# What do these coos mean? (Recording)



## ThePigeonJoe

Hi everyone!

This is such a great site and you are all so informative! I have a new pet pigeon, an ex-competition Birmingham Roller called Pigeon Joe. He's been with me for almost three weeks and seems happy and well-adjusted. Just recently he has started vocalizing quite a bit more and I'm trying to figure out what my little guy is saying to me. Here are a couple of recordings that I managed to make of his sounds -- could anyone tell me what they mean? (I coo back to him in the recordings to keep him going, though my Pigeonese accent still needs some work!  )

1) http://bit.ly/190twc8
2) http://bit.ly/17jHc2M

I'm particularly curious about the second type of cooing. I've been told he's a male and he's 2 years old -- is this his bonding/mating call? The first sound he does much more frequently; the second one is newer (just the past few days), and he sticks up his neck and puffs out his neck feathers while he is doing it. He also edges closer and closer to me and seems really interested when I make the cooing sound back to him.

In advance, thanks so much! Pigeon Joe sends his greetings!


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## spirit wings

no human can really know what a bird is trying to "say" I dont think they are thinking that..(they just act out). the bowing and cooing is a male trait that pretty much we are guessing it means they are trying to attract a mate and or call his mate, they also make grunting sounds when alarmed. not sure if cooing at him makes him think your an advesary or what, but there also could be he wants you to be his mate, so he is acting out this when your near. A huge part of a pigeons life when mature is finding a mate and courting and nesting, so you may want to think of a way to provide this big part of his life he will be trying to act out on. perhaps get him a hen.


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## ThePigeonJoe

*Thanks!*

Thanks for the info! I've seen a lot of references to different types of coos on here and elsewhere online (coo coo ROO, bowing and cooing, etc), so I was wondering if this was a "typical" or familiar type of vocalization to the more expert pigeon folks (I grew up around cockatoos and parrots, but I'm new to non-hook bills). 

He doesn't *seem* adversarial when he makes these sounds -- he seems more curious than anything and he often makes the sounds when he is getting ready to take a nap, so maybe it's a roosting or mating thing.

In any case, thanks for listening! Best to you!


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## MaryOfExeter

The first one is what I call a grunt. Think of it like an alarm or a defensive sound. Doesn't necessarily mean he is scared of you, just that he acknowledges you are there. I have a few birds, usually hens, who will grunt at my every move. I just tell them to stop fussing at me LOL. Some of my birds seem to do it because they are bored. Others, when they are startled, or just when they see me. Or when I catch them and they want to fuss about it.

The second is a nest call. Pairs will do this when trying to attract the other to the nest. Both hens and cockbirds do it. It is part of the courtship. Sometimes you will see a pair in the nest, the cockbird with his head down, flicking his wings, bowing the head, making this sound and the hen will come up and stand over him, perhaps giving him a little preening. I have seen my hens do it plenty of times too, wanting some attention as well. It usually ends the same way, both laying in the nest together preening each other. It's very sweet to watch 

So, he is longing for a mate. Which will end up being you


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## ThePigeonJoe

Thanks -- that's very helpful! I was just trying to get a sense of whether the little guy is happy or annoyed at me or if he wants something I'm not providing!  I'm much better at reading his body language than his noises at this point -- he gives it all away in his eyes! I was a little confused because I can see in his eyes when he is scared or alarmed (big eyes, feathers flat to his head, visible skin around the eyes) vs when he is relaxed, and sometimes his vocalizations sound a little like growls but his eyes look happy and he doesn't seem scared. He loves to ham it up and make sure that I'm paying attention to him, so I think that has something to do with it too. Thanks again!


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## Siobhan

He loves you and wants to be with you. Pigeons, unlike parrots, can only make a limited range of sounds, so he's gotta use what he has to let you know he wants to communicate. Maggie coos at me constantly. She has two variations. One is a wooo, woooo that means she's comfy and happy, and one is a ah-ROOOOO-ooo which means she's either mad or frightened. Usually mad. Not much scares her. LOL


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## ThePigeonJoe

Thanks, Siobhan, that makes me so happy to hear! Pigeon Joe is really skittish and since he is an ex-racer, I suspect he isn't very used to people being friendly and domestic with him (I looked up the racing club listed on his band and they seem a little sketchy at best too...) -- he seems to like to be close to me and is very curious about coming up and checking me out or interacting when I talk to him and play music, but he really does not like hands or being touched much (unless he initiates -- at this point, he'll sit on my feet or somewhere away from hands, and he really likes to hang out on the window sill next to the head of my bed. Today when I was changing his food, he flew and landed on my back as I leaned over, which I've read is a mating thing...). I'm trying to build his confidence and get him to trust me more -- when I put my hands near him, I go really slowly and try to point and show him what I'm doing, talking in a calm voice. Sometimes he's better with it than others... 

In any case, Joe and I appreciate the info!


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## Siobhan

You have to acclimate him to hands and being touched a little at a time, as you have already seen. His landing on your back is a good sign. Maggie would ride me around the house all day if I didn't have to do other things. LOL You might offer treats from your hand, or eat something in front of him to see if he'll want to share. A lot of what you eat is fine for him to eat, too. Maggie simply LOVES my parrots' Zupreem fruity pellets and steals them all the time, so you could try that for a treat. She likes bread, too, but you should toast it first. Try sitting still and just talking to him and see if he'll come over and sit on your leg or the back of your chair. Then put your hand in his vicinity but don't try to touch him and see if he'll come closer and peck at it or anything.


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## ThePigeonJoe

Yeah, that all sounds logical. I've been giving him lots of different foods to try to figure out what he likes best so that I can bribe him and treat him!  I just ordered some hemp seeds and safflower seeds in addition to his food and other treats. He's a little picky, but very spoiled! I've even been cutting up larger treats for him, since he seems to prefer his food small and bite-sized. I've been eating my meals next to him and talking to him, showing him the food, and giving him tidbits off of my plate so that he'll see he's being treated as family/one of the flock. Hopefully, he'll just be happy here and get over his shyness naturally with time (it has only been a little while after all, and he's doing well for just 3 weeks in a new home!).

Right now, he's sleepy and he's all fluffed up and laying on his tummy on his roost-top terrace in my room. He's making little roos, almost like sleepy snores, and each time he waits for me to repeat it back to him. He's a sweet baby!

Thanks again for all of your comments and advice and for taking the time! I'm a novice but I'm so excited to learn!

http://pigeonjoe.tumblr.com


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## Siobhan

Once he decides you're okay, you may discover you have pigeon Velcro syndrome. LOL As I said, Maggie follows me around and wants to sit on me constantly, and that's sometimes a problem, when I have six parrots, a starling and four dogs who also want attention. Thankfully, Maggie can often be persuaded to sit on the back of my chair and woo-woo in my ear while I play with the other birds, and I reach back and kiss her and pet her every so often, at which point the soft wooo-wooo becomes "WOOO! WOOO!" (translation of the first: "Don't forget I'm back here!" and of the second: "You NOTICED me!" LOL)


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## ThePigeonJoe

I hope so!  I managed to capture a video of my little guy rooing at me from his window perch while I was working the other night: http://bit.ly/18siA67 He often vocalizes like this around bedtime, so it seems like a roosting thing. I think he was saying "stop working and pay attention to me!" or else "it's time for bed!"


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## spirit wings

I think putting human emotions on to them maybe missing what they really may need or trying to fullfill. I would think like a pigeon, learing how they naturally and genetically follow only what they know. researching behaviour can give you clues on the what and why of all the sounds and postures they do.


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## ThePigeonJoe

Certainly a valid point. I know he isn't really "saying" anything, but I'm just trying to tease out whether his vocalizations are of annoyance/needs not being met or of "happiness" or of some other pigeon instinct. I've spent my whole life around hook bills and am used to being able to read something of their body language (when they are angry, scared, or aggressive vs. when they are playful, etc.) based on their iris dilation/contracting, how they carry themselves, and whether they fluff their feathers or not, etc, so I'm just now trying to learn the pigeon equivalents. I can tell when he's frightened by his stance -- stretched tall neck, feathers back and not fluffed, big eyes that show the skin around them, or when he is "happy"-- fluffed feathers, making that "silent" chattering with his beak, etc. Pigeon vocalizations are totally new to me though. I've been reading up as much as I can, including the famous Wendell Levi "The Pigeon," but it's been hard for me to tell through the written, "tranliterated" human descriptions of pigeon vocalizations.

In any case, thanks!


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## spirit wings

That is good, that is why I recommended research behavoir, esp on a mated pair not with humans involved as most if not all pigeons find mates or are finding one, so allot of the way they are is the act of doing that.


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## ThePigeonJoe

That's a great recommendation -- I'll look into that!


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## Sarahanne1984

the second one i've heard that or similar to it when a pigeon is greeting, demanding or receiving attention and petting from their human companion. so it could be a "mating" type of sound. my old female used to land and sit on my head and pick through my hair while making that type of cooing. and ive heard it in other peoples videos while giving their birds attention. i wouldnt consider myself to be any type of expert though.


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## ThePigeonJoe

Thanks for the reply! That's the sense I'm starting to get too -- he mostly does it when I've been distracted from dedicating my undivided attention to him and he doesn't find that satisfactory!  Now, many times, when I sit near him and talk to him, he'll start rooing like this too in response.


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## treebeard

First sound clip is the "YEE!" (other people call them a grunt, to me it's a YEE). Something is startling him. The second clip is him singing a song. Pigeons like to tell events or narrate current events in lyric format. Parents will sing a song to their squabs before they feed them and as they are preening them. In this particular song, he is forcefully pushing air in his crop and has a high nasal voice. He's distressed over either not having a good mate, or a good enough nesting spot, though he didn't do the nest "ew-ew-ew" so it makes me think that it's about a mate. Either past or current lack of thereof. 

Usually a greeting song is in a more gravelly voice. I spent a 8 months having virtually no human contact and lived pretty close to my birds and decided to try and become fluent in pigeon.


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## ThePigeonJoe

Hey treebeard! Thanks for reply (and sorry for taking so long to respond -- work got busy!) 

That's all so interesting and helpful! I'd love to become fluent in pigeon too (I'm pretty well versed in Macaw and cockatoo, but that's not so helpful in this case)!

The longer I live with Pigeon Joe, the more I realize how diverse his songs are -- sometimes it *sounds* annoyed or displeased, but then he does that tell-tale wagging of his tail and makes his "happy eyes" when I respond with attention; other times, I think he is looking for a mate too. (Unfortunately I can't provide at this point -- he's a rescue and now a house bird, but when I'm no longer in an apartment, I'd love to get him some friends.) Sometimes I think he wants me as a mate -- he does a lot of strutting around for me, and if I bow my head to him, he'll immediately bow back, fly over to me, open his wings, and strut around. I'd love to find a way to show him some affection on his own terms -- he's really afraid of hands, but if I put my hands behind my back, he'll come up very close and even sit on my lap. I try to make some pigeon sounds back to him, but I also don't want him to think of me as a rival. Mainly I just talk to him a lot and tell him what a good guy he is, try to pay him a lot of attention and give him nice treats without scaring him with human hands! 

Thanks again for your help interpreting the pigeonese! You should have a blog or website or something with your findings!


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## Abdulbaki

Hi I saw a video of him in your Tumblr page and seems like "missing something's coo" or smth like that, I have experienced this situation when my king hen was isolated due to her illness from the rest of the flock and the only one she sees and interact with is me, in the beginning she didn't make any vocalizations but after a week or so being alone she started cooing and nesting when she see me, BUT AFTER ALL IT'S A GOOD SING THAT HE INTERACTS WITH YOU WHICH MEANS HE GOT USED TO YOU AND THE PLACE


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