# Moody Pigeon



## Weasel (Mar 2, 2002)

I have a four month old checkered ferral pigeon. I saved him from some crows and fell in love with him. He is beautiful, mostly black. Anyway, I believe that he is a boy, but can't be too sure. Lately he gets moody, some days are worse than others, and he puffs up his neck and coos at me. I would think that it was cute if he didn't agressively peck at me. Sometimes he starts acting up when he is on my shoulder and angrily pecks at my face (ouch!!!). I try to push him away but then he'll peck at my hands. By this time I'm usually yelling at him to stop but he won't until I grab his beak and hold it shut for a few seconds. Sometimes he starts up again after I let go of his beak. He has been doing this for a couple weeks but it seems to be getting more frequent, especially at night when it's time to put him to bed. Why is he doing this? 
I could use any advice to make him stop and to turn him back into my kind, loving, and affectionate little boy. Thanks.


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## indie backroll (Aug 3, 2001)

I think he may be playing with you, I have one that does that also for fun. When he see's me he ducks his head down, puffs up his neck and starts to strut around, when I put my hand near him he bites at it and actually grabs it with his beak and shakes it like a dog. Cracks me up.

~Brian


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## devorah (Apr 10, 2002)

Handraised pigeons often do that. They'll peck at you, try to mate with you, try to drive you to the nest, and all kinds of things. He's just being a pigeon (and assuming you are, too!). It's not any kind of meanness, I assure you! I think a cure, though, is to get the little guy a wife! (Note: One of my "aggressive" handraised pigeons who used to sleep in the bed with me and peck my ears off turned out to be a female! Once she got married, she became a perfect pidgie wife!)
Devorah http://www.ccsi.com/~devorah


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## fortfun (Feb 12, 2002)

I have a mated male pigeon who also does the exactly the same thing (including the grabbing with the beak







). So, is it territorial behavior in my case or just fun ? I would like to know!

Thanks in advance


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Feefo does the same to me. She enjoys it and eats heartily after "attacking" me, but I have always taken it as aggression. I hope I've been wrong all along!

Cynthia


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## girligirl (Mar 14, 2002)

Don't worry your pigeon is a HE and he is just trying to play with you. I have a 1 1/2 yr old cock(Toby Michael) whom I had raised from 6 days old. To this day he still likes to play bite and be agressive, coo at me and follow me around. He's just tryig to tell you he likes you and you are his friend. Toby even has babies now and from watching me play with him, his son now play fights with me.


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## Scuiry (Jul 11, 2001)

This may be simply his personality.

Try taking him away from his roost when you work with him. Pigeons, especially cocks, can be very territorial. If termpermental he may get mad at you when trying to take him out of his roost.

If he is hand tame try letting him come out on his own and just take him away from where he nests. You may find him more agreeable. He may also calm down if you find him a mate.

I had a tough time with a juvenile last year until he mated with a new juvenile in my flock. He is still feisty and moody but he is much calmer and affable than ever.

(For now I would not let him sit on your shoulder unless you can wear eyeglasses or something that he cannot hurt you. I wear a ski cap with my birds because they jump on my head and scratch me.)

But just remember, this may be his way. I have two feisty pigeons that simply want nothing to do with me. They are good birds but they've pretty much made their judgments about me for life.

d.


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## bigbird (Aug 19, 2000)

The important thing here is "where do you want to go with this pigeon?"
If you want him to be a one-only pet then you have some training options.
1. Let him know that you like him to be agressive and play with you but when he become to agressive, just turn your back and ignore him. He will get the message and pull back on his pecking so that you will not go away.
2. Place him on your shoulder and then walk into new places, where he is not accustomed. He will come to depend upon you for security and support if he is exposed to unusuall places. It is when he is in your home and comfortable that he will become agressive and playful.
3. It sounds like you have a cock bird, so once you understand how cock birds behave you will not be shocked. If you do not like his behavior, I suggest you get a hen bird because they are not as agressive but hen birds also have behaviors. You should learn their behaviors before getting rid of your cock bird.
4. The above information is for when you want to have a one-only pet bird. If you add another bird into the mis, you will begin to see different behavior. The bird may bond to the other bird and never want to be nice to you as he was in the beginning. 
So if you do not want a one-only bird and you are open to adding another bird to the family, try to make it a hen bird so that they can be happy togeather.
The other thing to remember is that while all pigeons, male or female, have their "typical behavior" you need to allow for the difference in their personalities.
Every bird I have raised is different from every other bird. But that is what makes pigeons so special.
Regards,
Carl


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## PigeonFosterMom (Mar 1, 2002)

My single pet pigeon gets aggressive on occasion, and I've found that one thing that works wonders is to sing to him. He'll be pecking at me and I'll break out into a rendition of "Jingle Bells" and suddenly, he'll stop and look at me. Then he'll puff up his crop, start cooing and turning around in circles. It's really quite funny. He's only three months old, so is this a mating behavior? The vet told us that he wouldn't reach sexual maturity until he was about a year old. Maybe it's just his pigeon way of telling me to shut up (I'm not exactly the best singer in the world







). 

Gretchen


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## joann woodring (Mar 27, 2002)

Hey pigeonfostermom,

Did you ever read any books by J.Allen Boon, (I think that's right)? He read poetry to his dog, and talked to a friend fly, who seemed to understand. A great read!

Joann


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## Weasel (Mar 2, 2002)

Thanks for all of the wonderful advice. I hope that in his heart he is playing too. I love this website.


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