Do I have carrier pigeons? That question brings up a bird story. I don't have that kind of pigeon, but one day, that amazing bird did visit my home. This was in mid summer. The weather was very warm. This was a pigeon used for racing from point A to point B. It was banded. It sat on the railing of my deck and was obviously disoriented. Probably suffering from a combination of exhaustion and dehydration.
I carefully lifted it to the deck, and my wife put out water and bird seed for it. Food and water evidently restored its vigor. It visited us for several days, and suddenly it was gone. A friend who knew a great deal about racing pigeons told me that the owner might destroy the bird because it had failed in its mission. Whether this is true or not, the thought bothered me for some time. Here this strong flyer with a sense of direction of a GPS, braving winds, raptors and other hazards, might come to an ignominious end because it failed to meet a human's expectation. Far better that it suffer a natural death.
If that is the case, I would be tempted to remove the band before it rehabilitated itself. Are there other markings on them where they can be identified?
Bob