Mystery of pigeons in hats deepens as sombrero bird surfaces in Reno, photos show
Something odd — and inhumane, according to animal advocates — is going on in Nevada.
A wild pigeon was spotted wearing a sombrero as it walked around Reno earlier this week, a city official said. And that bizarre sighting came just days after another pigeon, which was found in December with a glued-on cowboy hat, died in Las Vegas despite rescuers’ efforts to save the ailing bird.
“So I’m out in the field on a ride along with parking enforcement, and what do I see?” Reno City Manager Sabra Newby wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “It appears to be a pigeon with a sombrero....”
Newby shared two photos of the bird, which is surrounded by pigeons without hats.
The Reno bird’s circumstances look remarkably similar to what befell a handful of birds in Las Vegas last month: Those pigeons, sporting colorful little cowboy hats, went viral after photos and video of the animals were shared online — including a Twitter post joking that “there are consequences to legalizing marijuana.”
Washoe County Regional Animal Services released a statement “regarding accessories on wild birds” after the Reno photos were shared.
“While Washoe County Regional Animal Services focuses on the well-being of domestic animals in our region, we are monitoring the current situation with the recent report of a hat on a local pigeon,” animal services director Shyanne Schull said in a statement. “Washoe County Regional Animal Services finds this practice of affixing any objects on wild birds disturbing, inhumane and strongly discourages this type of behavior.”
KOLO reported that a man called the TV station claiming to be responsible for putting the sombrero on the pigeon’s head, adding that he’d done the same to six other birds and “saying no one cared about these birds until he ‘gave them identity’ by gluing a hat to their heads.”
The man pointed KOLO to a photo on his Facebook page that apparently showed him with one of the hat-wearing birds.
Animal rescuers are asking for the public’s help putting a stop to it.
“Should the community see this take place or have tips on who might be conducting this behavior, please call 775-322-3647 or 3-1-1 and we will investigate and work with appropriate authorities,” Schull said.
Local animal advocates expressed shock about the bird’s situation.
“I don’t know how you’d look at yourself,” Jane Burnham of the Lahontan Audubon Society said, according to KOLO. “I feel disgusted that someone would treat an animal badly. There’s no excuse for torturing.”
Newby agreed.
“It’s not really that funny,” Newby said, adding that she reported the incident to animal control, the Reno Gazette Journal reports. “Somebody captured the pigeon and ostensibly glued it on. We don’t support that kind of activity.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Mystery of pigeons in hats deepens as sombrero bird surfaces in Reno, photos show."
