Residents have been mystified by sightings of a bright blue pigeon wandering the streets of Maidenhead – with experts suggesting it could have been dyed for this reason.

The blue pigeon was spotted at several spots around the town this week, prompting Simon Bryson, 35, to snap several pictures of the animal after noticing its strange markings.

He said: “I thought it looked quite peculiar – I’d never seen a pigeon that colour before, so I got closer and managed to get a few pictures of it.

“When it opened its wings, I thought it was really impressive. I’d heard of people dyeing pigeons before, but the inside of its wings was done so intricately.

“People were saying it might have been spray dyed, but I work in car body repairs, and I’ve never seen anyone manage to spray a car like that, let alone the wings of a pigeon.

“It seemed like it was almost supposed to be that colour. It looked like it had a collar on, so it must belong to somebody. It might be a racing pigeon or something.”

(Image: SWNS/Simon Bryson)

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Simon said he shared the photos on a local Facebook group asking if anyone had seen a pigeon that colour before or had spotted it elsewhere in Maidenhead.

“It garnered a lot of interest – a lot of people got in touch with me and said they’d seen it too.

“I’ll be very interested to find out where it’s come from – I think that’s what everyone is scratching their heads about at the moment!”

The bird, which is vibrantly blue-coloured, with pink and yellow on the inside of its wings, is thought by wildlife experts to have been dyed as part of a ‘gender reveal’ announcement.

(Image: SWNS/Simon Bryson)

Rebecca Machin, from the RSPCA’s wildlife team, told the BBC that dye and paints can be toxic to birds – and that she feared social media trends were encouraging the behaviour.

“Dye and paint can be toxic to birds and other animals, and they would likely try to clean any such substance from their coat or feathers which could result in them swallowing it.

“We suspect this pigeon’s feathers have been painted – something we seem to be hearing about more and more (at the moment), including, anecdotally, at events like gender reveal parties.”