Pigeon Talk

[backyard pigeons]

I've been letting my young birds out daily this week and they've been doing well, trapping in fine, and the best part is they haven't turned into roof/tree sitters like their parents, yet.
Today was the first day they really got airborne and the pair of them took off and flew around my property for about 45 minutes. After that they slowly got further away and it has now been two hours and still no sight of them. I'm a bit worried but their father disappeared for days after a short 1 mile toss and made it back in tornado-force winds so maybe I should ease up.

As for some positive news, one of the new eggs has already hatched and the other is on the way.

They will come back. I'm 90% sure.

Nice news on the egg! Is the other pipped yet?

 

[Qwerty3159]

They will come back. I'm 90% sure.

Nice news on the egg! Is the other pipped yet?

Yup! Looks like it should be out quite soon.

 

[CCUK]

So, I know that my relationship with my pigeon is very different from anyone else's here, but I hope you still enjoy hearing about Olive!

I would like to take a moment to talk about life with my house pigeon. She has now been here five months.

She is amazing, the most rewarding pet I have ever kept. She is more loving than any other animal except a dog, affectionate and gentle, always preening me and snuggling.

She acts as if she never lived anywhere else, like she owns the place. She loves to look outside, and has a few windows with perches where she can see the world go by. She frightened the mailman by clinging to the screen door to greet him as he came up the stairs, and passers by have stopped to take a photo of her sitting looking out the front bay window. But I don't think she actually longs to be outside, because out on her leash, she doesn't like to step off my shoulder, and flies back if I set her down. She is a creature of comfort. Explores the three rooms she has available all day, going back to her little bed in the cage periodically for a nap, then back out to play. She is very snuggly all evening and just wants to sit by me and preen me.

When I come into the room in the morning and uncover her cage, she get so excited she dances in circles and it is only then that she coos like a real pigeon, all her other coos are more muffled "hoo hoos", like a distant owl, or a very soft purring noise when I pet her. She comes when called and flies to my shoulder and nuzzles into my neck. She is gentle and affectionate with my other birds, allows the little budgies to preen her head, and sits with the canaries.

She is endearingly curious about all other animals too. My geckos, salamanders, gerbils (I have a bit of a zoo), the cat, everything, she just loves to sit and watch them, walk around the other cages, and just is fascinated.

She is fearless. I have never seen her afraid. Of anything. Not even a little. Not dogs going nose to nose with her (with her in her cage), not severe thunderstorms, not car rides. Every new thing is something to explore. She adapts immediately to new places, and seems to love going out on her leash, or going for car rides. The only thing that she does not like is being touched by strangers, and she will growl and wing slap anybody she does not know if they touch her. But with me, I can pick her up and she just goes limp and lays in my hand - total trust. I can pull out her wings, clip her nails, cover her eyes, and she just coos happily.

She is really smart, and sometimes scary smart. She knows how to turn on my phone, take photos, and send them to my contacts. Hell if I know how she manages! She has taken selfies by toggling the settings and reversing the camera, but they're really out of focus. She has then managed to peck enough buttons to send the selfies to my confused friends.

She often opens my apps and sends cryptic messages of numbers, letters and symbols too, both on phone and laptop if I leave either around her. She pecks messages on the phone, and walks over the keyboard on my laptop. And it's not just accidental, she is determined to get to both things if she has any chance, and the second I leave the room she will go there and start playing around with the technology.

She recognizes herself in mirrors. It took her a few weeks to figure it out. It started with a little, spinning parakeet toy mirror. At first, she was really interested in it, loved to peck and spin it, sit by it (it was by her bed), and she would spend a lot of time in the evening pecking the reflection, wing flicking, cooing, acting like it was another bird. It was small, and she could only see her head and neck in it. But about a month ago, I found a big mirror about 16 inches tall and 9 inches wide, and mounted it inside her cage. She was able to see her entire body in it, and my reflection as well, for reference. She initially treated it like another bird, but only for a very short time, and then her reaction changed. Being able to see her entire self in it seemed to let it register that this wasn't another bird, but something different. She started walking back and forth slowly, studying herself, and did that for an hour or more. She would turn her head this way and that, and then preen feathers on her back, before checking the mirror again. There wasn't any pecking, wing flicking or other behavior she would use with another bird. She realized it was herself. She now uses it as a tool to look at herself while preening, as if to make sure she doesn't miss a spot. As soon as she made the connection with the big mirror, she lost interest in the toy mirror - I think she also realized it wasn't another pigeon, and it lost her interest.

Every time she finds a new mirror in the house, she goes through the same pattern as she tests it and determines it is herself. I think that's really cool, parakeets never figure out the reflection isn't another bird to talk to, and their behavior is always the same with their reflections. The internet affirms what I think I am seeing, that pigeons have been documented showing self-recognition in mirrors.

She knows what "no" means, and will usually listen. This is most often when she tries to sneak into the hallway from the front room, where I have hung a curtain which worked for a few months to keep her in the front of the house, until she figured out she could walk under it, and now she always tries to sneakily run under it if I am not watching. If I catch her, and tell her "No!", she stops, looks at me, and turns around and runs away real fast, as if to say "What! I wasn't going to." I don't always catch her, and I am resigned to the fact that if I leave her unsupervised for even a minute, I will return to her either on my phone, on my computer, or in the back of the house where I will find her trying to bathe in the cat's water dish, laying on the stacked towels in the bathroom, or strutting on top of the fridge.

She still mostly potties in her one spot and is very tidy, preferring not to soil her cage.

She is funny and cute and always brightens my day. I love her a lot. She has become a family member, not just a pet.

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Olive is such a special bird. I'm so happy that she brings you so much happiness. I wish that I could stroke mine but its a no no with all of them! Apart from the ash red who is a little easier! You need to get her some pigeon friends that she can send pictures to and maybe her own Facebook account?! She is lovely and you're very lucky to have her.

 

[CCUK]

Checking on Duff's babies. She tried her best to keep me from seeing them.

Great video! I find it endearing when they get so protective! I remember when I first got slapped at, dropped my phone! It doesn't worry me so much now!

 

[CCUK]

What a circus tonight has been. Its been raining pretty much nonstop since Saturday. This afternoon had been dryish so I thought I'd let them out. I caught the piebald youngster and the new one from Lincoln. The ash was in the nest bowl with the door so I shut her in. Pigeons out flew beautifully. They started to come in so I went to put the other two back in the loft as it had started to rain again. Piebald gets out. Incredibly stays here! Sits on top of the roof with the last ones to come in. It doesn't fly well as its tail feathers are pretty ragged. So I left it with the others to come in. It had been through the trap before.

Go to get the other one and it slipped under the door and fired off fast over the trees gone. I have phoned the guy at Lincoln and he will keep an eye out for it. In the meantime the rest had all gone in but the piebald was having a wash on top of the garage! Long story short, it wouldn't trap but I managed to catch it in my garage and got it back in! I think that it may well stick around now which is good. But no sign of the other one. I hope its on a tree somewhere out if the rain and will return. If not I hope it goes back to Lincoln and I'll go pick it up.

 

[biophiliac]

What a circus tonight has been. Its been raining pretty much nonstop since Saturday. This afternoon had been dryish so I thought I'd let them out. I caught the piebald youngster and the new one from Lincoln. The ash was in the nest bowl with the door so I shut her in. Pigeons out flew beautifully. They started to come in so I went to put the other two back in the loft as it had started to rain again. Piebald gets out. Incredibly stays here! Sits on top of the roof with the last ones to come in. It doesn't fly well as its tail feathers are pretty ragged. So I left it with the others to come in. It had been through the trap before.

Go to get the other one and it slipped under the door and fired off fast over the trees gone. I have phoned the guy at Lincoln and he will keep an eye out for it. In the meantime the rest had all gone in but the piebald was having a wash on top of the garage! Long story short, it wouldn't trap but I managed to catch it in my garage and got it back in! I think that it may well stick around now which is good. But no sign of the other one. I hope its on a tree somewhere out if the rain and will return. If not I hope it goes back to Lincoln and I'll go pick it up.

Sorry! You still have the red hen though?

 

[CCUK]

Sorry! You still have the red hen though?

Yes. I forgot that she was shut in with the nest bowl! #66 was stood on the outside looking really sad. Its been a long day!

 

[LaughingDove]

I sold twelve doves today. It was hard to do but they went to a woman with a huge loft that tames them down and takes them to schools to educate children. It sounds like they will have an incredible life and an awesome set up.
My remaining doves will get more attention from me and more fight time. I’m hoping it’s a win win. I’ve never sold any birds before.

 

[cavemanrich]

But no sign of the other one. I hope its on a tree somewhere out if the rain and will return. If not I hope it goes back to Lincoln and I'll go pick it up.

Maybe my THEORY of Pigeon Magnet is OFFFFF.
So I have a possible new one. You serve a PIGEON SMÖRGÅSBORD like below.

Maidstone decides to stop for dinner before getting home. THEN HOME SWEET HOME

 

[biophiliac]

What a circus tonight has been. Its been raining pretty much nonstop since Saturday. This afternoon had been dryish so I thought I'd let them out. I caught the piebald youngster and the new one from Lincoln. The ash was in the nest bowl with the door so I shut her in. Pigeons out flew beautifully. They started to come in so I went to put the other two back in the loft as it had started to rain again. Piebald gets out. Incredibly stays here! Sits on top of the roof with the last ones to come in. It doesn't fly well as its tail feathers are pretty ragged. So I left it with the others to come in. It had been through the trap before.

Go to get the other one and it slipped under the door and fired off fast over the trees gone. I have phoned the guy at Lincoln and he will keep an eye out for it. In the meantime the rest had all gone in but the piebald was having a wash on top of the garage! Long story short, it wouldn't trap but I managed to catch it in my garage and got it back in! I think that it may well stick around now which is good. But no sign of the other one. I hope its on a tree somewhere out if the rain and will return. If not I hope it goes back to Lincoln and I'll go pick it up.

Your pied bird looks like he has a black ponytail.