If you find a pigeon that has any rings on his legs it is most likely a privately owned racing pigeon. You can take him to any vet who will contact the owner or you can do this yourself. If the pigeon is not too badly injured and just weak then contact a rescue.

Get the ring numbers on the leg rings and report him as a stray to the racing association: https://www.rpra.org/stray-reporting/

All privately owned racing birds are tagged and registered. Some birds have a telephone or registration number printed on their wings or an additional leg ring with a phone number on so you can contact the owner directly and faster.

How do I report the bird as a stray if there is no wing stamp or telephone ring?
You can report the stray bird in one of three ways:
By completing the online form from the website above, or by texting the full ring number and condition, e.g. ‘GB22L12345 injured‘, to 07888 860186, or call 01452 713529.

If you can box him and keep him safe the owner should collect him after you have reported the bird.
If the owner doesn’t want him back then find a rescue www.helpwildlife.co.uk and www.bwrc.org.uk but always give the owner the option to decide if they want their bird back or not. This is not your decision.

Myths surrounding racing pigeons and owners
Thank you to Matthew Halliday for providing this information.

“You will find various pieces of advice online some good, some helpful, informative, some scary, wrong & incorrect. I have kept pigeons of all breeds on & off since the age of 8 years old & I’m now 53 so hopefully it’s an indicator of my knowledge. We now keep mostly rescued fancy pigeons & racing pigeons.

So first of all, please ignore all the comments saying the owner will kill the bird if you return it (99.9% of owners wont!). If the owner wants the bird back they will not pay £60.00+ for a live animal courier to transport the bird back home to then kill it! Especially when the legal ownership transfer costs a couple of quid (the cost of a 2nd class stamp).

Please do tell the owner if they happy to have the bird back, you will assist them in doing so. However also ask them if they would like their bird re-homed and you will be happy to keep the bird (if you want to) or you can offer to re-home it on their behalf. There are some good people and rehabbers/rescues around. Or try pigeon adoption groups on Facebook for example. Always ask those that wish to have to bird to show you pics of the pigeon loft & aviary to make sure the accommodation is adequate for the bird. Here is an example of a facebook pigeon adoption group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pigeonadoptionsuk/

The owner can transfer legal ownership of the bird to the new owner for just a couple of quid & a few minutes of their time, so should the bird get lost, the new owner will be able to be traced & get the bird back! Regarding a bird being released to fly back home after being poorly or grounded. This should only ever be done when someone experienced in birds can confirm that the bird is in full health & 100% fit, and has had a good rest with a good diet of proper pigeon corn & minerals. So try and find a local rehabber or vet to take the bird to properly recover.

So. Bottom line, please don’t believe all the comments and posts saying all the owners will kill the bird, because they probably won’t! But like any other pet owner in the world there are bad pigeon owners, so I won’t pretend there aren’t.

Sadly far too many people are spreading misinformation about racing pigeons by reading it somewhere, being triggered, and repeating it everywhere. To anyone reading this. You do not have to race Pigeons or be a member of any pigeon clubs to have legal ownership of a bird transferred to yourself.

Hope this clarifies everything you need to know about rescuing a Racing Pigeon.”