Errant pigeon returns to loving home

OLD TOWN – A pet pigeon who loves perching on people’s heads was out and about last week, alternately scaring and charming everyone he met.

Kyle has always had a penchant for pates, according to owner Amy Fletcher, who said the friendly 5-month-old pigeon flew off last Wednesday after spotting a group of children playing outside the nearby Stillwater Montessori School.

“He loves being around a lot of kids. I really think in his mind he’s a child, not a bird,” said Fletcher, a mother of two who runs a nursery school and day care center.

Fletcher got her bird back Friday after placing an ad in the Bangor Daily News.

“Ordinary city pigeon,” the ad read.

In fact, Kyle is anything but ordinary.

The black and gray bird flies freely about the house, takes baths in the kitchen sink, plays outside with the children, comes when called and greets everyone with soft coos.

Now and then he even goes for a jaunt in the car, perched smartly on the passenger seat headrest, said Fletcher, who took the pigeon in last summer after one of her students found him under a bridge.

Kyle’s two-day adventure began when a Montessori School teacher called Old Town police to report that a pigeon was frightening children by trying to land on their heads, Fletcher said Monday.

After catching Kyle, the officers decided to release him at a quiet wooded area near LaBree’s Bakery on Gilman Falls Avenue.

But Kyle had other ideas.

“He kept trying to get back in the car,” Fletcher said police told her.

Finally extricating themselves from the social bird, the officers left Kyle, who promptly began searching for other perching places.

It wasn’t long before LaBree’s customers began complaining that a pigeon kept trying to land on their heads and get into their cars.

“He wanted to go home,” said Fletcher.

Kyle’s antics couldn’t help but evoke memories of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous horror movie, “The Birds,” according to LeBree’s employee Martin Lamb.

“People were scared, I had to do something,” said the Stetson man who finally decided to take Kyle home to his wife, Paula.

“She’s really good with animals,” he said.

The whole family quickly fell in love with the affectionate pigeon.

“He was wonderful,” said Paula Lamb. “He’d stretch his neck out so I could pet him, and rub his beak on my hand. The kids thought he was great.”

Kyle disproves the notion that animals don’t have feelings, according to Martin Lamb.

“He showed every sign of loneliness – he didn’t like being by himself,” said Lamb, who set up a cozy spot for Kyle in an unfinished room on the second floor.

“As long as the dogs or we were with him, he’d be fine. But whenever he was alone for too long, he’d start cooing and scratching at the door. Then he’d back up and wait for someone to open it.”

Meanwhile, after noticing Fletcher’s ad, Montessori School staff called Old Town police who notified Kyle’s distraught owner and told her where they released the bird.Fletcher then traced the beloved pet to the Lamb family.

The pigeon’s homecoming was emotional, according to Fletcher who said Kyle obviously was ready to stay put for a while.

“Everyone gave him kisses, and then he made a beeline for his cage,” she said.