A part of the message was written in Urdu - the national language of Pakistan, but the numbers appeared to be that of a landline telephone in Pakistan's Narowal district.
The bird landed at the mud and brick house of barber Ramesh Chandra in Manwal village, 4km from Pakistan border, around 6.30pm on Wednesday.
The suspicions of the barber's 14-year-old son were aroused by the Urdu markings, and he went to the nearest police post around 9pm with the "spy bird". His arrival there with the bird perched on a wire mesh along with Chandra's chicken caused a stir.
"Unfortunately, mobile phones rarely work in the border areas. My son ran to the nearest police post," Chandra told The Times of India.
The cops then took the bird to a veterinary hospital in Pathankot for an X-raybutthis did not throw up any clues.
"Nothing adverse has been found, but we have kept the bird in our custody. This is a rare instance of a bird from Pakistan being spotted here. We have caught a few spies here. The area is sensitive, given its proximity to Jammu, where infiltration is quite common," said Pathankot senior superintendent of police (SSP), Rakesh Kaushal.