A RACING pigeon has set up home in a back garden in Littleover after getting lost.
The bird arrived in Anne and Stephen Johns' garden in Oaklands Avenue three weeks ago and they noticed that it seemed to be very tame.
Anne said it seemed to be hanging around, waiting to be fed.
She said: "We first noticed it because it is a black and white mottled colour.
"We get a lot of birds in the garden but they are mainly magpies and they are a very stark colour contrast of black and white and this bird is a mottled patterning.
"It was really tame and was not foraging for food at all. It was waiting to be fed, we could see it from the window."
Anne said that a pigeon came into their garden a few years ago and it was identified from a ring it had round its foot. But this bird does not have one and Anne is worried someone is missing it from their brood.
She is also concerned about the safety of the bird because a lot of cats prowl the garden.
Anne said: "We don't have any pets of our own but the garden is very popular with the neighbourhood cats and the local urban fox.
"It is not safe for the pigeon in here as it doesn't have any fear at all. It just waits for someone to come out and feed him.
"We've been giving it corn and water to keep it fed and watered but we know that it must have a home somewhere.
"Someone will be missing the little guy.
"We can't be doing the best for it, there's someone out there who will be able to do a much better job."
Anne wants anyone who might have any information about the pigeon's home to come forward so it can be reunited with its owners.
She said: "It's not a little chick of a pigeon, it's a fully grown bird and it's obviously been brought up around humans. It's not bothered by us at all. It likes us and is certainly very reliant on us.
"It comes and goes sometimes but it always reappears. We hope we've not done it any damage but it wasn't finding food on its own.
"It can find its way back here but seems to have forgotten its way home."
If anyone knows from where the pigeon has come, contact reporter Sophie Evans at the Derby Telegraph on Derby 291111 and she will pass on details to Anne to reunite the pigeon with its owners.
