I think my pigeon had a mate before I bought him?

Kuritsumon

In the Brooder
Nov 18, 2015
7
0
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Honestly he is my older sister's pigeon but she doesn't have a place to keep him so he is at my house for now.

But anyways, he is a young German Pigeon Owl. And mean? I guess would be the word?

He has always been like this, even before we bought him. He was in a small cage with other birds at the feed store where we got him. He was chasing the others birds. My sister liked his "sass" so she bought him.


Fast forward to now, about almost 2 years later. He still chases, pecks, and wing slaps the other birds (who are all female, two ringneck doves and the other a frill back pigeon).

Just recently we came up with the idea that maybe he had a mate before we bought him or maybe even before being sent to the feed store. We thought that since pigeons mate for life he is defending his area and waiting for his mate to come?

That's just a theory, though... I don't really know what to do. We keep him separated from the other birds (his cage is still right next to theirs though).

I just want him to be happy and get along...

Any advice, facts, comments, or questions?
 
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Are you sure he is not a she? While pigeons do seem to stick with one mate they will remate if something happens and one of the pair dies. I've had pigeons leave their mates for a different bird; especially if they have not been allowed to pick their own mate. Just because birds are the opposite sex does not mean they are compatible. This is more true when the specie is more intelligent. Many of my parrot species have divorced and picked new mates. So, just because a male pigeon is in a cage with females doesn't mean he will accept them or them the male.
 
I'm pretty sure he is a he. He does dude things, like bow dances and mounting things.

I don't want babies, of course they might not know this. I just want him to have a friend and not be lonely.
 
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Some pigeons are just jerks, like people. Dominant females act and take male roles in absence of enough males.
Give it a nest n brick perch n see if it lays and or calms wanting mate. The most dominant in my flocks all turned out female, except maybe one, then only noticed after they layed. Having uneven number of rock dove pigeons can cause prob too.

Good luck n keep us posted.
 
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He/She hasn't laid any eggs yet. The only two who have laid eggs are the doves and they ARE tiny dove eggs, not pigeon eggs. Plus the doves have always been housed in separate cages. So, I'm 100% positive that they are dove eggs.

But we will be getting him/her, the german pigeon owl, a nest. :3
Just gotta wait and see after that. o___o
 
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It does not matter if he had a mate before... Once they are split up, or a mate dies, they get over it quickly and look to find a new mate.

So his is not pining for lost love.. especially after 2 years!

He seems just an aggressive nature.

Maybe he sees you as his mate.

Why don't you try to pair him to the frill pigeon? It does not matter if they are opposite sex, or two of the same. They will pair up anyway,

Put them in cages next to each other.. where they can see and tough each other through the wire.

Put a nest bowl in the males cage.

If they seem to get getting on well after 2 weeks you can try to introduce the male to the females cage. If they get on you can put them both in the males cage with the nest bowl.

It will take time for them to pair up and trust each other.. so don't just put them both together at the start or they will fight.
 
We got him, or her a nest! Now we wait.

Also, question.

I saw a video on YouTube about sexing pigeons. One tip suggested to look at their toes. It said that if the outside toe is longer than the inside one, then it is a male. If they are the same length then it's a female.

Is that true 100% of the time? Hanz's toes are the same length...
 
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We got him, or her a nest! Now we wait.

Also, question.

I saw a video on YouTube about sexing pigeons. One tip suggested to look at their toes. It said that if the outside toe is longer than the inside one, then it is a male. If they are the same length then it's a female.

Is that true 100% of the time? Hanz's toes are the same length...Never heard tell of that before then again computers are quite new to me.
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 ♀:


He may even seek out his own feral mate if he is left to free fly and bring her home.
 
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Okay. So it's been awhile. Hanz never laid an egg in his/her nest... And still acts like a jerk.

So, we wanted to see what would happen if we put an egg (just a common chicken egg from the grocery store) in the nest.

He/she has only lightly tapped/pecked the egg and has not attacked it, so far, like Hanz does everything else.
 

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