Training pigeons

[Helen_Jayne]

I want to train my pigeons to come in and out of the loft and all the necessary things of course. I was just wondering though out of interest if anyone had trained pigeons in the same way (some) people train parrots eg. to step up onto your hand, fly to you, sit on your shoulder when you're out and about, do tricks etc.?

The reason for my enquiry is I have an ambition to train parrots. The reason is, we currently have a tragic situation of people getting parrots (which I personally believe shouldn't be kept as pets, but that's just my opinion), and then they can't train them so the poor bird stays in a cage. I think parrots should be trained to be able to free fly as the main aim of the game when having a parrot, like you do with a bird of prey. However there are no parrot trainers in the UK and perhaps thousands of neglected parrots and parrots being cared for by charities. There are also no parrot sanctuaries as far as I know.

I thought if I could learn to train a pigeon, that might give me the litmus test on whether I could adopt a parrot and try to rehabilitate it. Pigeons are smart but I don't know how easy they are to train in this way, for example with clicker training.

 

[backyard pigeons]

I want to train my pigeons to come in and out of the loft and all the necessary things of course. I was just wondering though out of interest if anyone had trained pigeons in the same way (some) people train parrots eg. to step up onto your hand, fly to you, sit on your shoulder when you're out and about, do tricks etc.?

The reason for my enquiry is I have an ambition to train parrots. The reason is, we currently have a tragic situation of people getting parrots (which I personally believe shouldn't be kept as pets, but that's just my opinion), and then they can't train them so the poor bird stays in a cage. I think parrots should be trained to be able to free fly as the main aim of the game when having a parrot, like you do with a bird of prey. However there are no parrot trainers in the UK and perhaps thousands of neglected parrots and parrots being cared for by charities. There are also no parrot sanctuaries as far as I know.

I thought if I could learn to train a pigeon, that might give me the litmus test on whether I could adopt a parrot and try to rehabilitate it. Pigeons are smart but I don't know how easy they are to train in this way, for example with clicker training.

Yes, pigeons are smart. Because of that, if they arent benefiting from doing any 'trick' they simply won't do it. So clicker training wont 'reward' them enough. That is if its in a flock. A single house pigeon will soon trust you without any food reward. They will snuggle, and I'm sure learn to step up. I had one that when I patted my chest, it would fly to my arm. It did this not because it liked me,,, but it loved corn! I hope this helps!

 

[cavemanrich]

I will Tag @Serin He has indoor pigeon as well as other birds, and parrots. He is the GO TO when it comes to indoor birds here on the pigeon threads

 

[Serin]

Yes, pigeons are smart. Because of that, if they arent benefiting from doing any 'trick' they simply won't do it. So clicker training wont 'reward' them enough. That is if its in a flock. A single house pigeon will soon trust you without any food reward. They will snuggle, and I'm sure learn to step up. I had one that when I patted my chest, it would fly to my arm. It did this not because it liked me,,, but it loved corn! I hope this helps!

Clicker training is food based and you can train ANY bird that eats. At one point, I had several finches trained to fly to my finger when I called their names for food! Pigeons could definitely do it.

 

[Serin]

I want to train my pigeons to come in and out of the loft and all the necessary things of course. I was just wondering though out of interest if anyone had trained pigeons in the same way (some) people train parrots eg. to step up onto your hand, fly to you, sit on your shoulder when you're out and about, do tricks etc.?

The reason for my enquiry is I have an ambition to train parrots. The reason is, we currently have a tragic situation of people getting parrots (which I personally believe shouldn't be kept as pets, but that's just my opinion), and then they can't train them so the poor bird stays in a cage. I think parrots should be trained to be able to free fly as the main aim of the game when having a parrot, like you do with a bird of prey. However there are no parrot trainers in the UK and perhaps thousands of neglected parrots and parrots being cared for by charities. There are also no parrot sanctuaries as far as I know.

I thought if I could learn to train a pigeon, that might give me the litmus test on whether I could adopt a parrot and try to rehabilitate it. Pigeons are smart but I don't know how easy they are to train in this way, for example with clicker training.

I have a tame pigeon. I want to do clicker work with her, but I haven't gotten around to much because she is so tame and handleable without it. When I got her, I trained her to come when called in I think four days with a clicker but after that she got so friendly, I stopped really making an effort as it wasnt needed. I still want to teach her some simple tricks eventually.

 

[jak2002003]

Pigeons are very smart... despite what most people are led to believe.

There are also very closely related to parrots, which surprised me!

There are some really fascinating videos on You Tube about pigeon behaviour and intelligence, you might want to do some searching on there.

Here is one as an example.

 

[Serin]

There are also very closely related to parrots, which surprised me!

They are actually not close at all genetically, their ancestors diverged from each other over 60 million years ago. Their closest relatives are cuckoos, bustards, and turacos. Parrots are closest to perching birds, including finches, robins, crows etc and to falcons... which are themselves not actually related to other birds of prey but are very similarly shaped.

But they are, nonetheless, very smart! And much more so than I think any other dove species.