How to know if I have a fantail pigeon or dove?

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Lobzi

Lobzi

Crowing
14 Years
May 6, 2008
2,332
271
356
San Francisco Bay Area, EB
I was asked to take on three lovely birds and add them to my aviary. They are huge in comparison to my ring-neck doves but I was told they were fancy fantail doves. They are black and white with purple and green iridescence...truly beautiful birds. However, when I closed them in a box to sleep for the night I could hear sounds that reminded me of pigeons not doves. Is there a way to know if I have doves or pigeons or does it even matter? Are the two bird groups somewhat similar? I could not find any images that matched how they look but I will say that their stance is similar to the pigeon pics...chest out and held high, neck back which makes them look like they are resting their beaks on their chests. Also lots to shimmying and shaking of the chest and head. Ill get some pics today and post them.
 

This is one of them. The female has a pink beak and white tail. Its offspring has a pink beak like mama but black tail like the male so sex undetermined though would like to know.
 
Lobzi said:
This is one of them. The female has a pink beak and white tail. Its offspring has a pink beak like mama but black tail like the male so sex undetermined though would like to know.
Click to expand...
The best way to determine the sex of a pigeon is to ask another pigeon.
In a perfect world the ♂ pigeon on the right is usually more iridescent and larger than the ♀ pigeon on the left.



That being said no matter which method you choose to sex a pigeon mistakes are sometimes made. I usually can tell the gender of a pigeon just by looking at it (but I have been know to make mistakes too.)

On that note:
If you place your pigeon in the company of a know gender pigeon one can usually tell the gender of the pigeon in question by the reaction taken by the know gender.

(Too many references to gender in tha sentence but I think you can follow).

Check out the link the pigeon bowing and circling is ♂ the bird walking is ♀:

 
That picture is of a fantail pigeon and yes absolutely gorgeous! I am looking for some in my area, Columbus Ohio and cannot find any. I have two males who would like girls. :)
 
TerryQui said:
That picture is of a fantail pigeon and yes absolutely gorgeous! I am looking for some in my area, Columbus Ohio and cannot find any. I have two males who would like girls. :)
Click to expand...
If you lived closer Id gladly give them to you. I have three and I caught one of them bullying my quail that are also in my aviary. I separated them for now from the quail. They are in a cage within the aviary. A lot nicer than the yard square dark box they were being kept in. I just cant have them harassing my quail though. I was hoping they would spend more time up on the nice roosts I have in my aviary but no they seem to be ground dwellers.
 
Yes the fantails don't fly as well or as much as the homers. I wish we were close, they are so beautiful. I need females. Put little address labels on them and maps and send them here. hehe
 
Well I know one is a female and one is a male. They are the parents of the third who I was told is a male but dont know. Is there a way to tell? It is about two years old. Does beak color tell anything about sex? The male has a dark and mottled beak and the female an all pink beak. The child also has an all pink beak.
 

Got a pic of all three together. Male in front, female in back, baby on right. See how pink the beak is on the two year old child. Just like the mama. Head looks more like the mama too. Are these characteristics any indication of sex?
 
I don't know if fantails have any physical features you can sex them by, but the males groan more and the girls are quiet in all pigeons. The males will show mating behavior but since you have only one possible female, I don't know if her own baby would show that behavior or not.
I know pigeons can be shipped, but I don't know if it is expensive to do so or not. I would pay shipping to get them, but I need to research the cost of it. Also I am not sure that you can ship in any box or have to have a special box. They are gorgeous. Mine are nice but not that nice. :)
 
Well I know little about them but I was told that they are very specially bred birds. They sold as doves probably because of a sort of negative connotation the name pigeon has. I do want to know more about them for sure.
 

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