 

To search for the club that issues the ring, check out the Ring Registry below:

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ANPA RINGS ISSUED 2008 - 2011

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ANPA RINGS ISSUED 2012 - 2015a

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ANPA RINGS ISSUED 2012 - 2015b

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ANPA RINGS ISSUED 2016

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ANPA RINGS ISSUED 2017-21

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ANPA RINGS ISSUED 2022