Pigeon Yellow Poop: What Causes It and When to See a Vet

Yellow poop in a pigeon is a sign rather than a disease. A single yellowish dropping after brightly coloured food is usually nothing. Yellow that lasts more than a day, yellow or green urates, or slimy, watery droppings in a bird that is fluffed up or off its food point to liver disease or infection and need an avian vet.

Please note: this article is general information and is not a substitute for advice from an avian vet or a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. If you have found an injured or sick bird, contact a vet or your local rescue (see our list of pigeon-friendly rescue centres).

Slimy yellow-green pigeon dropping on a wooden floor, with a cartoon pigeon saying "Yuck!"

What a normal pigeon dropping looks like

A bird dropping has three parts. The faecal part is the solid coil, green or brown in most birds, and its colour follows the diet. The urates are the white, chalky cap, which is how birds get rid of waste nitrogen while saving water. Around them is a little clear liquid urine (VCA Animal Hospitals (opens in new tab)).

When you see yellow, check which part is yellow. A yellow tint to the faeces alone is often food. Yellow or green urates are more worrying, because a vet textbook on bird liver disease lists green or yellow urates among the more specific signs of liver trouble (Clinical Avian Medicine (opens in new tab)). For other colours, see our pigeon droppings guide. Dark green droppings, often from a bird that has not eaten, are covered in pigeon green poop.

What causes yellow poop in pigeons?

Vets work through several groups of causes. Colour alone cannot tell them apart, which is why the other signs matter.

Food

Bright foods can tint droppings for a short time. A vet guide gives the example of blueberries turning droppings blue or purple, and coloured pellets turning them red or orange. Juicy fruit also makes droppings wetter (VCA Animal Hospitals (opens in new tab)). If the bird is bright and eating normally, and the colour returns to normal within a day, food is the likely reason.

Liver disease

Pigeons have no gall bladder, but their liver still makes bile pigments. When the liver fails, the urates or faeces can turn yellow or green (Clinical Avian Medicine (opens in new tab)). In Europe, an acute viral hepatitis of pigeons has been described since 1992. Some affected birds pass yellow, slimy droppings and bring up foul-smelling vomit, and about 30% die (Harlin and Wade 2009 (opens in new tab)). Adenovirus in young pigeons also damages the liver. Liver damage can also follow poisoning, mouldy feed or the wrong dose of a medicine. Fenbendazole and albendazole, two common wormers, have killed pigeons and doves (Howard et al. 2002 (opens in new tab)), so only use a wormer and dose your vet has advised (see choosing a pigeon wormer).

Infections of the gut

Paratyphoid (salmonellosis) is the most important bacterial disease of pigeons. It usually causes diarrhoea and green droppings with weight loss, and swollen wing or leg joints are its best-known sign (Harlin and Wade 2009 (opens in new tab)). It is a possible cause of loose, discoloured droppings, but it is not mainly a cause of yellow ones. Feral pigeons can carry Salmonella strains that also infect people (Haesendonck et al. 2016 (opens in new tab)). More in paratyphoid in pigeons.

Hexamita is a gut parasite of young pigeons that causes weight loss and diarrhoea, and coccidia and worms can also cause loose droppings (Harlin and Wade 2009 (opens in new tab)). See hexamitiasis and coccidiosis.

Watery droppings that are not diarrhoea

Sometimes the faeces look normal but sit in a pool of liquid. That is extra urine (polyuria), not diarrhoea (VCA Animal Hospitals (opens in new tab)). In pigeons the classic cause is paramyxovirus (PMV-1), which also brings twisting of the neck and trouble picking up seed (Harlin and Wade 2009 (opens in new tab)). See pigeon paramyxovirus.

How urgent is it?

Use the bird’s behaviour as much as the colour. Birds hide illness, so a pigeon that looks unwell is often sicker than it seems (VCA Animal Hospitals (opens in new tab)).

Yellow droppings: what to do

Watch One or two yellowish droppings, bird otherwise well

Recent bright food such as sweetcorn or fruit
Bird eating and flying as usual
Check again over the next 24 hours

Vet within a day Yellow lasts more than 24 hours

Yellow or green urates, not just yellow faeces
Loose or watery droppings that do not settle
Other birds in the loft affected

Vet now Yellow droppings with signs of illness

Fluffed up, sleepy or not eating
Vomiting, blood in the dropping or rapid weight loss
Swollen joints, a twisted neck or unable to fly

Pigeonpedia guide based on VCA Animal Hospitals advice on abnormal droppings and signs of illness in birds. If in doubt, ring a vet.

How a vet finds the cause

Because yellow poop is a sign, the vet looks for the disease behind it. Expect questions about diet, medicines, new birds and contact with feral pigeons, then an examination. A fresh dropping is useful: vets look at it under the microscope for parasites such as Hexamita and coccidia, and can culture it for bacteria (Harlin and Wade 2009 (opens in new tab)).

Blood tests show how the liver and kidneys are working (Clinical Avian Medicine (opens in new tab)). If bacteria are found, a sensitivity test shows which antibiotics will work. That matters with paratyphoid, as treatment should be chosen by sensitivity testing because strains vary (Harlin and Wade 2009 (opens in new tab)).

Hand holding a grey pigeon to examine its wing and body

Can yellow poop be treated?

It depends on the cause. Food-related colour needs no treatment. Parasites usually respond to the right medicine at the right dose. Bacterial infections need the antibiotic the tests point to, given for the full course your vet sets, even if the bird looks better after a couple of days.

There is no specific cure for viral hepatitis, so vets give supportive care such as fluids, warmth and easy food (Harlin and Wade 2009 (opens in new tab)). Liver damage from poisoning may or may not recover, depending on how much the bird took in and how healthy it was before.

Do not give antibiotics or other medicines in the water as a routine way to prevent illness. It does not replace good hygiene and it helps resistant bacteria spread. For a wider look at what can go wrong, see common pigeon diseases and signs of a sick pigeon.

How to prevent it

Many of the infections behind abnormal droppings spread through droppings themselves, so hygiene does the most good. Avoid overcrowding, scrape the loft floor and perches often, and give a thorough clean and disinfection regularly, letting the loft dry and air before the birds go back in (how to clean pigeon poop).

Keep feed dry and free of mould, give clean water every day, and quarantine new birds before they join the flock. Limit contact with feral pigeons, which can carry Salmonella (Haesendonck et al. 2016 (opens in new tab)).

Pigeon yellow poop FAQs

Why is my pigeon’s poop yellow?

Often because of food. If it lasts more than a day, or the white urates turn yellow or green, liver disease or infection is possible and a vet should check the bird.

Is yellow pigeon poop an emergency?

It is if the bird is fluffed up, not eating, vomiting, losing weight or has blood in its droppings. Take it to a vet the same day.

Does yellow poop mean paratyphoid?

Not usually. Paratyphoid more often causes diarrhoea and green droppings, with swollen joints as its best-known sign.

What does yellow urate mean in a bird?

Yellow or green urates are one of the more specific signs of liver disease in birds and are worth a vet visit.

What colour is healthy pigeon poop?

A green or brown coil with a white cap of urates and a little clear liquid.

Sources

References used for this page:

Last updated 10 November 2026 · Health