Pidge came to Echoes of Nature from Second Chance Wildlife Center in the spring 2019 at a little over a year old. She was brought to Second Chance as a young individual, and, as there were no other pigeons being rehabbed at the time, she imprinted on humans. Interestingly, birds do not automatically know what type of animal they are when they hatch; instead, they visually imprint on their parents during a critical period of development. After imprinting, they will identify with that species for life, knowing that similar looking individuals will be viable mates. Due to the fact Pidge was imprinted on the staff at Second Chance Wildlife Center she will never be able to be released into the wild as she does not know she is a pigeon! Until late November 2019 we thought Pidge was a boy because she spent a lot of her time performing mating dances for the female staff at Echoes of Nature. However, after she laid an egg we realized our mistake! She is an energetic bird that loves to take a messy bath in her water bowl minutes after the animal caretakers make her enclosure nice and clean.