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It was a feat that won hearts around the world, that a common pigeon named Joe had flown 13,000 kilometres from the United States and had landed, weak but alive, in an Australian backyard.
An amazing tale, yes, but Kevin Celli-Bird, owner of said yard, is still recovering from the global media blast.
Kevin Celli-Bird is bemused by all the fuss after a pigeon that landed in his yard was thought to have flown from the US, but was then found to be a local stray.
Credit:Justin McManus
Last Wednesday, he read out what he thought would be a funny little spiel about Joe the pigeon on 3AW’s Rumour File.
Pigeon faces death penalty for travelling 13,000 kilometres, here s why
The pigeon was found in a Melbourne backyard on Decemeber 26, 2020 with a band on its leg that suggested it was race bird that had flown from US. Representative picture
Updated: Jan 15, 2021, 10:31 PM IST
A pigeon name Joe, that Australia declared a biosecurity risk and was facing death row last month after it was alleged that it entered the country from the United States, has got a reprieve after a US bird organisation declared its identifying leg band was fake.
So what actually happened to Joe?
The pigeon was found in a Melbourne backyard on Decemeber 26, 2020 with a band on its leg that suggested it was race bird that had left Oregon in the US that is some 13,000 kilometres away, two months earlier. Going by Australian media reports, Joe was found by Kevin Celli-Bird in an exhausted condition, who then claimed that the bird was registered to an owner in Alabama.