Wonga Pigeon survived crash into a window

A Wonga Pigeon survived a crash into my front window. I was working inside the house and I heard a bang, followed by a scrabbling sound, as if a piece of furniture, or a stick leaning against my house had been dislodged by the wind.
In response to the noise, I checked and the first thing I saw was Lulu looking spooked (she normally sleeps on a blanket on front verandah). Then I saw grey feathers, so I knew to look for a Wonga Pigeon.

I found it where it had bounced to, amongst ground-cover plants below the front deck.
The bird appeared to be in shock, but it was not bleeding from the beak (a common result of head injuries for birds).

So I decided to pick it up and take it inside for closer inspection (and for photographing details which otherwise one seldom gets to see). See for example, the photos of the feet. One friend has commented that the feet made him think of dinosaurs. I can see what he means.

Wonga Pigeon standing on my settee.
Note the way the feet splay out flat.
They are "Walking Feet" not "Gripping Feet"

At one stage the bird escaped my grasp (their wings are very powerful, and it managed to force its wings out of my hands). When It escaped it flew into a wall in the lounge-room, and fell back down and landed on a settee.

It was not hurt further in this escape and the subsequent recapture.

I threw a jumper over it, and decided it needed to be calmed down so I wrapped it up and covered its head.

A little while later, my friend Matt Doyle and his son Zac came along to have a look at the bird. I had rung Matt to see if he wanted to see the Wonga Pigeon up-close. Then I released it from my back deck. The bird flew strongly, straight down a "laneway" between some large shrubs in the back yard, and turned a corner at the far end of the gap and disappeared. A good result, I reckon.

Laneway where the Wonga flew after it had recovered.

There is a Facebook photo album which is open to the public and you do not need to sign up for anything to view it. If you read the notes on each page, it will make full sense to you.