Nasty bully pigeon.

I have one big male pigeon that is trying to take over a nest of another pair.

They have squabs in there.

This bully pigeon goes in and stamps all over the squabs and fights with their dad.. but the dad is not as strong as the other pigeon so can't get him to leave the nest.

I made a cover for the nest with only one small hole big enough for one pigeon to get in at a time.. thinking that the nest owner could sit in the hole and not let the bully in.

But the bully waits till the dad goes to get some food and then goes back in there and when the dad comes back it won't let him in.

I had to watch whats going on all the time.. as I don't want him to hurt the squabs.

Today he started attacking the female of the squabs... waiting until he sees her go in to feed them.. then he rushes into the nest and chases her out even with her mate trying to protect her. So he won't let her feed her young at all.

Is this common behaviour?

You will be please to know I have caught up the bully and put him into a cage in the loft on his own.

He is really mad and jumping about In the cage and grunting. He is frantically flying at the sides of the cage and I am worried he will damage his feathers or get a leg or wing caught.

The other pigeons in the loft seem to think this is what the bully deserves. They have all gathered around the cage to look in at him.. knowing that he can not get to them to peck and chase them as he usually does. I think they are laughing at him in their pigeon way.. lol..

I can't keep him in there for ever... any advise about what to do? There are plenty of other nesting boxes in there... but he really wants that one and seems determined to get it.

Separate bully pair as bully will end up hurt or killing babies to take nest, most commonly scalping, pulling blood feathers, gouging eyes out, tearing up with claws, or beating with wings.
Provide each pair two close nests.

HI.. He does not have a mate... he is a single bird...... I think none of the females like him as he is so nasty!

I have him in a big cage on his own now.

When I let my birds out to fly.. I let him out too.. but he would not join the others outside.. and kept trying to get into the other pairs next box... even with me pushing him out.. and grabbing him and tossing him outside.. he just came right back in over my shoulder!

So his is back in the cage... and very grumpy.. stomping up and down and grunting.

I will wait till the youngsters have left the nest.. and then let him back out to fight over the empty next and hopefully win it and that will be an end to it all.

He is super aggressive and the top in the pecking order. He often stands next to the feeder and won't let the other other birds come to eat.. even when he has had his fill.

I may end up selling him... but maybe another lower ranking bird will take his place.. if its normal for the top bird to behave like that?

There are more empty nest boxes than pair of pigeons.. so they have plenty to choose from... and I have a few unpaired females so he does not have to stay single.. he just needs to treat the ladies better lol.

He sounds like a cull one way or another.. Better to do something now than more probs for others or him later.

laughingdog said:

He sounds like a cull one way or another.. Better to do something now than more probs for others or him later.

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Maybe... I will see what his time in pigeon prison does for him first ha ha.

jak2002003 said:

HI.. He does not have a mate... he is a single bird...... I think none of the females like him as he is so nasty!

. He often stands next to the feeder and won't let the other other birds come to eat.. even when he has had his fill.

I may end up selling him.

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Every loft has an alpha male. Redesigning your nest boxes to make them harder to monopolize may help.along with two feeding stations for a time. I personally find things seem to work out on their own once the pecking order is established and everyone knows the rules and they begin to realize there is ample feed for all concerned. It seems to be part of their learning curve in a new flock. You definitely should keep him away from any breeding pairs. I would not be too quick to cull I think he is just full of testosterone and trying to dominate and impress. He will hopefully change once he has his own mate and squabs to attend.

I find limited feed encourages competition and they all are hungry enough to go for food not fight n others are challenging a former bully. Bully maybe need to be separated for day and not fed so he hungry enough to want to eat not fight.