Pigeon dies after having tiny cowboy hat glued to head

Birds rescued after viral video shows them milling around with miniature hats on

Pigeons sporting cowboy hats have been spotted around Las Vegas in recent weeks (@kassandraqueenn/Twitter)

One of three pigeons found with a tiny cowboy hats glued to their heads has died.

Lofty Hopes Pigeon Rescue, which took the bird in and nicknamed it "Billie the Pidge", said the fumes from the adhesive may have played a part in the animal’s death.

Announcing its death on Facebook, the rescue centre said: “The staff and volunteers at Lofty Hopes are saddened to report that Billie The Pidge, one of the Cowboy Pigeons in the red hats, has passed away of an undetected illness.

“The hat could have interfered with her being able to dislodge small insects from under it, and pigeons are very active preeners (groomers), not just for themselves, but for the others in their flocks.

“The fumes of the glue could have slowly poisoned her. Pigeons have a very fragile respiratory system. So many things could have gone wrong.”

The bird was among three pigeons rescued after two were initially spotted wearing miniature cowboy hats, one red and one grey, in Las Vegas last month.

The animals went viral after passer-by Bobby Lee posted a video of them milling about a car park near some bins.

Staff at Lofty Hopes said Billie was already weak when they captured her and had lost some of her toes because of a piece of string wrapped around them.

However they managed to free the bird’s feet and a vet removed its hat by trimming its feathers.

The rescue centre said: “She had stringfoot embedded into the skin. Surely this was an issue when she was trapped and had a hat cruelly glued to her head, but her captor, instead of helping her, released her not caring that she would lose more of her toes.”

The two other hat-wearing pigeons, nicknamed Cluck Norris and Coolamity Jane, continue to be cared for by the rescue shelter.

It is still not known who glued the hats to the birds’ heads or why.